Iron Man 2 Mini-Review
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READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
So, I recently saw Iron Man 2. Solid action and interesting characters rule the day, though there’s a lot of needless banter and the storyline could have used some compression. Besides that, a few thoughts come to mind…
1. Sam Rockwell totally nails it as Justin Hammer by playing him as this gangly, gigantic dork. After I saw that, I knew Rockwell would be perfect for my adaptation of Sarah, Plain and Tall. He’ll make a very convincing Sarah.
2. As much as I love Samuel L. Jackson, his scenes really didn’t accomplish much. They got a script doctor to clean up the first Iron Man, why not this one? Who knows. Maybe all the script doctors were still sick after trying to fix Marmaduke.
3. James Rhodes is played by a different actor in this movie, which always bugs me. If I like a character and they change his actor, I’ll never feel completely good about that character again. It’s like trying to balance out your birthday by hiring someone to mug you.
4. Why is Tony Stark allowed to race in the Monaco Grand Prix? Does he just bust into places and wave the Iron Man card? “I’m Iron Man. Sorry, this funeral is cancelled. Hey, you know what makes me feel better when I’m down? Zinfandel.”
5. For a CEO of a technology company, Pepper Potts sure walks around in a lot of tight miniskirts. I’ve had worse, though. My old boss was so into recycling that, when lunchtime came around, he just chewed on his edible business suit.
6. I guess it makes sense that the Iron Man suit lets you urinate in it, but does it handle all the other bodily functions? What if a woman uses it on her period? Is there a cylinder loading system to fire a Kotex for in-flight emergencies?
7. I’m still amazed that Tony’s dad knew ahead of time to make a diorama resembling the atomic structure of the element Tony had to make. That’s one hell of an inheritance. When my dad passed away, all he left me was a threat not to follow him.
RECOMMENDED? Yes. All in all, I echo what the critics say: Iron Man 2 is a solid flick, if not as good at the first one. Give it a watch. And remember – stay until after the credits for an extra scene. Excelsior!
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If I recall correctly (and I may not, it’s been over two years since I looked into it), you can race in the Formula 1 Grand Prix if you are able to field a team and pass the road test for speed. That’s why companies keep popping in and out of the championship (looking at you, Honda), depending on how well they are doing financially.
seriously, the early years of the formula are all about the millionaire playboys and the young hopefuls backed by the big car companies.
Stark Industries being a company dealing in the biggest world market after cocaine, coffee and tobacco can probably shill out the odd billion for the races. I mean, for fucks sake, Benetton had an F1 team once!
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Matt Willard Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 7:17 AM
Ah, but that’s a team. Tony just popped in, kicked a random driver out, and took his spot. There was no indication that Stark Industries ever had a racing team, or that Tony had ever been interested in racing before that point.
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DawnOfMinstrel Reply:
May 17th, 2010 at 3:14 AM
@Matt Willard,
Well, when I meant team, I meant the drivers, pit team, engineers. Seriously, I don’t think there has ever been a team which had more than two drivers.
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Matt Willard Reply:
May 17th, 2010 at 6:01 AM
All the same, he still kicked out a driver and was allowed to race for no on-screen reason.
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James Kinkade Reply:
May 18th, 2010 at 11:12 PM
@James Kinkade,
I was under the impression that Tony Stark owned the racing team, which is probably a viable option although they could have put it in the script earlier to plant the seeds, so to speak.
Having said that, that Monaco grand prix bit was excellent – how often do you see F1 in a film
[Reply]
Matt Willard Reply:
May 19th, 2010 at 4:57 AM
If they had just said, “Stark Industries owns this team”, I would’ve let it go. Maybe they did during all the banter and I missed it.
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Damn, didn’t stay till the credits!!!
Agree with you, script could have done with a little tightening up.
Really enjoyable film though – and pretty much does what Iron Man does
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I also hate it when James Rhodes’ character was played by a different actor. It would probably be a greater movie if they kept the old actor in the sequel. But all in all, I still like the movie.
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What I found confusing was Ivan Vanko’s plan-of-action at Monte Carlo… or lack thereof. His aim is to enact revenge on Tony, but he doesn’t know that he’s in the Stark Industries racecar, so… whip shit up?
But overall? The movie is great fun. JUST AS GOOD as the original, I say. And Rhodes being played by a different actor didn’t bother me at all. It’s the character that counts, and if the performance does it justice – as Cheadle did here, fitting the dual-role of sympathetic friend and military man better than Terrence Howard – I have no qualms.
And yeah, Rockwell slugged it out of the ballpark as Hammer. I need a .gif of him dancing.
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Matt Willard Reply:
June 7th, 2010 at 5:36 AM
Yeah, Cheadle still did a good job, so it wasn’t a totally bad transition. As for Vanko, I agree that he had no real way of knowing that Tony was going to take over one of the cars. I think the racing scene should’ve been thought over a little bit more.
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I agree there is nothing worst than changing a character on a sequel, Howard Terrance was ok as James Rhodes and Cheadle also did a good job, but a replacement is a replacement and it ruins sequels. I hated when they replaced Katie Holmes with Rachel McAdams to play as Rachel Dawes in Batman the Dark Knight.
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