Sunday, May 9, 2010
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Sunday, May 9, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
Iron Man 2
More Iron + More Cooks +
Less Downey = Too (2) Bad
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in Jon Favreau's "Iron Man 2",
now playing across the U.S. and Canada.
Paramount Pictures
By
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Sunday, May 9, 2010
*With an addition, in italics and hypertext
Ah, the sequel. The secret to their success is to make them more
interesting and riveting than their predecessors. Only a few times has
this been done in American cinema: "The Godfather Part II", "The Empire Strikes
Back", "Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan", "Aliens", "Lethal Weapon 2", "Terminator
2", "Spider-Man 2" and "The Dark Knight".
"Iron Man 2" doesn't make this short list, unfortunately falling prey to the
oft-made mistake of excess and over-packing. Robert Downey Jr. returns as
the inimitable and hedonistic Tony Stark, indulging again in self-acclaim.
Mr. Downey continues to rip the one-liners that screenwriter-actor Justin
Theroux supplies him in breathless, effortless style. Mr. Downey's star
power and acting acumen are the sole reason to see Mr. Favreau's latest film,
but even he gets relegated to second billing because of the additional
iron-suited beings and assorted characters that populate it.
The main villain of this orgy of disaster is Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), who
steals and (augments?) the patented technology of Stark Industries to make a
more potent Iron Man suit of armor. Vanko, as paper thin as he is brawny,
is the film's proficient terminator, but he is installed as its side distraction
rather than its center, solely to confront Stark and force him to explore his
own vulnerabilities. Vanko arrives on the stage, makes his presence felt,
then disappears. He reappears -- just in time, in an attempt to get
audiences to forget about the waywardness of the film.
Others overstay their welcome too, such as Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johanssen),
an enigmatic presence. We aren't sure what her function is in the film.
Is she good, bad or shades of in between? We find out, but the film teases
us, it seems, for no good reason. Gwyneth Paltrow returns as Stark's
assistant-turned-CEO, but she spends much of the film shouting. At times
Mr. Downey and Ms. Paltrow try to emulate Howard Hawks-like banter but it
doesn't feel right in an already clunky film.
Due to the presence of the additional characters (there's also Sam Rockwell,
Garry Shandling, Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle along for the ride), "Iron
Man 2" spins wildly out of focus. The action is neither galvanizing nor
awe-inspiring. The film's overall energy is tepid. A few members of
the audience that this film was screened for on a particular night seemed to
will it to enthusiasm with scattered cheers and hollering, but ultimately to no
avail. They wanted something to root for, but that something eluded both
them and the filmmakers.
With: Jon Favreau, Kate Mara, Clark Gregg, Leslie Bibb, John Slattery.
"Iron Man 2" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association Of America for
sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some
language. The film's running time is two hours and four minutes.
COPYRIGHT 2010. POPCORNREEL.COM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
FOLLOW
Unscripted review of "Iron Man 2"
Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
Read Omar's "Far-Flung Correspondent" reports for America's pre-eminent Film
Critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times -
here
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