IRON MAN 2
May 6th 2010 00:20
Category: Movies
Director: Jon Favreau
Screenplay by: Justin Theroux
Producers: Kevin Fiege
Starring: Robert Downey Jnr (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Don Cheadle (Lt Col James Rhodes), Samuel L Jackson (Nick Fury), Scarlett Johansson (Natalie Rushman), Sam Rockwell (Justin Hammer), Mickey Rourke (Ivan Vanko), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Garry Shandling (Senator Stern), John Slattery (Howard Stark), Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan) & Yevgeni Lazarev (Anton Vanko)
Produced by: Marvel Studios
Released by: 2010 Paramount Pictures
Running Time: 130 minutes Rating: M
It’s interesting to note that when I did a review of the original Iron Man flick approximately two years ago I said that it had caught a dose of FFS (Fantastic Four Syndrome) this being where the second film in a superhero flick series is better than the original. After emerging from the stygian deeps of my local cinema and into the cold hard glare of an autumnal afternoon it was very much the case, a classic example of FFS. This time around the production team decided to go with a purely action packed superhero flick rather than attempting to make a film that was all things to all men and ended up being a real dud story wise. Here the focus is on the character of Iron Man, the suit that makes him the hero he is and the potential danger that such technology poses to the geopolitical situation as whether or not the US government has a legal right to such technology. All interesting stuff and this time around the storytelling is nice, tight and taut rather than being a mish mash that plods along in places and goes nowhere in others.
The second film kicks off some six months after the events of the first film, that flick concluded with Tony Stark revealing that he is Iron Man, the red and gold suited superhero who combated the bad guys and effectively brought an end to the double dealings of Stark Industries insider Obadiah Stane. Looking at the character of Tony Stark we see an individual who is immensely talented in the fields of science, engineering and IT amongst others, but a man who lives like every moment is his last, who has an ego that is possibly the size of Jupiter and who doesn’t take kindly to be lectured to by governmental authorities who he feels are rather incompetent at what they should be doing…namely keeping their nose out of his business.
Strangely you would think that such a character is an unlikely candidate for being a superhero, but even though he is something of a wild man Stark has an inherent sense of justice and responsibility it’s just that he shows it in decidedly unconventional and unique ways. Also he doesn’t claim to be a paragon of virtue – an ascetic who eschews all the pleasures of the flesh and live to a high moral code, rather he seek to do right but knows that he has flaws and quirks like anyone else. Interestingly I cannot imagine anyone other than Robert Downey Jnr playing this particular role, for me he is Tony Stark/Iron Man no one else could probably get away with it so convincingly. So with the opening of this particular flick what is happening in the world of Iron Man 2?
As always there is something brewing on the horizon and in this case the something is a rival scientist from behind the former Iron Curtain, a man who has a burning hatred for the Stark family caused by a tragedy inflicted on his father all so many years ago. This man is Ivan Vanko, a brilliant physicist and scientist who working away in his workshop deep in a Moscow slum is creating the means to bring an end to Iron Man, Tony Stark and the Stark Industries commercial empire. Interestingly as Ivan works away painstakingly in his workshop, crafting and honing the device that will be the instrument of his vengeance Tony Stark is sitting at a Senate hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee chaired by Senator Stern.
The purpose behind this committee hearing is to gain control of the Iron Man suit for the US government, to reign in Stark and his antics by claiming the technology that made him Iron Man by applying the hoary old chestnuts of national security and national interest. There is a fear that now that this technology exists it is only a matter of time before others come up with it and the world becomes embroiled in arms race focusing on powered combat armour and the US needs to be ahead of the game. Shades of the Cold War and nuclear deterrence philosophy coming into play in the storyline, although it’s handled in a very slick manner. Something like this would be an issue if such a technology existed and wasn’t in the hands of those the government deemed ‘responsible’. Starks response is akin to that made by Truman in regards to the Russian’s gaining nuclear weapons – he never felt that it was going to be possible that they would get the bomb and in Iron Man 2 Stark feels that it’s unlikely that anyone else will construct a similar suit in less than five years, more likely twenty in the case of North Korea and other states.
What Stark failed to account for is the fact that there might be someone out there just as smart, if not smarter, than him who can duplicate what he has done. He soon discover the era of his thinking when Vanko confronts him in a most suitably violent manner in the city of Monaco some time after the Senate hearing. Once again there are similarities here with the arms race and the Cold War, Truman never felt that the Russians could create an atomic weapon or if they did it would be so far down the track. One wonders what he felt when in 1949, five years after the first use of an atomic device the Russians detonated their own nuclear weapon. After being confronted by Vanko on the race track Stark no doubt sheepishly realises that his assessment re; armour suits is probably way way off track and that the genie is out of the bottle and is unlikely to be put back.
