IRONMAN 2 Review

Well hello everybody, the Reel Review is back from "hiatus" to give you the scoop on the films of 2010.

This week, my review is for Iron Man 2, the first big blockbuster of the 2010 summer movie season.

The film continues the story six months after the first film, where Tony Stark played by Robert Downey, Jr. is relishing in his newfound fame as Ironman and fulfills his father's dream by opening the Stark Expo.

Stark fails tribulations by both the federal government who protests that Stark turn over the Iron Man weapon to the United States government and in his own life as he discovers the palladium that powers his suit, is slowly killing during every time he wears the suit.

Concerned over his impending death, Downey appoints Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) as the new CEO of Stark Industries, while her position is replaced by a vivacious new assistant Natalie Rushman played by Scarlett Johansson.

While on trip to Monaco, Stark racing his own formula one race car, encounters a new villain Ivan Vanko played by Mickey Rourke the son of the co-creator of the arc reactor that was the basis behind the Ironman suit. Vanko creates a mini reactor of his own that powers whip-like attachments to harness the electrical energy, who he uses to try and kill Stark as he blames the Stark family for the death of his father (hence his characters name Whiplash). Not to long after being captured, Vanko is freed from jail by Stark's rival Justin Hammer played by Sam Rockwell, Hammer convinces Vanko to create an army of mechanic super soldiers, but in a twist Vanko uses the soldiers to bring down the Stark family name.

Stark is also joined by his best friend Col. James Rhodes played by Don Cheadle, (who you may remember was played by Terrence Howard in the first film).

After an altercation between Stark and Rhodes during Stark's birthday party, Rhodes steals the War Machine suit and tries to promote the weapon as a vital asset to the U.S. Military but has result is corrupted in Vanko's plot against Tony Stark.

Also, making an appearance in the film is Samuel L. Jackson who reprises his role as Nick Fury, the leader of the Avengers, unlike the first film where he was featured in a bonus scene at the end of the film, Jackson is featured in a great extent with Stark who was disgraced after Rhodes stole his suit, and unveils that Rushman is not who she says she is and is indeed of an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., the group who is developing the Avengers initiative.

Now that a bulk of the story has passed, time for the review, I gotta say this film was as good as the first, if not better. Downey, who I've never seen a career resurgence like this in Hollywood ever, is at the top of his game delivering a solid performance. The supporting cast was great including Cheadle who I got to say it sure means something when a film can replace one Oscar nominee (Howard) for another Oscar nominee.

Jon Favreau, to me, doesn't get enough credit as a director, with hits like Zathura, Elf, and both Ironman films, it won't long before he is the same category as a Peter Jackson or Christopher Nolan.

The action sequences were insane to watch, the battle sequences between Downey and Rourke and the climatic final sequence between Rourke against Iron Man and War Machine were epic, but I loved the fight scene between Iron Man and War Machine that featured several conveniently placed songs including the hip hop classic "It Takes Two."

The female leads also delivered Paltrow who is one of the best actresses in Hollywood was great in her reprisal of Pepper Potts, and who would of thought Johansson would look so good in her catsuit as agent "Poison Ivy", WOW! Especially her fight scenes were impressive, including her usage of lucha libre (Mexican wrestling), as a wrestling fan I was amazed at well how she performed a split legged takedown, ala Rey Mysterio.

For the villains, Mickey Rourke, who I don't care what anyone says was robbed at the Oscars two years ago, fit the bill as the cold hearted vengeful Russian Vanko, the scene to watch in the film is the exchange between Stark and Vanko, after Vanko is arrested, the best scene of the film.

Overall, if this movie is meant to kick off the summer, it kicked it off the right way, I say five reels for Ironman 2.

Next time, I'll give you all of a recap of movies I've checked out while I've been out.