"Iron Man 2 is just like Iron Man, but with way more robots" sounds like my dreams.
It sounds like the kind of thing a me from the future would tell present-me if he hated me and wanted me to blow my life's savings on Iron Man 2 tickets. Obviously this raises a big question if he doesn't understand that I'm essentially spending all his money, whatever I did to make him mad must have involved severe brain damage. In any event, he's out $82.
-- Local show times, theaters, trailer.
Yet contrary to everything we know about how the universe works, additional robots doesn't guarantee a better result. When I tried to add them to my margaritas all I got was a faceful of blender shrapnel. Iron Man 2 isn't a disaster of that proportion (do you know how hard it is to lick tequila out of the toaster?), but it does slip, if just a little.
As Iron Man, Robert Downey, Jr. has brought the world unprecedented peace. But his public profile has painted a target on his back. Rival arms manufacturer Sam Rockwell wants the secrets of his technology; fearing others will develop suits of war, so does the U.S. government.
Rogue Russian scientist Mickey Rourke has a personal score to settle. He duplicates the Iron Man technology and attacks Downey on a speedway, opening the door for all Iron Man's enemies to come calling. Not that Downey needs help external attackers: the very power source that's keeping him alive is poisoning him from the inside, too.
In plot and style, Iron Man 2 picks up right where the original left off. Downey's so breezily charming he could talk the brown out of coffee. Director Jon Favreau has a strong grasp of the physical, be it in kickass action scenes or slapstick comedy. Continuing its trend of excellent villains, Jeff Bridges returns from the grave to inform Downey his views on copyright law vs. national security are just, like, his opinion, man.
Did I make that last part up? Tragically. On the upside, in Iron Man 2, Rourke is the new villain.
I would take Mickey Rourke in a fight against anyone. That includes Iron Man, and since a glance at IMDb will show you there's already an Iron Man 3 in the works, you don't have to guess who came out ahead in that clash. Whatever. With his dismissive smile and burning drive for revenge, Mickey Rourke is invincible.
The only thing that can defeat him is Justin Theroux's busy script. At times, Rourke gets lost in the juggle of enemies, frustrated friends, super-secret agencies and career-oriented love interests. To both Theroux and Favreau's great credit, Iron Man 2 is not the overstuffed, Spider-Man 3ish semi-mess it should have been. Its host of characters and their conflicting motivations is never confusing.
But all that juggling shortchanges the individual balls. The great superhero movies of the last decade have been great because of their depth. With this much going on, it's difficult for any one element to be drawn as deeply as it deserves.
That's about the best I can explain why the sequel felt like a step down from the first. A small step, granted: Iron Man 2 is a fine, funny, exciting movie with some inspired moments, especially when Don Cheadle dons a backup suit to whomp some sense into a drunken, self-destructive Downey. As St. Augustine said, it's not a party until two robots are dead in your living room.
So it's not a killer that a little of the magic's gone missing. After all, Iron Man had an awful lot to lose.
Grade: B+
