I kept waiting patiently – very patiently – for Mickey Rourke to do something terrific with his performance as Ivan Vanko, but it never happens. For all those who are fans of the cinema of agony, the ones who appreciated his extraordinary work in “The Wrestler,” it is a crushing letdown that his is the weakest drawn character in “Iron Man 2.” True Rourke followers were waiting for him to deliver something bold and genre-breaking, something diabolically twisted, something conjuring an astonishing level of evil never seen before. But his performance lacks juice probably because the character itself is a standard dry-bone villain. He has all the dimensions of Dolph Lundgren impersonating a Slavic robot.
That unfortunate news aside, it is still an ecstatic joy to see Robert Downey Jr. let it rip like a method actor on steroids as Tony Stark, the man inside Iron Man. The consummate actor must be enjoying the acme period of his career. “Tropic Thunder” and “Zodiac” were Oscar-worthy performances that earned him a nomination only for the former. And “Iron Man” and “Sherlock Holmes” are multi-million DVD sellers. But in film after film, he retains his indie edge with his cocky and flippant personality without flipping the finger, either. When he chews out a senator (played by wormy Garry Shandling) he does it with classic Downey SOB smart alec style, laid back but sharp with the tongue.
Running second in the joy department are those whooshing airborne scenes. You get the sense that Iron Man is travelling 100 mph with flying in the air, maybe it is 500 mph. Whatever the speed, Iron Man has the velocity of a missile. It is still far-fetched however that Stark can get from Malibu, California to Flushing, New York in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.
There are the many secondary performances, and somehow, Gwenyth Paltrow lends the film the most heart as Pepper Potts, whom possesses the classiness of the 1950’s with a 2010 academic brain, becomes appointed to company CEO. Tony and Pepper have an unexpressed affection for each other. Pepper has to take upon herself all the stress of running a company while concurrently cleaning up Tony’s compromised public image. Their tension is obscure, at least to her, as Tony refuses to inform her about his dangerous blood toxicity levels (Where is Tony’s personal M.D.?).
And after it was told that Scarlett Johansson was not action blockbuster movie material, famously dissed by her own producers of the flop “The Island,” it must be sweet revenge for her to appear here. As Natasha, Stark’s sexy personal assistant, the more limber than ever Johansson is seen stunningly leather-clad – a martial arts vixen. Her showdown against a brigade of guards is among the film’s kick-ass highlights.
If you're not an avid comic book reader, you might not be sure as to why Samuel L. Jackson is in the picture, but if you cut out all the mumbo jumbo he’s basically Natasha’s supervisor. Don Cheadle (taking over from Terrence Howard) becomes Iron Man partner War Machine (the two of them are not drinking buddies), but the camaraderie is put on hold until Tony can cool his ego jets.
You may also question as to whether we are waiting for another sequel so Tony Stark can follow through on his dad’s legacy wishes (John Slattery as Howard Stark), which is never as resolved as it could have been. Dad speaks from beyond the grave via old company promo footage. It’s a subplot that could have been a way-y-y awesome major plot had it been followed through on – I kept thinking about the end to Alex Proya’s “Dark City” – but now we’re talking detours but that probably didn’t interest the producers behind “Iron Man 2.”
The Stark Expo, the arena for the final metallic showdown – is well, a blast and boost a second, but I was raising a logical question or two as to why Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell, as the second but more white collar villain), a snotty arms manufacturer who finances Ivan Vanko, had been given permission to deliver a presentation in the first place. Regardless, Jon Favreau (“Elf,” “Iron Man”) is a fantastic action director who expertly paces his actors through some plausible motions. Favreau, too, actually gives a damn or two about human vulnerability beneath all the explosive chaos.
It might be too harsh to call this a subpar sequel since the original set the bar so high, but… Really, it pains me as much to say that it is an inferior sequel as it is for you to hear it. But as you can probably gather there are many self-contained enjoyable moments to be had (perhaps one standing bravo and a half-dozen mild cheers) despite feeling that Iron Man has no worthy adversary and that the interpersonal conflicts are, um, a bit forced. And Downey makes anything better than it would have been had it starred without him.
Go to the official site at http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com/
Grade: B-
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