Movie Review - Iron Man 2

It goes without saying that expectations are high for this movie. And while it isn't horrible, it doesn't live up to those expectations. There are 2 main beefs I have with this film.

One is the bad guys. Whiplash was an old dude in a high-tech wife-beater and a couple of electrified whips. With as much skin as Whiplash had exposed, it's amazing no one put a bullet in his melon or just threw a bucket of water on him, let alone flying debris and flammables. Justin Hammer was a cartoon character of a bad guy. He wasn't menacing, he was just a smarmy asshole and smarmy doesn't work going against Tony Stark / Robert Downey Jr.


The second is the tech. While the suitcase armor is a nice callback to the classic cartoon, it just doesn't seem realistic. Some of the other stuff is spoiler material, so you'll have to see for yourself.

The movie was mostly saved by Downey. He is still spot on as Stark, though not as much a playboy as last time around. Scarlett Johannson was great to look at and competent in her role (can't fault her for not being "Russian" enough as it would be hard to maintain a cover with a Boris and Natasha accent) but some of her fight scenes looked more like gymnastic routines than bad ass.

Overall 3.5 armored-suit-wearing billionaire flying monkeys.