I finally got to see Iron Man 2 on DVD after missing it in the cinemas. The reviews that came out at the time were a bit sniffy about it. "It's ok, not as good as the first one" seemed to be the general consensus.
With that in mind I watched the movie and thought, "hey, it's not bad." At the weekend I decided to watch it again and now I have realised it's actually a very solid Marvel adaptation and is much better than "just ok".
The first movie ended with Tony Stark revealing that he was Iron Man and the second movie begins with the US government quite believably wanting their hands on the Iron Man "Weapon". This is one of the main story treads throughout the movie.
Another major plot point is that using the suit is slowly killing Tony and his behaviour becomes more erratic. I'm not an expert on the Iron Man comics but I'm aware of the character's alcoholism and a story called "Demon in a Bottle". I guess this is the movie acknowledging the comics while staying kid-friendly.
Speaking of kid-friendly there is shameless piece of product placement...
Sam Rockwell is in danger of stealing the show as rival weapon manufacturer Justin Hammer who wants to sell Iron Man suits to the US military. His description of the "ex wife" missile is a highlight. Mickey Rourke is not bad as Russian Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash.
And finally I get to see the Black Widow in action, as played by Scarlett Johansson. The Black Widow is one of my favourite Marvel characters so I would have liked to have heard just a tiny hint of a Russian accent but otherwise I have to admit Scarlett did a decent job playing the Widow as suitably bad-ass.
If there's a negative it's Sam Jackson's Nick Fury. He turns up halfway through and does his trademark Sam Jackson act, which is just a little jarring has he's playing against the relaxed and understated Robert Downey Jr who can do a lot with very little. Sam Jackson has to do a LOT with a LOT and it's out of place, frankly.
All in all an enjoyable movie. And to finish off here's a gratuitous look at the Black Widow poster.
