Iron Bru

Iron Man 2
Starring: Robert Downey Jnr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson
Director: John Favreau
Rating: *** (out of 5)

Summary: Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr) has announced to the world that he is Iron Man and in doing so has successfully, in his opinion, privatised world peace. However, a disgruntled Russian mercenary known as Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) also has access to the technology that makes Iron Man tick and is willing to sell it to the highest bidder...

The first Iron Man film came out of nowhere. The character wasn't well known, Robert Downey Jnr was according to Hollywood tabloids and internet forums, a washed up has been and director John Favreau had just directed flop Jumanji sequel Zathura and Christmas favourite Elf - hardly a recipe for success. Against the odds though Iron Man was a fantastic handful of grade A Hollywood popcorn and Downey Jnr a revelation in the role of hard drinking, fun loving genius Tony Stark.

Therefore Iron Man 2 comes to the screen withall the pressure of hype, bigger budget and tentpole lead actors which hinder most summertime comic book adaptations and unfortunately it cracks under the weight of expectation - like Gwyneth Paltrow's ribs if Mickey Rourke ever made love to her.

This doesn't mean that Iron Man 2 is a complete disaster of Clash of the Titans proportions. The action set pieces, especially the introduction of Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) amongst the speedy streets of F1 hosting Monaco are exciting enough, and Sam Rockwell as arms dealing Justin Hammer along with humourless American Senator Gary Shandling are nice touches which are portrayed with the necessary tongue in cheek which all Marvel comic book adaptations are known for. But for all its whizz and bang what is missing in this second outing is something which will make your mind explode in a shower of primary colours and rapiers wit.

In fact the main purveyor of that wit, Robert Downey Jnr, seems to need a Iron Manesqe superhuman pacemaker to put his all into the film. Only perking up when he has some screwball comedy dialogue with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Pawltrow), Stark's failing health and self destructive streak are unconvincingly portrayed and struggle to have any emotional resonance with the audience.

The blame for this however cannot be placed solely at Downey Jnr's feet. Marvel studios continuing race towards an Avengers movie means a number of plot points, characters and comic book cameos have to be shoehorned into an already bloated plot. The perfect example of this being Scarlett Johansson's Natalie Rushman aka Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. Of course she looks fantastic in skin tight leather which hugs her hour glass frame as she punches and kicks her way through a corridor of dispensable henchmen but her interruption of Stark when he's in full alcohol fuelled self loathing mode means the darker side of the Iron Man/Tony Stark character is never fully explored - instead we have to see an Iron Man dance routine and a quick game of fullsize Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots.

Iron Man 2 is bloated, confused and lacking any kind of focus and it's a sequel to a Hollywood blockbuster by numbers. Sure it has great special effects and more glamourous and colourful characters but just like Harrison Ford at the end of Raiders - no arcs.

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