When the dust finally settled on the clash of armour suited individuals in a vast technological expo set up in Flushing, New York City, I knew that without a doubt my money had been well spent seeing this flick and it had been an enjoyable experience. Of course I do confess that my favourite bits in the flick involve Samuel L Jackson’s portrayal of Nick Fury, the eye patch wearing chief of SHIELD, he almost stole the show with this particular role. I was also interested in that there were certain little snippets and items dropped into the show that seem to hint at either other projects being undertaken by Marvel or the groundwork for an Iron Man 3. Watch for the strange looking shield in the flick as well as a folder marked Avengers Initiative, is their likely to be a mega crossover flick in the works? Or is there going to be an Iron Man 3 involving a larger superhero cast? Time will tell, still this movie is well worth going to watch and if you have the time and means then do so.
Screenplay by: Justin Theroux
Producers: Kevin Fiege
Starring: Robert Downey Jnr (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Don Cheadle (Lt Col James Rhodes), Samuel L Jackson (Nick Fury), Scarlett Johansson (Natalie Rushman), Sam Rockwell (Justin Hammer), Mickey Rourke (Ivan Vanko), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Garry Shandling (Senator Stern), John Slattery (Howard Stark), Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan) & Yevgeni Lazarev (Anton Vanko)
Produced by: Marvel Studios
Released by: 2010 Paramount Pictures
Running Time: 130 minutes Rating: M
The second film kicks off some six months after the events of the first film, that flick concluded with Tony Stark revealing that he is Iron Man, the red and gold suited superhero who combated the bad guys and effectively brought an end to the double dealings of Stark Industries insider Obadiah Stane. Looking at the character of Tony Stark we see an individual who is immensely talented in the fields of science, engineering and IT amongst others, but a man who lives like every moment is his last, who has an ego that is possibly the size of Jupiter and who doesn’t take kindly to be lectured to by governmental authorities who he feels are rather incompetent at what they should be doing…namely keeping their nose out of his business.
As always there is something brewing on the horizon and in this case the something is a rival scientist from behind the former Iron Curtain, a man who has a burning hatred for the Stark family caused by a tragedy inflicted on his father all so many years ago. This man is Ivan Vanko, a brilliant physicist and scientist who working away in his workshop deep in a Moscow slum is creating the means to bring an end to Iron Man, Tony Stark and the Stark Industries commercial empire. Interestingly as Ivan works away painstakingly in his workshop, crafting and honing the device that will be the instrument of his vengeance Tony Stark is sitting at a Senate hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee chaired by Senator Stern.
The purpose behind this committee hearing is to gain control of the Iron Man suit for the US government, to reign in Stark and his antics by claiming the technology that made him Iron Man by applying the hoary old chestnuts of national security and national interest. There is a fear that now that this technology exists it is only a matter of time before others come up with it and the world becomes embroiled in arms race focusing on powered combat armour and the US needs to be ahead of the game. Shades of the Cold War and nuclear deterrence philosophy coming into play in the storyline, although it’s handled in a very slick manner. Something like this would be an issue if such a technology existed and wasn’t in the hands of those the government deemed ‘responsible’. Starks response is akin to that made by Truman in regards to the Russian’s gaining nuclear weapons – he never felt that it was going to be possible that they would get the bomb and in Iron Man 2 Stark feels that it’s unlikely that anyone else will construct a similar suit in less than five years, more likely twenty in the case of North Korea and other states.
What Stark failed to account for is the fact that there might be someone out there just as smart, if not smarter, than him who can duplicate what he has done. He soon discover the era of his thinking when Vanko confronts him in a most suitably violent manner in the city of Monaco some time after the Senate hearing. Once again there are similarities here with the arms race and the Cold War, Truman never felt that the Russians could create an atomic weapon or if they did it would be so far down the track. One wonders what he felt when in 1949, five years after the first use of an atomic device the Russians detonated their own nuclear weapon. After being confronted by Vanko on the race track Stark no doubt sheepishly realises that his assessment re; armour suits is probably way way off track and that the genie is out of the bottle and is unlikely to be put back.
When the dust finally settled on the clash of armour suited individuals in a vast technological expo set up in Flushing, New York City, I knew that without a doubt my money had been well spent seeing this flick and it had been an enjoyable experience. Of course I do confess that my favourite bits in the flick involve Samuel L Jackson’s portrayal of Nick Fury, the eye patch wearing chief of SHIELD, he almost stole the show with this particular role. I was also interested in that there were certain little snippets and items dropped into the show that seem to hint at either other projects being undertaken by Marvel or the groundwork for an Iron Man 3. Watch for the strange looking shield in the flick as well as a folder marked Avengers Initiative, is their likely to be a mega crossover flick in the works? Or is there going to be an Iron Man 3 involving a larger superhero cast? Time will tell, still this movie is well worth going to watch and if you have the time and means then do so.
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