"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Friday, March 13, 2015

Iron Man 2 (2010, PG-13)

Okay, so Iron Man 2 is my least favorite Avengersverse film to date.  Not an original stance, I know, but there we are.  It’s not without some merits, but overall, it features a lackluster villain and some needless Complications for Teh Drama, and it doesn’t have the same spark as Iron Man’s first outing.  (Some spoilers.)

Six months after Tony announces himself to the world as Iron Man, his life isn’t quite the superhero playboy billionaire’s dream he’d like it to be.  Sure, he’s kicking butt, taking names, and keeping the world safe, which has him swimming in adulation and sexually-adventurous admirers, but it’s not all roses.  Chiefly, there’s the palladium core of the arc reactor that powers the Iron Man suit; the cores are burning out as fast as he can replace them, and they’re slowly poisoning his blood.  His large-looming mortality is the foremost problem on his mind, but he also has the military on his back (they think his suit should be turned over to them) and a buffed-up, tech-savvy foe with a mysterious vendetta against him. 

The whole “Tony is dying” subplot is poorly handled.  Mainly, it just makes Tony act extra immature and dickish, keep secrets from everyone, and take death-wish risks without explaining why.  Plus, the show mixes in a few daddy issues just for the heck of it, and both hindrances feel half-baked.  Maybe they’re thrown in to distract from the Big Bad, the not-so-bad Ivan Vanko (with an additional quasi-nemesis in the form of arms-dealing rival Justin Hammer.)  Admittedly, not many of Marvel’s films have really well-done villains, but Vanko definitely doesn’t cut it for me.  I like his tear-up-the-joint Whiplash persona, mostly because the CGI on his electrified whips is pretty cool and his first big fight with Tony is nicely executed.  On the whole, though, he’s nothing to write home about.

This film also marks a pretty inauspicious beginning for Black Widow.  Now, I love me some Natasha, but her role here largely requires her to pose as an uninteresting personal assistant.  Except for the few occasions in which she gets to throw down, she basically there for Tony to ogle, and that’s just wrong.  And even when she drops the pretense and joins the action, there’s almost no sense of her as a character, as a person.  Simply unacceptable.

When I reviewed Iron Man, I mentioned my lukewarm feelings on Terrence Howard’s Rhodey and tried to remember if it was the writing or the Don Cheadle recast that made me enjoy Cheadle’s Rhodey better.  Having now rewatched the first of Cheadle’s appearance as Rhodey, I’d say it’s probably both.  Though Tony still has no qualms about walking all over Rhodey, the character doesn’t have the same long-suffering feel he had in his first outing.  This Rhodey takes Tony’s antics more in stride and snarks back pretty well, and with Cheadle at the helm, he comes across as Tony’s exasperated friend rather than his eternally-outsmarted babysitter.  Also, Rhodey takes a greater part in the proceedings here, largely thanks to the arrival of War Machine.  Is his first rodeo a success?  No – he gets way in over his head (only partially his fault,) but even when he’s on the ropes, he does whatever he can to back Tony.  I like that.

Warnings

Comic book violence, sexual references, language, and some drinking.

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