Iron Man 2 Review

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Jon Favreau’s Iron Man is one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. It was released the same summer as the greatest superhero movie, The Dark Knight, and thus we often forget how brilliant Iron Man really was. Expectations were accordingly very high for this inevitable sequel, and with the same cast and crew involved, what could go wrong?

Well, thankfully not a lot. Iron Man 2 is a well-written, well-acted, high-quality action film that delivers in every way you might expect. It is very funny. The action is spectacular. The performances are all so good. I love this cast. Newcomer Scarlett Johansen is a great Black Widow, and Mickey Rourke is effective and restrained as the mad Russian physicist wronged by the Stark family. Sam Rockwell is hysterically funny as the head of Hammer Industries, a corporation out to replicate the Iron Man technology and sell it as a weapon. I like Don Cheadle as Stark’s friend Colonel James Rhodes/War Machine more than Terrance Howard. Cheadle is simply more believable as a high-ranking military officer. That being said, Samuel L. Jackson does not work as Nick Fury. I really wanted him to work, and I think he can work, but he didn’t here. He simply performed as casual Samuel L. Jackson. He couldn’t even whip out angry Snakes on a Plane Samuel L. Jackson. Unfortunately, he has signed on for 9 films.

There is an element-synthesis that occurs toward the end of the film that will make anyone who has taken a science course groan. The rest of the film remains grounded in the pseudo-science of the first film. I like that everything has a practical purpose. The filmmakers don’t try to impress us with the super-technology as much as they try to convince us. And it works for the most part.

Is it as good as Iron Man? No. But that is a very high bar to reach. The fact that Iron Man 2 is not quite as good as the first one, but still remains a great movie, is a testament to how good the first film really was. The final verdict: Iron Man 2 is a worthy and entertaining sequel to Iron Man. It ups the humor and performances of the first film, while not quite capturing all of the same magic that made Iron Man extra special.

Professor P