Iron Man 2 (Marvel Comics Movie Review)

Plot
Refusing to hand over his technology to the government puts rich inventor Tony Stark - aka Iron Man - up against his friend, Rhodes. But when an arms maker partners with a rogue Russian physicist, Iron Man teams with Rhodes to take them down.

Jason’s Thoughts
After finally watching Iron Man, I was pretty excited to follow it up with watching the sequel, appropriately named Iron Man 2. While the second film in the series didn’t quite have me glued to the screen as its predecessor, Iron Man 2 is a great film in its own right and does a lot of things right.

The film picks up right after the first one left off and has Tony Stark, again brilliantly played by Robert Downey Jr, learning that the arc reactor that is keeping him alive is also slowly killing him. Thinking the end is near, Stark drops into alcoholism and making rash decisions, while a Russian physicist has discovered the original Iron Man blueprints and tries to make a suit of his own.

The supporting cast is one of the aspects that makes Iron Man 2 great. Tony Stark still steals the spotlight and is the focus, but Col. Rhodes and Pepper Potts are given more time to shine with Rhodes dawning an Iron Man suit (and becoming War Machine), and Potts taking control of Stark Industries. Natasha Romanoff (also known as the Black Widow) also makes her debut and Mickey Rourke also makes a believable villain as Ivan Vanko, with both given a fair amount of screen time to establish their characters.

One of my gripes about comic book movies as that so much time is given to the main character that the supporting cast tends to get lost in the shuffle (see most X-Men movies/Spider-Man 3), but Iron Man 2 achieves that rare balance where the main character is still the main focus but shares the time with the supporting cast and gives them time to develop themselves.

The action and special effects are top notch once again. The birthday party fight between Stark and Rhodes while both wearing Iron Man suits was well done. The two joining forces to take down the armored drones and Vanko was well done and was a special effects treat to watch take place on the screen. I also have to give a quick nod to the soundtrack as it keeps in line with the previous film and fits well with the movie.

Overall, Iron Man 2 was the visual thrill ride that I expected it to be. It don’t think it quite recaptured the magic the first film had - nor did I think it would - but it was still a lot of fun to watch. The first movie set the bar fairly high, and Iron Man 2 was a worthy successor with its great action, effects, drama, and character and story development.

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