‘Iron Man 2’ loses its storytelling amidst a bevy of visually stunning effects.
Steven Thrash
Benton Courier
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) returns to the big screen, as his alter
ego Iron Man is forced to thwart the vengeful Ivan Vanko/Whiplash
(Mickey Rourke) in Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios’ “Iron Man 2.”
The highly publicized sequel offers up as much gut wrenching action as
“Iron Man” (2008), but this time around the special-effects driven
narrative will leave audiences exceedingly disappointed. The film also
stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell and
Samuel L. Jackson; Jon Favreau directs.
Vanko blames Stark Industries for the death of his father, so the
disgruntled Russian takes aim at destroying Tony’s life and legacy. Ivan
develops his own miniature arc reactor, similar to what powers Iron
Man’s suit, and creates a harness armed with vicious electrical whips.
Ivan’s revenge is spoiled though, as Iron Man manages to defeat Whiplash
at a lavish street race in Monaco.
Justin Hammer (Rockwell) is Stark’s competition in the manufacturing of
weapons, and he has been unable to compete with Tony and the Iron Man
creation. Seeing the technology Whiplash created, after the Monaco
attack, Hammer forms an uneasy alliance with Vanko in order to put his
company on the map and “make Iron Man look like an antique.”
While these treacherous villains gun for him, Stark also faces the
prospect of an untimely death. The power source in Tony’s chest, that
keeps him alive and fuels his Iron Man guise, is slowly poisoning his
blood stream. While racing to find a cure, Stark must face off against
these dangerous new adversaries and an army of Iron Man-like drones. But
Tony finds new allies in the War Machine (Cheadle), a militarized Iron
Man suit, the Black Widow (Johansson) and Nick Fury (Jackson).
First, the good news is that the film is a special effects extravaganza
that will delight the senses. While a compelling story is inexplicably
missing, like an absentee landlord, the movie offers up some awe
inspiring battle scenes. The clash in Monaco between Iron man and
Whiplash is a fantastic, however short lived, thrill ride that will
leave you begging for more.
My only complaint with the sequence is when a series of cars explode
behind the deviant Russian. The green/blue screen effects here are much
too obvious, as you can visually discern how fake this one particular
shot is. Whiplash miraculously evades the massive explosion, but the
editing here makes him appear inserted in a much larger canvas of
carnage. It’s as bogus of a special effects shot as I’ve seen in
superhero films in the past 10 years.
Second, the acting is very good, especially the performance of Downey
Jr. However, the actors have very little to go on this time around.
Snazzy lines of dialogue and clever one liners that really exemplified
Stark’s immature and egotistic nature in the first film are more obtuse
this time around. The comic timing is clearly off and the soul of the
film suffers because of it.
Early on in the film, Johansson adds a delicious new side to what is a
love triangle between the Black Widow, Stark and Pepper Potts (Paltrow).
And although Sam Jackson is again performing a small role that doesn’t
take advantage of his A-List acting ability, he is up to the task. Fury
provides a great counterpoint for Stark to feed off of and confide in.
It’s this relationship that helps our conflicted hero come through in
the clutch.
Lastly, the film is clearly an action oriented vehicle and the story is
left unattended on the back burner. “Iron Man 2” plays more like an
action-packed Saturday morning cartoon, albeit a grossly overpriced one,
that caters more to children than adults. Be sure and sit through the
entire film though, because there is a scene following the credits. An
outlook that foreshadows yet another member to be recruited for the
S.H.I.E.L.D. organization and their evolving Avengers initiative. As
cliché as it might be, here’s a clue to the identity of the new Marvel
superhero: “It’s hammer time.”
-- Writer Steven Thrash screens the latest movies and gives
you the inside scoop on which films to see or snub. Thrash attended
Bryant High School, before pursuing his degree in Mass Communications at
the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and he currently makes
Benton his home.
