Coming To DVD- Iron Man 2

This month heralds the arrival of one of the summer's behemoths of the silver screen. Directed by Jon Favreau (Elf, Zathura, Iron Man) and starring Robert Downey Jnr, Iron Man 2 brought in massive viewing figures and the promise of a wider Marvel Universe that would grow across our screens over the next few years...

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REVIEW:

Like most of the audience public of the world, I loved Iron Man. It was smart, it was stylish, it was sexy and it had lots of fast cars, guns and catchy one liners. A starring role was handed for the first time since his faltering period as a drugged up drunk to Robert Downey Jnr and the world waited in anxious anticipation. The trailer came out... a small sigh of relief echoed around the world.

Opening credits then and by this point nobody gave a fuck. The hype machine had worked; our bums were planted firmly in the uncomfortable seats at your nearest cinema... waiting. Downey was solid; a perfect blend of arrogance and subtle vulnerability. His lesson to be learned was made clear and what stood in his way was clearer. A popcorn movie with attitude. FINALLY! Somebody had understood the audience!

Two years went by and Downey burst back on to our screens with Iron Man 2 and the results were/are MIXED. For one; there are sequences which actually threaten to sexually assault your senses. This is both good and bad. The movie is unforgivably noisy; making for a sometimes unpleasant viewing experience. Downey is solid but there is ONE major problem here. His lesson to be learned is virtually identical to that learned in the previous film; thus rendering the journey I as an audience member took with him as TOTALLY POINTLESS! Ridiculous. Plain Ridiculous.

Mickey Rourke continues to make the Academy look like pricks with another awesome turn out as Whiplash here; threatening to give this noise-fest some emotional gravitas but constantly pulled back by a Director who seems in AWE of his star and willing then to let the script be overuled by decisions of ad-libbing. This gives the film an episodic feel which is unusual in this kind of movie. Occasionally, Favreau gets it right. The scene in the plane with Pepper and Stark is one of these moments; as is the Monaco sequence...

This film then just leaves you wishing SOMEBODY above Favreau had gone: No! Story first and then artistic flourishes... EG- Tony Stark doesn't like being handed things... three times this comes up in the movie but NEVER is it explained... turns out- it's a homage to Oppenheimer? What the fuck boys- HITCHCOCK SAID " If you show the gun- use the gun". TOO MUCH TIME IS WASTED HERE ON SILLY CRAP!

5/10 simply for SFX and Downey Jnr... some good scenes but lacks emotional core. And restraint...