The first Iron Man film was a decent movie. I probably didn't like it as well as most people did. It presented us with an interesting character and a fun story that ultimately ended in an unsatisfying way for me. However, I looked forward to the sequel to see what they would do with Tony Stark next. I definitely considered going to the theater to see Iron Man 2, but something kept me away. I'm glad I saved my money. I'm sure it would have been more impressive on the big screen, but there wasn't enough substance to make this film worth the price of admission. Nothing about Iron Man 2 got me excited for the inevitable follow up. There were some pretty sweet action sequences, but it wasn't enough to make up for the sloppy plotting and superficial characterizations. I didn't expect a masterpiece with this film, but what it delivered was definitely sub-standard. 3 out of 10.I expected Iron Man 2 to be a nice fun film where I could just sit back and enjoy. I didn't think it was going to be extremely engaging or profound. Maybe it would have some laughs. I remember the first one being kinda funny. Every time I started to get a little enjoyment out of this film it did something to remind me what a huge piece of crap it was. A lot of the non-actiony parts were horrible. The attempts at comedy were sickening. There wasn't one line in this movie that made me laugh... that was supposed to be funny anway. I may have laughed when I was 12. Maybe that is what they were going for. I guess it is a comic-book movie.
The one thing that seemed compelling was the plight of Tony Stark. He has developed this amazing technology that has brought him tons of power and fame, but (spoiler alert) it is killing him. There is an interesting story there. They could have done some nice stuff with that. This movie does nothing. It is presented to us, and seems to be a major conflict for our main character. However, it is solved very quickly, and with no significance to anything else that is going on. There was a much better movie buried in the elements of this story, but the one they gave us was crap.
The villains were also lackluster. We have the Russian whip dude and the greedy business man. Neither of them were brought to the screen in an interesting way. This suffered from a lot of the same weaknesses of the first film. The movie does not feel like it is building to anything, and the climax is a meaningless flurry of cool action scenes. There is little value beyond the visual aesthetic.
I didn't give this movie a zero, so the aesthetic must be worth something. This movie is all about eye candy. The little briefcase iron man suit... awesome. The suit in general is really sweet looking. Scarlett Johansen in tight leather? Yeah, that looks good too... if you just muted her speaking parts.
I hoped Iron Man 2 would be a lot of fun to watch. It wasn't boring, but it was totally forgettable. I know a ton of people "love" this movie, I am not one of them.
Filed Under: Action, Comic Book, RDJ