When last we saw Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in the first, attention-grabbing instalment of Iron Man (2008), he had announced to the world that he was, in fact, the titular titan of triumph in the battle against his arch nemesis, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), and the man behind the ever-polished metal suit. This presented an interesting starting point for a potential sequel, in that it is a rarity for any hero to proclaim who he is to the public instead of maintaining the conventional “secret identity”. Instead of exploring this concept however, director, Jon Favreau, appears to have gotten lost in the hype of his own franchise, the result of which is an effort which has “try-hard” written all over it.
Iron Man 2 (2010) opens with an introduction to Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), son of a former colleague of Stark’s late father, Howard (John Slattery). Names printed on original blueprints for the machine which inspired the design for Stark’s “heart” – the thing with the pretty blue lights on it which resides in Stark’s chest and keeps him alive – suggest that the design was a joint effort between Vanko’s father, Anton (Yevgeni Lazerev) and Stark Sr. Whilst Tony Stark is being celebrated for his creation on all international news channels, Ivan, driven by Anton’s untimely death, seeks to avenge his father’s lack of recognition by building a suit capable of standing against Stark. What follows is a very public showdown between a metal-suited Vanko and Stark’s Iron Man, which lands Vanko in prison when he is defeated. This is where one of Tony Stark’s corporate rivals finds him; a man named Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). Knowing the US government want ownership of the Iron Man suit to be utilised as a weapon in times of war, Hammer sees an opportunity to dwarf Stark Industries and make some money to boot. Hammer tasks Vanko to create an army of robotic drones based on the technology of the Iron Man suit, to be sold to the US Military for millions of dollars. However, Vanko has his own agenda, and his promises to Hammer are not kept; translation: the excrement is inevitably going to hit the proverbial fan…
This film sees some interesting developments following on from the first. Most notable is the choice to replace actor Terence Howard for Don Cheadle in the role of Rhodey. Apparently, this decision was born out of a dispute in which Howard demanded a higher pay packet for his contribution to the franchise. However, one might argue that Favreau was looking to give his film more weight in terms of critical acclaim, given that Cheadle was Oscar© nominated for his work in Hotel Rwanda (2004). Those who were patient enough to stay in their seats until the end of the credits on the first movie would not have been surprised at the appearance of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who is criminally under-used here as the director of SHIELD (remember to stay until the very end this time too, folks, for a sneaky teaser scene linking the plot of Iron Man 2 to the forthcoming Marvel movie, Thor, ETA 2011). Fury’s fellow SHIELD agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johanssen) feels like an unnecessary addition to the cast, whose presence fails to flow with the other characters, and would be far better suited to her own spin-off film. Despite this, the continuity of one film into the next feels otherwise seamless, with the return of Paul Bettany as the voice of Stark’s computer, Jarvis, and of Favreau himself as Happy Hogan.
The quality of the special effects is undeniable. Industrial Light and Magic have repeated what they managed to achieve on the first film, which was to make it impossible to spot the “joins” as it were, between live action and CGI; but, they have also improved upon their first effort, which is quite a staggering achievement. However, for all its bells and whistles, it is a film which fails to emotionally engage its audience, with the human interest elements of the plot taking a back seat to effects-heavy set pieces. For example, the narrative lightly touches upon father/son relationship themes, as well as a barely-detectable love interest between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), but the rest is a primarily visual feast, despite a fairly intelligent script.
The only other mild irritation was the extreme presence of product placement, namely by car manufacturer, Audi, who, quite clearly, must have paid a pretty packet to ensure that not only their cars were showcased as though the audience were watching a commercial, but that their logo appeared in neon lights at crucial parts of the film. When product placement is subtle, it’s tolerable; when it’s this obvious, it’s borderline insulting. Ironically, the film was prefixed by a short advertisement by mobile phone giant, Orange, which see’s the cast of upcoming release The A Team (2010) satirize the idea of product placement by re-hashing scenes from the trailer to incorporate Orange products and services. The presence of Audi in Iron Man 2 is not far off from this parody.
The running time of this film feels around twenty minutes too long, adding to the over-all sense of over-indulgence this movie emanates as a whole. Iron Man 2 is reminiscent of that boy in high school who was good-looking and popular, but knew it, causing the girls who saw through the act – as apposed to the girls who fell for his charms and swooned – to roll their eyes and say “Oh, per-lease”. This film’s ego is mirrored in the ego of Tony Stark’s character; it makes an entrance believing it’s the best thing in creation, adopting all the elements of a smash hit (stellar cast, killer soundtrack, etc), and oozing charisma with its rapier wit and its overwhelming visuals, and yet, still fails to evoke any real feeling. However, those looking for an easy-on-the-brain action bonanza, i.e. fans of the original film, will be the ones to, erm, fall for its charms and swoon.
Star rating: * * *
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