ViewGuide

Created May 13, 2010 11:23PM PST • Edited Jun 10, 2018 01:11PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Great 4.0

   Another rocket ride of irony, innuendo and immolation, Iron Man 2 picks up where Iron Man 1 left off. Dutifully advancing Marvel’s narrative about a glossy world of marvelous titans, it crackles with wit, energy and sexual tension.

   That said, it’s distinctly less delightful than its predecessor, albeit equally brilliant and eminently acceptable. Frequently LOL, often fascinating, occasionally even thought provoking, it suffers from a weak supporting cast, dialogue that’s more Tin Man than Iron Man when Robert Downey Jr. isn’t on screen, and a forced march of Marvel dictated exposition.

   Still, blockbusters that work are worth treasuring. And this work-of-iron is often solid-gold.

   Looking ahead two years, let’s hope The Avengers and IM3 return to the purple perfection of IM1, still the number two all time TopPik

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

   Robert Downey Jr. stands alone, effortlessly adept. Most every other performance seemed labored or mannered, though many are from first rate actors. Take Mickey Rourke’s mealy-mouthed Russian, with his fey hair and proto-Klingon visage. Usually indelible, here Rourke’s nearly unintelligible.

   • Sam Rockwell – another exceptional actor – gave his corporate shmuck the necessary swagger, but couldn’t muster more than a modicum of charisma.
   • Scarlett Johansson’s not a first rate actor, and she sure as hell ain’t no Hit-Girl. Unintentionally ridiculous, she loused up several chunks of the movie. A leather-clad poseur, she brings to mind … yes, you guessed it: Halle Berry’s Catwoman. Meow.
   • Gwyneth Paltrow didn’t have to do much as Pepper Potts, yet failed to be credible as someone capable of running Stark Industries.
   • John Slattery – so scintillating as Roger Sterling on Mad Men – here seemed bland as Howard Stark, Tony’s eminent Father.
   • Don Cheadle hardly proves an improvement over Terrence Howard.
   • Jon Favreau was a hoot in his own movie. You go Happy Hogan.

5. Male Stars Perfect 5.0

   RDJr

6. Female Stars OK 2.5

   Gwyneth and Scarlett

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

   Leslie Bibb

8. Male Costars Good 3.0

   Mickey Rourke & Sam Rockwell. Also Samuel Jackson & Jon Favreau & Don Cheadle.

10. Film

    Great 4.0

    Several bulls-eyes and a few misses: an example of the former – the hottie partay at Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion, complete with a grooving Iron Man; of the latter, Iron Man and War Machine’s unengaging intramural fight.

11. Direction Great 4.0

    Gotta ding Jon Favreau a bit for the silly Scarlett Johansson freeze frame poses. L-L-Loser.

    OTOH, props for being a major kingpin. I’d estimate 1,000 people worked the production, including 75 stunt men, 75 drivers, 75 artists, 75 model makers, and 75 hairdressers – 11 for Mickey Rourke alone and another 2 for Downey’s beard. OK, that last is a joke, but suffice it to say that this is a big, big show.

12. Play Very Good 3.5

    Full of cool, dry badinage, the script soared as high as a man in a rocket suit when wryly celebrating the narcissism of powerful men – industrialists and politicians alike, then crashed to Earth explicating the machinations of the less exalted players around them.

    IOW, the dialogue was more Tin Man than Iron Man whenever Downey wasn’t on screen.

13. Music Perfect 5.0

    AC/DC and The Clash headline another killer soundtrack. Shoot to Thrill indeed.

14. Visuals Really Great 4.5
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 1.8

    Comik violence and double entendres.

17. Sex Titillating 1.7

18. Violence Fierce 2.0

19. Rudeness Salty 1.7

21. Reality

    Supernatural 3.4

    Comik commentary on disarmament theory: Is a unipolar world best for all when the predominant power is not fundamentally malicious? IM2 says yes. A superior weapon – wielded for protection, not conquest – provides a safety umbrella under which society thrives. Hobble the noble champion and bad actors become tempted to seek their advantage, consequences and collateral damage be damned.

22. Circumstantial Surreal 2.4

23. Biological Supernatural 3.8

24. Physical Fantasy 4.1