The summer movie season launches today with the high octane, multiplex-flexing “Iron Man 2.” I’ve already offered up a few comments in today’s Oscar Talk special, and Guy gave it some ink last week, but cut loose with your own views here once you see it today, over the weekend, whenever. Thumbs up? Thumbs down? In fact, while you’re at it, vote in our new sidebar poll.
Comments
45 responses to “Tell us what you thought of ‘Iron Man 2’”
I thought it was 2 hours of pure awesome, and despite a few nitpicky flaws of mine, I had a great time and I think it’s still a fine piece of blockbuster entertainment, better than 90% of things released these days.
It does its job. I don’t think Favreau is the greatest action director, and most of the special effects sequences are underwhelming, especially the lengthy climax. But the acting is excellent, and the dialogue has the same improvisational, off-kilter feel as the original. I wish it had been more character-focused, but as it is, it still functions as a strong piece of solid entertainment.
Not as good as the first, but enjoyable. Its mix bag of performances, characters, plot lines, plodding, and action sequences that work while others don’t. The film needed a real focus. Perhaps Favreau rushed this one out too fast.
I liked it a lot and I think that the “it’s too convoluted” critique is ridiculous. Sure, the film was busy and had a lot of characters, but it wasn’t difficult to follow at all. Rather, it was very engaging,
it was funny and fun enough. i liked it.
Mm, loved it. Love that middle section. I mean, actually building to the main set-piece instead of having one follow another in rapid succession? Crazy!
My main thought is that there’s no way it can live up to the freshness and novelty of the original, much like how the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels could never live up to the original because it was just that, original. Iron Man 2 may not be perfect, but upon rewatching the first film recently, Iron Man wasn’t perfect either. In any case, Iron Man 2 is still one hell of a ride, even if it doesn’t feel as fresh as the first film.
Also, Favreau pushed for a later release date, but Paramount and Marvel pushed hard to get a sequel out ASAP, which, IMO hurt the scripting process a bit. Overall, I loved the film, because it was numerous in nerdgasm moments. The comic book nerd in me loves it more the the critic in me had a few issues. So the good just outweighed the bad.
It was alright. Saw the midnight show. Way too tired. Should not have gotten drunk the night before. Not enough sleep.
I thought it was pretty lame. Outside of Sam Rockwell and RDJ being amusing at times this movie had nothing to offer. Major letdown from the first one.
Jacob, I don’t think anyone would argue it’s too difficult because of all those storylines and characters. Quite the opposite instead. Very mediocre film. A 5/10.
It was a BLAST! :)
I actually liked it better than the first.
Never in my life have I had a more painful experience watching a summer movie. This movie gave me a headache and I fell asleep for a few minutes. Nothing happens in this movie. The action is pointless. The characters’ motivations are those of cardboard cut-outs, and some characters are completely useless (Scarlett Johannson). There’s no point to the entire film; no theme; nothing to say. Never have I witness a summer action movie with just two action scenes and a whole lot of nothing else. Wow. Whoever wrote this movie needs to reconsider their profession. This was an embarrassment of the first order.
The last act was the strongest but very underwhelming as a whole. There were def. moments in the first two/thirds were I felt the movie was pretty much awful.
And I agree that the Iron Man/War Machine dynamic was handled horribly. I remember one of the rumors floating when Terrence Howard left the sequel was he was unhappy with how his character was handled in the script, and if that is the case I can see why.
It was fun but like tth the first movie, it`s performances that make it work, not mediocre direction. Favreau is such a nothing of a director. He lucked out with directing something that would sell like hotcakes even if The Rat was behind the camera, and Favreau did nothing better than directors labelled as hacks. But he has a stellar cast and they saved the day. RDJ is trully fantastic. Everyone did their job. They all made Favreau look acceptable as a director.
I hope the buzz for IM 2 is better than critical response so it can sweep Robin Hood`s leg. Now that`s a horrible bore and miscast diatribe if there was ever one.
I thought the movie was unfocused, with too many useless characters, scenes, and plots. Some are even boring (Samuel L Jackson) and irritating (Sam Rockwell). The SHIELD team, the party and drunk scene, they are all useless. Plus, there are some uncertainty in the iron man suit captivation by Don Cheadle and the Army. I mean, what for??
