What can be more fun than to watch an adorable jerk going off on screen again. The performance coming from the actor capable of replicating several inner demons of himself, Robert Downey Jr. is again the reason the fans would like to see “Iron Man 2”. Tony Stark after satiating his ego of revealing his identity as the Iron Man at the end of the first part of this franchise comes back with more ego. He gets more help too from side kicks, villains and further arrogance in Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, his rival in business.Nothing has changed in the way I came out of the theatres for both the Iron Man products. Clearly entertained and Robert Downey continuing his best keeps this film ticking and involving the audience. This is no “The Dark Knight” but it is not “The Incredible Hulk” either. It rattles between the obnoxious “Transformers” and a sensible characterization which evens out rather to the benefit of the critics and the audience. Jon Favreau now knows the working formula not in the story but in the casting and characters.
Favreau gets Don Cheadle substituting Terence Howard for Lt. Col. James Rhodes, Sam Rockwell as wannabe Stark in Justin Hammer, Scarlett Johannson as the underground operative for the upcoming Avengers initiative and none other than the threatening villain Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko. Gwyneth Paltrow runs along the caretaker/guide/friend and the CEO of Stark Industries as Pepper Potts. Amongst these we get heavy artillery, attitudes, sarcasms and some story we might not even care for.
After 6 months of boasting and achieving super power dominance around the globe to have peace, Stark has two battles to fight. One is to find a cure for his chest battery which is slowly poisoning him. When your body suit is capable of demolishing an entire army with fire power, there has to be some side effect and they call it Palladium poisoning. The other is to resist the government which is forcing him give the Iron Man suit. In between these comes Ivan Vanko for revenge and Justin Hammer for money and competition.
Oh, I forgot to mention Samuel L. Jackson coming in as and when the screenplay and Tony Stark needs to reinvent itself. Of all this star cast, only one emerges victorious and there is no surprise that it is Sam Rockwell. He is the perfect candidate for being the equivalent cocky arrogant bastard as that of Downey Jr. and if you are doubting it, just see him explain the weapons he has to provide for the US army. He is more than a salesperson out there. His character enjoys laying out those detailed information about each of the dangerous science project which are also precisely capable of doing that.
“Iron Man 2” is a big science project of a millionaire, again. I cannot find much difference between the first one and its sequel other than numerous talent cast. They bring their strengths with them to the film. Thankfully there are no annoying tensions of untold love pondered profoundly between Pepper and Stark but it has to end there which I was ready to accept. Don Cheadle is the perfect side kick for this uncontrollable man while Rourke does not have much than to have golden teeth and Russian mumblings.
Having noticed in the past few paragraphs, the reader would observe that more focus has been given to the cast than the story itself. That tells you what happened. Nothing wrong in a film being completely overwhelmed by the cast and done so effectively. “Iron Man 2” works precisely for that. The graphics are kept reasonable and the calamities, well it always comes when there is a war going on between demolishing robots among egocentric businesspersons.
Jon Favreau has got himself a great job. He knows the deal and he plays for the house. He chooses his players carefully and keeps them entertained with the tricks. Strangely enough he is very honest about those and explains that these are all obligatory steps. Sometimes as a critic you have to respect that honesty and enjoy the game. Most of the times you get burnt and deceived but in Favreau’s case, he works it out.
2 comments:
Great review, I like our emphasis on cast and not so much the movie plot. I thought the closing scene of the battle of good vs. evil could have been better. But my man, did you not see Scarlett Johannson? Damn she was good. You didn't comment on her performance. Ok, how about her undebatable hotness?
Thanks!! Of course Johannson is freaking hot and I am not sure there is much of performance needed out there :-D, but yeah there is no debate about her hotness :-).
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