Friday, December 21, 2012

Iron Man 2 (2010)



Number Rolled: 97
Movie Name/Year: Iron Man 2 (2010)
Genre: Action & Adventure
Length: 124 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: Justin Theroux, Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Leiber, Jack Kirby
Actors: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Clark Gregg, John Slattery, Garry Shandling, Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, Leslie Bibb, Jon Favreau, Christiane Amanpour, Stan Lee

Geek readers, please keep in mind that I am writing this review from the viewpoint of a movie-goer. I am not considering the comic book series in the writing of this review. I’m absolutely sure you can give me a list of reasons why the movie did or did not meet the expectations of the comic it was based off of, but that is not what this is about. Feel free to let me know anyway, because that kind of stuff is pretty interesting to me.

With that out on the table, it’s been widely noted that people were quick to give all the love to the first Iron Man and none to Iron Man 2. Not for nothing, but Iron Man 1 was spectacular. It was a showing of one of Marvel’s finest and I would watch it monthly for a more pleasant kind of cycle. Iron Man 2 was what it was. It was a sequel.

Sequels are notorious for being worse than their original counterparts, and for good reason. You get these writers or directors that have seen the first move rise to such spectacular proportions that it has earned a sequel and it puts pressure on them to make the sequel better. They lose focus. Things become a hodge-podge of Hollywood inspired action and CGI in an attempt to make it bigger and better. What you’re usually met with, as a result, is a slightly confusing storyline with ADD that doesn’t always hit the high notes it’s supposed to.

Now, I’ve seen some shitty sequels. The Matrix was a sick movie that went downhill as the series progressed; to the point where I was sleeping in the theater during that three year love scene between Trinity and Neo. Home Alone was a cute movie that was ruined by sequels. And, you know, Jar Jar Binx… ‘nuff said.

There are some sequels out there that should have been trashed before they were ever shot, but this I don’t think is one of them. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t spectacular. It was, however, acceptable. Maybe even good. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was great, though.

My favorite thing about Marvel, though, is that even if you dislike the current movie you’re watching, they’re giving nods to the other movies they have out and are tying in red herrings to remind you of what’s coming next. Each movie is like a single gem placed into the Infinity Gauntlet… but… well… if you’ve seen the after-credit scenes of The Avengers, you know we’ll probably get a whole other article on that.

Until next time Netflixers!

Overall Opinion – 3.5/5

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