The Gown Student Newspaper at Queen's University Belfast

REVIEW: Iron Man 2

The second feature film installation based on the infamous Stan Lee’s original comic book Iron Man, isn’t very originally titled, and sadly the let-downs begin there.  As a fan of the first adaptation, news of a sequel was music to my ears, especially as the charismatic Robert Downey Jr would this time be accompanied by Scarlet Johansson and Mickey Rourke.  These big name inclusions have certainly helped attract audiences past the comic fans, but as far as blockbusters go, this just didn’t cut it.  Not released during Easter holidays or saved for the summer, within a few minutes it becomes clear that it just wouldn’t have been worth the extra promotion to get it out in time.  Of course we are flocking in our hordes to pay for our seats, but it’s not the Saturday night full ticket price film it should have been. 

BY LAURA SHEARER

The major complaint is the clunking attempt to mesh together the action genre with good old fashioned slapstick humour.  Supposedly meant to add to the genre, offering viewers a more intensely comic experience, yet it falls short revealing a lack of seamless authenticity.  The ridiculousness of the referenced slapstick does help in emphasising character stereotypes, but these are already pretty inherent in the minds of the viewer and those who haven’t seen the first won’t struggle to work out who stands where. 

Perfectly suited to the role of Ivan Vanko, Mickey Rourke is immediately introduced as the brooding bad guy.  An over the top western ideological presentation of the vodka swilling Russian underground thug that holds a grudge is done justice by Rourke’s lack of dialogue and rough physical presence.  His accent is by-passable and those little evil chuckles really give him a genuinely mysterious edge.  The costumes are one of the elements that have been treated with care, so when Rourke unravels invention after evil invention, it’s thrilling to see how much fun he’s had filming. 

Scarlet Johansson plays the feisty Black Widow come Russian spy with such ease it’s difficult to see how this was anything but a cleverly executed career choice.  She does her usual feminine chic style, roughed up with a mysterious alter-ego superhero personality that is delivered with a high level of professionalism.  Clearly a good casting decision for an injection of sex appeal to the film, but the expected indie quirk so apparent in Johansson’s other film roles is severely lacking. 

Lots of weaponry, cars and boys playing with toys leaves mixed audiences divided on the inclusion of female characters placed so far into the foreground of the narrative.  The typically moral negatives that come with the progression of a corporate company is shown in the egotistical Tony Stark of Stark industries and as much as these aren’t exactly righted, they are challenged by the underdog Ivan Vanko who’s aim is to topple Stark industries.  This is all too typical of the mainstream narrative, and without giving away much of the soppy ending, lessons are expected to be learnt.  The narrative puts a heavy weight on the political implications of the story, with claims to world peace and rivalry between the democratic USA and the almost soviet Russia.  An interesting debate between art and egos is presented in the flimsy conflict dialogues between Stark and Pepper Potts, but this is just another element of the film that makes it gravitate towards the attention waiving run time.  In all, do go see for that extra comic to film fix, but with news of a third film, it’s nothing to get excited about.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, May 16th, 2010 at 3:11 pm and is filed under Arts + Ents, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.