Movie Review: Iron Man 2

Two years after the original Iron Man was released, Tony Stark has finally made his return to the big screen. Can the movie live up to the excellent first film?

Let me get this out of the way at the beginning of this review: I am an enormous fan of the first Iron Man movie, so I'm sorry to say that the second film is poorly executed at times, and doesn't match the quality of the first film. That's not to say that the film isn't entertaining, though; I had a good time watching it, despite it's flaws.

What doesn't work about the movie? Well, the basic story isn't particularly compelling or interesting, and the villains have about as much character as a turkey sandwich. There are also several scenes which should have been eliminated the instant somebody read them in the script, the most prominent of which is a scene that takes place around 45 minutes into the film which was particularly cringe-inducing. Pretty much every problem rises from the script itself, and is not to be blamed on the director or actors. The executives stupidly decided to switch writers, and they payed the price, as the new ones tried to do too much in this movie, and thus took too much time away from the best thing about the Iron Man series: Tony Stark.

What works in the film? The dialogue is still mostly very strong and witty. The standout scenes remain to be the ones where Tony Stark is interacting with Pepper Potts, as their chemistry on screen is outstanding. Tony Stark is still a lot of fun to watch as well, and the acting is pretty much good all around. There are some good action sequences as well, but I honestly enjoyed the first film's actions sequences more, as they had more weight and drama behind them.

In the end, Iron Man 2 is a pretty good movie that has moments of greatness which shine through at times. Despite its flaws, it's still worth watching for Robert Downey Jr.'s excellent performance, and some good character moments. I can only hope that Iron Man 3 will be more consistent, and that it will recapture the brilliance of the first film.

2 1/2 out of 4