But, I agree to Ninja, the actors, most notably RDJ, saved Favreau’s ass. He and his random coolness, tech savvy, and bad boy image totally won the hearts over, from Day 1.
Sam Jackson in his worst movie roll ever? I knew this was going to happen when he was cast as Nick Fury. He didn’t play Nick Fury he played Sam Jackson. Other than that it was ok not convoluted and I didn’t think it had too many new characters. I didn’t like how everything was Tony Stark’s fault. He was caused all the problems in the movie because he was a jackass.
I really enjoyed Iron Man 2. The film was just as good as the first one in terms of entertainment, but the first one is much, much better in terms of overall quality.
Downey was terrific, and the rest of the cast was great. Rockwell and Rourke didn’t give the powerful performances that the trailers promised, but they still gave terrific performances.
The inclusion of multiple plots (Stark’s personal dilemmas, Ivan Vanko/Justin Hammer, Avengers) could have been handled better, but as a whole I enjoyed it.
You want to know what I thought about Iron Man 2? You want to know what I THOUGHT!!! WELL, I’ll TELL you what I THOUGHT…!
I haven’t seen it yet. Sorry! :-)
I really really enjoyed myself. It was what it was, and I don’t expect many (if any) other summer blockbusters to be near as fun. Downey is still the most well cast superhero in the history of the genre, but the rest of the cast was terrific as well. It had it’s flaws, but most of them didn’t bother me too much.
Never saw the first one. Had trepidation going in – especially with all the mixed reviews – not so surprising I found a lot to be entertained by. Rated as pure carefree entertainment three stars – rated as an actual movie two and a half stars – hope that makes sense to everyone who’s not me?
A huge disappointment, though I agree with Anne Thompson that Mickey Rourke acquits himself well.
The drunk scene was an abomination, and took me right out of the film. Overall though I thought it was a very fun–if unfocused–night at the cinema. Sam Rockwell puts in the best performance of the bunch, and Scarlett Johanssen kicking ass made my day. Even as a gay boy I found myself drooling at her.
I liked it. Very very good sequel.
Boring.
I thought it was fun to watch, but not as good as the first one. As great of an actor as Don Cheadle is, he doesn’t work here. Terrence Howard was a much better “Rhodey”. Plus, during the race scene, the blond to Sam Rockwell’s left was bugging the crap out of me.
The way I look at it, it was more of the same, and since I enjoyed Iron Man, I liked this one too. I gave Iron Man 3 1/2 stars. I give Iron Man 2 3 stars.
Oops. I meant Sam Rockwell’s right.
When ScarJo first showed up in the skin tight suit, I could tell every guy (and perhaps some girls) were thinking “Damn!”
I enjoyed it! I was expecting much worse from the reviews I saw pouring in. The action sequences were well-done, and the film handled multiple villains so much better than, say, Spider-Man 3. I could tell that Rhodes’ character had a few problems most likely due to the behind the scenes drama. Putting on my film critics hat, I’ll give it about 8/10, with my entertainment hat on, 9.5/10.
And Zac…I agree about that blonde woman!
Johannson is hot.
Yes, Johannsson is hot and young and fills skin-tight suit well. Unlike that old woman who is unexplicably cast as Maid Marian just because she has Oscar cred, nevermind that main requirement for playing Maid is youth, not critical fawning over. That helps but isn`t a must-have. What I`m sayinf is support Scar-Jo,reject Blanchett next week. Hollywood needs to come to its senses.
thought it was fun could have been a little shorter
Haha. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I think that Will’s short-and-to-the-point feelings on the film will be similar to mine.
I bet most regular movie goers who see it will think ‘that was fun, could have been a little shorter’, as well.
They won’t be discussing intricate plot points, or who should have been cast for what, or how fascinating the art direction was, or how the tonal shifts weren’t quite right, etc, etc..
I love discussing those fine details in figuring out how I feel about a film, but it’s just funny to take a step back and say what we really feel in the briefest of forms.
i.e., “That was fun, but a bit long. RDJ is cool. Boring in the middle. Looking forward to the next Iron Man. What’s playing next week?” etc. haha
“Unlike that old woman who is unexplicably cast as Maid Marian…”
She’s “Lady Marian” in this particular interpretation of the story, actually. Not that it’s really worth arguing finer points with kids who think of attractive 40 year-olds as “old women.”
