Twice is Nice

Robert Downey, Jr. made me believe that he was born to play Tony Stark. After seeing him in all his armored glory in Iron Man, I knew for a fact that Marvel Comics had hit a grand slam homerun. Universally lauded as one of the best comic book adaptations ever, the first Iron Man made fanboys like me ecstatic and begging for more. Almost two years to the day since then, we all got to see Downey don the red and gold armor once more.

A lot has happened since Tony Stark revealed to the world that he was Iron Man. Stark Industries has never been more successful and the US government wants to acquire the armor to supposedly keep it out of enemy hands. Tony hasn’t told anyone though that he’s been having problems brought on by the Arc reactor in his chest. He’s begun to take more risks, even promoting Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) to be SI CEO while hiring Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) as his new assistant. Meanwhile in Russia, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) has been using his father Anton’s notes to create his own weapons based on Stark technology. When Vanko joins forces with Stark rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) to get the military contracts that Stark has given up, it can’t be good news for Tony.

Director Jon Favreau got right back on the driver’s seat in this sequel and continues the story of everyone’s favorite self-destructive and narcissistic billionaire. Downey seems even more comfortable in Stark’s skin this time around, really going to town with his manic personality. He also gives Tony some weakness when confronted with his mortality, and I loved the fact that the filmmakers touched on Tony’s great comic battle with alcoholism from back in the 1980s. He once again pulls off the arrogance and devil-may-care attitude of Stark with aplomb. Though some complained about Don Cheadle replacing Terence Howard as Lt. Col. Jim Rhodes, a good actor like Cheadle made it work. He is a bit small beside Downey, but when he dons the Mark II and War Machine armors, it doesn’t seem awkward at all. For someone like me who actually owns the first appearance of the War Machine armor, it was definitely a geek-out moment when that armor first appears.

Both Paltrow and Favreau (as chauffeur Happy Hogan) are tasked to do more in Iron Man 2, and it was great seeing them rise to the challenge. Pepper Potts has too often been nothing more than a glorified secretary in the comics and it looks like screenwriter Justin Theroux made sure to give her more responsibility while also keeping her banter with Stark going. Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury was also more than just someone you waited to see after the end credits. He gets to be a legit bad-ass, the one guy you believe can place Tony Stark in his place and wake him up from his drunken stupor. I also enjoyed the fact that Johansson was more than just eye candy as the Soviet superspy known as the Black Widow. She definitely channels her comic book counterpart and brings all of Natasha Romanova’s sexiness, physicality, and allure to this role.

Though Sam Rockwell brought some sneaky “Tony Stark-wannabe” sensibilities to his role as Hammer, you knew from the moment he stepped out of the shadows that Rourke was going to steal every scene he was in. In this revival of his career, Rourke successfully merges the comic book personalities of both the Crimson Dynamo and Whiplash into someone who is basically a dark reflection of Tony Stark. He seems to relish getting into Vanko’s skin as well as the tattoos, the Russian accent, and the bitterness of the character. My one wish that wasn’t fulfilled in this film was a face-to-face confrontation between the Russian Black Widow and the Russian Whiplash.

Overall though, I have to give Favreau, Downey, Paltrow, and everyone connected with Iron Man 2 major props for taking the time to really thresh out a great film, not just a great sequel. The technology on display is such an essential part of the Tony Stark/Iron Man character and I was very happy with the way that the filmmakers liberally used them. Giving a nod to old school expositions and “World’s Fair” types of shows was also something I appreciated, right down to the cheesy themesongs and welcome video from Howard Stark (John Slattery). Once more, the respect given to the comic source material is such an essential element of any good movie adaptation and Iron Man 2 delivers that in spades. I think I still like the first film by just a tad, but this is still a fantastic and fun ride that everyone should enjoy on the big screen. Bring on Iron Man 3!