Iron Man 2: He's Good for Peace Consulting

Two years ago, Robert Downey Jr. charmed audiences with Tony Stark's smarmy playboy attitude. Jeez, we're chumps for assholes, as long as those assholes look good wearing Jaeger-LeCoultre and several flirtatious women. If he hadn't endured months of terrorist torture, developed a knack for responsibility and peace and other heartwarming attributes, and come within minutes of dying horribly, Stark would have gleefully trampled egos like bubble wrap for the entire movie. Thank God those terrorists nurtured some character in him, right? Screenwriter Justin Theroux mulled over these various elements and decided that the "dying horribly" part was most endearing of all because that's what he ran with for the popular movie's sequel. And ran ... and ran.

Let me set the record straight: I enjoyed Iron Man 2 (directed by Jon Favreau) and its two-hour running time. Downey Jr., if anything, is more entertaining than I remember. They certainly milk his quip-filled relationship with Pepper Potts for all it's worth, but Gwyneth Paltrow somehow annoys me less than she did in the first movie. Maybe because here the writers give her more credit as a smart businesswoman and not just some pushover who can't scan a key card, walk very well in expensive heels, or do much else besides scamper after her darling boss, I liked her more. That's a fair assumption, I think.

For the most part, Iron Man 2 juggles action and story fairly well, although it sort of swindles audiences on the action bit. Theroux tweaks Tony Stark's blatant alcoholism from the comics (the famous "Demon in a Bottle" storyline) into palladium poisoning from Stark's arc reactor, a mortal threat that often makes him appear drunk or at least buzzed. In other words, Tony faces deathly peril once again, and spends the film's majority correcting this problem. The writer ropes Tony's late father into the plot, creating some touching personal moments that still fail to feel altogether necessary. And while Tony is solving his heart "puzzle," villain Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) mucks up antagonist Justin Hammer's (Sam Rockwell) day and builds an ever tougher suit to confront Tony Stark. So there's a lot of downtime where people construct highly advanced technology based on elaborate scientific reasoning that holds about as much weight as a paper bag.

While the final fight sequence, along with the movie's other action scenes, catches your attention, I can't help but feel that it's resolved too quickly to convince you that anyone burned more than a few calories in the effort. Especially when it comes to Vanko. Rourke successfully portrays him as one of the film's most interesting characters, yet the only engaging scenes with him occur when he's sitting around stroking his bird (that's not a dirty joke, thank you) and making Hammer look like an idiot. When he finally gets to fling those electric whips around and hog some screen time, Tony basically just flicks the Russian in the forehead and he's toast.

The casting, besides Downey Jr. and Rourke and I suppose Rockwell, who sufficiently irritates me as an obnoxious character (so, actually, kudos to him because he dances like a tool)—overall the casting doesn't impress me much. Don Cheadle doesn't tap into the right vein as Rhodey, at least not as well as Terrence Howard did in the first movie. Scarlett Johansson, who plays Natalie Rushman (aka Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow) manages to scrape by with a few ass-kicking scenes, but usually she poses as a red-haired backdrop, and I find it somewhat odd that Fury forgets to mention her code name, unless I missed something. And speaking of Nick Fury, the Avengers director, Samuel L. Jackson slaps on an eye patch and a personality picked out of a hat and says his lines. I could never pin down whether Jackson meant to channel a professional leader or Tony's best buddy from college. Separately, my affection for Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) grew for some reason; maybe I like that Gregg's character really could have cared less that Tony sneaks off the premise after so adamantly warning him not to leave.

Of course, I don't mean to paint Iron Man 2 in a totally negative light. Downey Jr. honestly saves this film with his performance, and the humor, never lessening, keeps those two hours running strong. The movie featuring both Black Widow and Whiplash (Ivan Vanko), the story doesn't overload your senses and actually handles the characters' roles with level-headed consideration. The action sprinkles its surreal choreography evenly throughout the film, but unfortunately the scenes wrap up too quickly, and audiences are left wanting something the film never truly delivers: escalation (and no, not the Gotham City kind). Iron Man 2, unlike its predecessor, maintains a solid pace but never gears the action or plot into overdrive. The movie never hurls surprises or sharp projectiles or small children at you from the shady corner where it was hiding. It's happy enough to lounge around, sitting on its little movie hands, and tell you upfront that Vanko is evil, Hammer is a jerk, Tony is dying, and that's not Vanko's bird.