IF I was never a Marvel fan before I certainly am now, as Iron Man 2 packs a punch with incredible action scenes and the clever development of main character Tony Stark - a man you would love to hate but end up adoring despite his obvious flaws, namely his huge ego.
Director Jon Favreau, who also plays a fun cameo part as Stark’s driver Happy Hogan, has taken what was a good idea for a first film and moulded it into an incredible sequel.
The genius of the first film was to cast the ever charming Robert Downey jnr as Stark and to bring alive one of the most popular comic book heroes. Favreau is far more confident in his directing this time round while Downey jnr has really settled into the part of Stark. In fact it is hard to imagine anyone else being able to play such a narcissistic yet likeable character.
The film begins with jumbled news reports of Stark, a billionaire inventor who six months previous had announced to the world that he is Iron Man. While dealing with health issues, Stark is under increasing pressure to maintain the unprecedented run of world peace and to respond to the demands by the US government to hand over Iron Man technology.
However, Stark has an amazing knack of provoking Senator Stern (Garry Shandling ) with his quick wit, superiority complex, and his unwavering stance on not developing weaponry which could be abused.
At Monaco Grand Prix Stark’s assertion that no one else possesses this technology is proven spectacularly wrong when a scary looking Russian, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke ), the vengeful son of a hard-done-by physicist, turns up with his super electrified whip, an attack which Stark barely survives.
Slimy arms dealer rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell ) seizes on the opportunity to create his own Iron Man technology. However, Vanko has his own agenda. The film expertly leads up to a clash of epic proportions which will have you aching for more.
The action scenes, which never fail to have a few laughs mixed in, cannot be faulted. Downey’s performance is effortlessly brilliant, perhaps he just feels at home as the playboy Stark. Surprisingly Scarlett Johansson is very convincing as Natalie Rushman and has some great ass kicking scenes.
Iron Man 2 will definitely be one of the best films of the year, so don’t miss it.
Verdict: 5/5
