The world is almost unanimously of the opinion that Iron Man 2 is – as with most sequels- worse than the first of its franchise, and many take it as the worst of the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I beg to differ. It was at least as good as the first film and potentially better. It looked sharper, it made more sense and I just love the way it ties in with the rest of the series but without needing to have any knowledge of the Avengers. Admittedly the opening sequence was nowhere near as impressive as those of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, but the State Senate Meeting, the scenes with Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) and Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), and the character progression of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) mirrored with the digression of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) all seemed to reach Marvel’s usual standards. The cast was good, particularly Downey, Rourke, Rockwell and the gorgeous Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff), and the visual effects far above the standards of the first film, with the Stark Expo looking particularly fabulous. Garry Shandling (Senator Stern) was amusing and appropriately annoying but I struggled to warm to Don Cheadle as the new James Rhodes. It did seem slightly odd that Tony Stark was capable of creating world peace but could not take down one man with a whip, and that Rhodey knew immediately how to use the suit, but those niggles aside the script was decent and the resolution good – though the final battle did become somewhat dull. It was however nice to see Tony’s realisation that he is not perfect or the best at his game through the insertion of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Howard Stark (John Slattery). Clark Gregg also failed to disappoint as Phil Coulson and the epilogue with Thor’s hammer got me particularly excited for the series’ next installment.
Acerbically Analytical Adolescence 