- I attended a midnight showing. This is my first midnight showing of a movie since 1995, when I watched the first three Indiana Jones movies back-to-back-to-back. That's a long time ago.
- Iron Man was one of my favorite movies of the last decade, ranking No. 9 in my recent rankings.
- I was a comic book geek growing up.
So with those things out of the way, let me tell you why Iron Man 2 was worth paying money for and staying up to 3am on a work day.
What Worked
This movie (like the first one) begins and ends with Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark/Iron Man. He infuses the character with such energy and passion, and makes him seem like a real flamboyant character. The action sequences are mesmerizing, especially the final fight scene. The effects are great, and the overall cinematography adds to the action.
But Downey is not the only great performance in this movie. Mickey Rourke is tremendous as deranged genius Ivan Vanko. Really, having two performances like this in an action movie is unfair, especially to the action movies that will follow this summer. It was also supported by solid performances by Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow (better in this movie than the first) and Scarlett Johansen.
The story was also very entertaining. Will it win screenplay of the year? Certainly not, but it was above average for this kind of movie.
What Didn't Work
This is a short but important list. What scares me, as a major fan of Marvel Comics Avengers (scheduled for a movie release in 2012) is Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Downey acted circles around him. And I know Jackson is supposed to personify bad-a cool, but he's almost become a laughable parody of himself.
And I feel like director Jon Favreau (who did a great job) was a little self-indulgent with his part in the film and some of the short cuts he took with the story. Overall, minor quibbles.
Who Would Like This
I don't think this is as good as the first one, but if you liked the first one, this is a good encore. It's also just a good action romp, so likely would be enjoyed by action movie junkies like myself.
Who Wouldn't Like This
If you didn't like the first one, well, I can't understand why you would like this one instead. The action sequences were a little better. Also, if you just don't like this superhero genre, this is not your movie.
Closing Credits
This film shows that the superhero genre is alive and kicking. This was a fun, action-filled film. As good as the first one? No, but that was a high bar to get over. Great movie that I will see many more times in my life.
Avenger thoughts
As I mentioned earlier, Marvel is planning on an Avengers movie for the summer of 2012, which will be proceeded by Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor, both due in 2011. I can't really say how excited I am by this; I was an Avengers reader as a kid (it was my favorite comic book), and I was also a huge fan of Captain America.
But I am a little worried. Joss Whedon is directing, which is good. But ensemble movies are difficult. He's going to be combining a bunch of disparate movies into one. Tough work.
That being said, I am very excited about the next couple of movie years. Avengers Assemble!
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