Cate Blanchett is one of the most stunningly beautiful women I’ve ever seen. She does much more for me than Scarlett Johansson.
Must be an either/or with Blanchett and Johansson? Can’t one have both?
You can have them both but only Scar-Jo can be in a summer hit. because she`s perfect for it.
I thought the first 45 minutes were almost perfect but then it got muddled in the middle. Pretty good overall.
I think a highlight no one has talked about yet was the trailers before the movie. The Inception trailer was fantastic and the Super 8 trailer was also really good.
Now, see, I was SO looking forward to some awesome Inception and Super 8 trailers, but instead I had to sit trough such sludge as Grown-Ups, A Team, and Robin Hood, which I already wrote off ages ago. The only trailer that caught my attention was The Last Airbender, which I agree with Kris in that it could be something fantastic or fall on it’s face. M. Night Shyamalan directing a straightforward action flick? We shall see.
I enjoyed it overall. I liked Mickey Rourke’s performance, Sam Rockwell wasn’t bad, but I found Scarlett Johansson’s character to be rather unnecessary and the weakest point of the film. It will be interesting if they still keep the same screenwriter for the next film.
Kris and Anne were right: the first act is fine, but the rest is not so hot. What was keeping Robert Downey Jr. from curing himself earlier in the film? He manages to solve that health problem so quickly that I didn’t understand why it was there at all. And it occurred to me, watching the long, loud battle sequence at the end, that tennis matches are tense and exciting precisely because we understand the limits of what the players can do physically. Here it was never clear what advantages/limitations Downey and Cheadle have relative to Rourke and the droids, so it wasn’t tense at all. I just sat there waiting for Downey to win because he has to: it’s his franchise. Oh! And that was insane that Downey has this secret laser ability that he keeps in reserve until a ways into the droid fight. “Next time lead with that,” Cheadle says, to cover for the plot cheat. Then Rourke shows up, but Downey doesn’t use the laser power again! WTF? Downey’s persona is very, very appealing, and I like his interaction with Gwyneth Paltrow. The movie should just keep to that. I know, I know: Taiwanese teenagers demand big explosions. But can’t Hollywood disappoint them just once?
Frank…not to be a “little prick”, but Stark did say that he could only use the laser power once, presumably meaning he has to recharge/restock it the next time he’s in lab. Otherwise, ITA about being like “Well, of course he’s gonna win, isn’t it his movie?”, and for that matter, I was worried the battle against Rourke would be long and drawn out but thankfully it was over rather quickly.
Hans: Thanks for pointing that out about the “once only” use of the laser power. I didn’t think the movie had lost me at any point, but I don’t remember that.
All I have to say is, in regards to #30, Cate Blanchett is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY sexier than Scarlett Johansson. Sexiness is about far more than just physical beauty, and frankly Scarlett Johansson’s physical beauty is a bit too stereotypical anyway to interest me. Cate Blanchett’s looks are more intriguing, her poise is more graceful, and she seems like someone who would be more interesting to actually engage with in a person-to-person sort of way, rather than just a genitals-to-genitals sort of way. I’m like genuinely offended that anyone would fawn over SJ and then write off Cate Blanchett as an uninteresting “old lady”… and I’m a red-blooded college-aged male.
Oh, and Iron Man 2 was good fun but pretty pedestrian, and I don’t think it was a waste of 2 hours and 10 bucks but I probably won’t ever watch it again.
Finally saw it.
Impressi0ns:
– First 29-30 minutes are fanastic.
– I enjoyed the 3 action sequences (raceway, b-day party, expo).
– ScarJo, please marry me.
– The dialogue throughout was fantastic.
but …
– The story was not.
– Sam Rockwell irked me for the first time ever.
– Samuel L. Jackson felt superfluous here.
Overall, sans some boring stretches in the middle, and the nagging feeling of it being a ‘bridge’ movie btwn. 1 and 3 … I did like a lot in it. 7/10.
Meant that to be 20, not 29.