Iron Man 2

For some reason I wasn't expecting much from the first IRON MAN and I wasn't about to from the sequel. Granted of late we're finding better bang for our buck in comic based frachises these days but more often than not film makers just rehash what worked in the first and leave it at that. We can thank our banging anvils they didn't do that with IRON MAN 2. Allow me to say I don't know what film the "big critics" were watching to pan this one so bad as it is a fine follow up as well as an adequate gateway to events about to unfold in the Marvel Universe. While director Jon Favreau has come under fire for somewhat pushing Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark character to the sidelines in order to explore other players on the field fanboys at large need not despair. There is plenty of Downey Jr. action to go around but there are also lots of others things to consider namely being Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell. Rourke is the wild card here and I can see why some have issues with his vilain Ivan Vanko (actually a combo of two comic book baddies, Crimson Dynamo and Whiplash). Rourke is fabulous and his research into the culture of the Russian underworld pays off in spades yet the character feels like he's in the wrong film. Rourke plays it so straight you feel he'd be better suited for the BOURNE series than being stuck here with the jokes and abundant one-liners. I had no problems myself but others have. I did have an issue with Favreau's use of slow motion during the Monaco Gran Prix scene. I think it greatly detracted from what should have been a mind blowing sequence but that's just me. As for Sam Rockwell, who we know and love from GALAXY QUEST and THE GREEN MILE, he once again does what he does best, annoy the hell out of you. A radical envisionment of the comic book version, I'm even pursits will forgive the decision as it makes far more sense to have a contemporary business rival for Stark and Rockwell is perfect. I would have liked to have seen more of Scarlett Johannson who sadly is slightly wasted here, her Black Widow character not even being named in this outing but like Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury it's more a teaser of things to come and when Johnasson does get to bust a move it's certainly worth it. Odd to see Don Cheadle steppingin to replace Terrence Howard as Rhodey and Gary Shandling has a killer cameo. Speaking of cameos look for Stan Lee as Larry King in a split second shot. All of this is backed by a smart script which is dense enough to make multi viewings of IRON MAN 2 probable. Be sure to stay through the end credits for a revealing bit of information.