The follow-up to 2008’s critical and popular hit is, alas, an overwrought “Iron.” It’s also overwritten. Returning director-co-producer Jon Favreau, employing Justin Theroux’s hackneyed screenplay, veers away from what made the first installment seem like a fresh take on superhero blockbusters.
“Iron Man 2”
2 out of 5 stars
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson
Director: Jon Favreau
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language.
Running time: 124 minutes
Robert Downey Jr.’s strong anchoring performance as a flawed protagonist, a novel sense of humor, and the measured integration of special effects battle scenes made the original “Iron Man” work well.
But in “Iron Man 2,” again based on the Marvel comic book series created by Stan Lee, Downey takes billionaire playboy Tony Stark from lovable smart aleck to irritating egoist. The actor is wearing out his smug screen persona, especially since 2009’s obnoxious “Sherlock Holmes” exploited it in such a similar way.
Even worse, the franchise has moved away from clear storytelling and unforced snappy dialogue scenes. It now relies too much on artificial visual sensation. There’s so much metal-clanging confrontation between two-legged mechanized beings in this one, the movie looks more like “Transformers 3” than “Iron Man 2.” And that is not a compliment!
Tony came out of the closet publicly at the end of “1”; so, everyone knows he is Iron Man. Egged on by sinister munitions contractor competitor Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a senator (Garry Shandling) wants to force Tony to give up his proprietary superpower engineering so the government can weaponize it. Stark arrogantly resists, saying he can defend America single-handedly.
But then a mysterious — and shockingly muscular — Russian physicist Ivan Vanko (an earnest Mickey Rourke) pops up to confront Iron Man head-on with his own version of the technology. The sicko Vanko joins forces with villainous Hammer as the action builds toward the inevitable climactic showdown between them and the good guys.
Tony, of course, has his own allies. Secretary/love interest Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns in “2,” suddenly promoted to chief executive officer of Stark Industries. Lt. Col. James “Rhodey” Rhodes, now played by Don Cheadle (after Terrence Howard was canned), has a larger role. He’s now “War Machine,” donning one of Iron Man’s earlier prototype suits. A butt-kicking Scarlett Johansson and one-eyed Samuel L. Jackson play secret new characters.
Given the open-ended conclusion of “2,” they appear to exist to set up the next episode. As long as there is cash on the table, Marvel and Paramount don’t seem to mind that “Iron” has already rusted.
