Okay. So Cindy and I saw Iron Man II last night.
This is a well made superhero movie. It is not a particularly challenging film, and doesn't quite have the sheer unbridled joy of the first film, but it is a solid entry in the franchise. It is pretty hard to be joyous and uplifting while your douche-bag hero is dealing with deadly disease, daddy issues and his inability to balance his ego and his mortality.
Strangely enough, it doesn't need the combat sequences; though the nerd-gasm of seeing the dubious comic concept of the suitcase armour realized was one of the high points; physics notwithstanding - how much would it have weighed? The joy in the film is the easy chemistry and lightening fast dialog between the primaries; well that and Robert Downey Junior's Tony Stark spraying his alpha-douchebaggery around at firehose pressures to the frustration of everyone around him and the delight of the audience. It is an epic performance in that he makes the intensely unlikable Stark charming and sympathetic, despite being an arsehole of such magnitude that one could lose the entire Spartan oil-wrestling team within.
The villains are enjoyable, from the slime dripping senator to the wince inducing Justin Hammer. Mickey Rourke plays it tight and mean as the villainous Whiplash; and has the best birdy pals since Alfred Hitchcock. This is one of the few times since the fifties era of epic he-man scientists, where a physics major feels as much a physical threat as an intellectual one. No Doctor Manhattan doesn't count, as the only thing he has going for him physically is his dangling bits; which never seem to get to a particle colliding Hadron despite the presence of the Silk Specter.
The soundtrack, despite a nice funked up queen riff is merely okay. I like AC/DC as much as the next long haired type; but the film, or rather the experience of the film suffers greatly from not having those metal-heavy bars of I AM IRON MAN! Pumping out. Three seconds of music, or more specifically the right three seconds of music can impact a two hour production. It is an odd thing to be missing; three seconds of Ozzy cannot be that expensive or overwhelming (and I refuse to make the Sharon Osbourne nods quietly to herself joke.)
Don Cheadle stepping in for Terrence Howard is... well he just it. The performance was merely okay. I didn't like him as much as he never really felt like Tony's friend; and looked more annoyed. Howard in the first film managed a wonderful, subtle combination of put-out, frustrated, embarrassed and genuinely fond in his dealings with Stark's antics, where Cheadle just looks like someone handed him an English cucumber and asked him to sneak it through customs while wearing only flip flops and a thong.
For the comic book nerd, whether tentative, or raging; there is a lot to enjoy; from cameo appearance be famous hardware (you did stay to the end, right) to Samuel L. Jackson going Oedipal gerund eyepatch on an Oedipal gerund Fury as the head of Shield. Scarlett Johansson does fill the black cat-suit of the black widow nicely and her extended fight scene perfectly interlocks technique with superheroic flair. It feels very four colour; and looks great.
Gwyneth Paltrow once again rocks as Pepper Potts. Great body language; great dialog; and a nice combination of real-person-in-an-unreal-situation reactions and steely spine in dealing with crisis. Director John Favreau's Happy Hogan is a lot of fun and is given a little more to do in the film.
As good as the first one? No.
Did I enjoy it as much as Kick-Ass? No. (Seriously, go see Kick Ass, if only to watch Nicolas Cage redeem himself from a host of sad-sack action film attempts and that sodding Wicker Man remake)
Worth your ten bucks? Absolutely.
This is a well made superhero movie. It is not a particularly challenging film, and doesn't quite have the sheer unbridled joy of the first film, but it is a solid entry in the franchise. It is pretty hard to be joyous and uplifting while your douche-bag hero is dealing with deadly disease, daddy issues and his inability to balance his ego and his mortality.
Strangely enough, it doesn't need the combat sequences; though the nerd-gasm of seeing the dubious comic concept of the suitcase armour realized was one of the high points; physics notwithstanding - how much would it have weighed? The joy in the film is the easy chemistry and lightening fast dialog between the primaries; well that and Robert Downey Junior's Tony Stark spraying his alpha-douchebaggery around at firehose pressures to the frustration of everyone around him and the delight of the audience. It is an epic performance in that he makes the intensely unlikable Stark charming and sympathetic, despite being an arsehole of such magnitude that one could lose the entire Spartan oil-wrestling team within.
The villains are enjoyable, from the slime dripping senator to the wince inducing Justin Hammer. Mickey Rourke plays it tight and mean as the villainous Whiplash; and has the best birdy pals since Alfred Hitchcock. This is one of the few times since the fifties era of epic he-man scientists, where a physics major feels as much a physical threat as an intellectual one. No Doctor Manhattan doesn't count, as the only thing he has going for him physically is his dangling bits; which never seem to get to a particle colliding Hadron despite the presence of the Silk Specter.
The soundtrack, despite a nice funked up queen riff is merely okay. I like AC/DC as much as the next long haired type; but the film, or rather the experience of the film suffers greatly from not having those metal-heavy bars of I AM IRON MAN! Pumping out. Three seconds of music, or more specifically the right three seconds of music can impact a two hour production. It is an odd thing to be missing; three seconds of Ozzy cannot be that expensive or overwhelming (and I refuse to make the Sharon Osbourne nods quietly to herself joke.)
Don Cheadle stepping in for Terrence Howard is... well he just it. The performance was merely okay. I didn't like him as much as he never really felt like Tony's friend; and looked more annoyed. Howard in the first film managed a wonderful, subtle combination of put-out, frustrated, embarrassed and genuinely fond in his dealings with Stark's antics, where Cheadle just looks like someone handed him an English cucumber and asked him to sneak it through customs while wearing only flip flops and a thong.
For the comic book nerd, whether tentative, or raging; there is a lot to enjoy; from cameo appearance be famous hardware (you did stay to the end, right) to Samuel L. Jackson going Oedipal gerund eyepatch on an Oedipal gerund Fury as the head of Shield. Scarlett Johansson does fill the black cat-suit of the black widow nicely and her extended fight scene perfectly interlocks technique with superheroic flair. It feels very four colour; and looks great.
Gwyneth Paltrow once again rocks as Pepper Potts. Great body language; great dialog; and a nice combination of real-person-in-an-unreal-situation reactions and steely spine in dealing with crisis. Director John Favreau's Happy Hogan is a lot of fun and is given a little more to do in the film.
As good as the first one? No.
Did I enjoy it as much as Kick-Ass? No. (Seriously, go see Kick Ass, if only to watch Nicolas Cage redeem himself from a host of sad-sack action film attempts and that sodding Wicker Man remake)
Worth your ten bucks? Absolutely.