Movie Review: IRON MAN 2

OK, I’m back (for now) reviewing movies. I’m not gonna lie, I was anxiously awaiting the release of Iron Man 2. I loved the first one and it’s not a secret, I’m madly in with love Robert Downey Junior. And in this movie, he does not disappoint. It doesn’t hurt that he is either suited up in gorgeous David August custom clothing or in his new and improved, Iron Man getup. He is fabulous in this sequel as is the entire cast (except Johansson and I’ll talk about her later). Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash) replaces Terrance Howard (Crash, Iron Man) as Rhodey and although he is a lot shorter, he fills his military shoes quite nicely. Mickey Rourke, as Ivan Vanko, the crazed Russian convict scientist out for revenge, is just too bad as the bad guy. Awesome. Even without his heavily tattooed body, long, dirty hair and gold rimmed teeth, Mickey simply looks scary – and he is. You will not forget the image of him cracking his lightening whips at the Monaco Grand Prix. By the way, the cockatoo in the movie; it’s his. But the big applause goes to Sam Rockwell as Hammer, the sleazy, two-faced glory monger who finances Vanko. He must have gone to the Gary Oldman School of ‘Villainry’ (I made that word up). He is very reminiscent of some of Oldman’s bad-guy roles (Zorg in The Fifth Element and Carnegie in The Book of Eli). He is great in this and steals just about every scene he's in.

The problem with Scarlet Johansson is she can’t act. She is very beautiful and very sexy in her cat suit but her lack of acting skills comes through even when she’s playing a comic book character. In her defense, her role is ridiculous – eye candy only. To make up for it they gave her the best fight scene in the movie. Most guys could care less if Johansson can act or not. They will all be talking about her when they go home and thinking about her while in bed at night. Who would have been a better choice? Rachel McAdams (Red Eye, Mean Girls). She's smart, almost as sexy and when delivering the line, "Is it dirty enough?" after handing a martini to Stark, it would sound as clever and funny as it was meant to be. Paltrow, as Pepper Potts, is actually better this time around. It’s a meatier role.

Justin Theroux, who does more acting in his life than writing, is responsible for the screenplay (he wrote Tropic Thunder). Jon Favreau directs and also stars in the movie as Happy Hogan, Starks chauffeur, personal assistant and sparring partner. His character was only in a few of the old Iron Man comic books. I can see Favreau rummaging through them trying to find a character he wanted to play. Hogan is actually a perfect choice. As a director, he goes over the top but at the same time does a good job holding this movie, with all its subplots, together. He never takes his eye off the ball: The smart-ass, womanizing millionaire, Tony Stark.

Iron Man 2 is not Iron Man which is probably one of the best superhero movies ever made. But it is entertaining and worth the trip to the movie theater if for no other reason than to see Mickey Rourke walk on to the raceway in Monaco and pull out his whips.

p.s. The first Iron Man has one of the great philosophical and spiritual messages: Sometimes we have to lose our heart in order to find our heart. That plays out literally and figuratively in Iron Man. Iron Man 2 has none of that. BUT, we are always reminded of 2 men who completely lost their way in life and found their way back, better than ever.