Iron Man 2 Review!

Once upon a time there was this little upstart comic book company called Marvel who arrived in the early sixties with a new crop of superheroes that were quite a bit different than the classic superheroes of DC comics (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc). These heroes were different in the sense that they seemed more human, more accessible, more like us...so geeky little kids who were a bit overweight like me could actually dream about turning into a superhero like Spider-man. But Marvel was smart enough to steal some of DC's best ideas like teaming up their best heroes as a super team called The Avengers in one comic book. What Marvel did comic book wise, they are now doing in a cinematic fashion....with better than average results.

Iron Man 2 is just such a wink-wink kind of film that reveals small pieces of a greater and grander story arc that keeps us watching through the endless seeming end credits....gutting through all the assistants, costumers, and CGI artists to get one last scene with a little clue towards what lies ahead. And the rest of Iron Man 2 is worth the wait to get to these little juicy asides. Iron Man 2 happens to be a worthy successor to it's 2008 predecessor.

Once again the CGI is fairly eyepopping with all the fight scenes, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) changing into his Iron Man armor, chase scenes, hot women like Gwneyth Paltrow and Scarlet Johansson..... and the usual shenanigans you would expect from a very smart action flick. But Downey Jr. always makes the difference in these films....no matter how fantasy world it all might be...Downey Jr. grounds it all very well. Computer screens suspended before him magically, are crumbled up and thrown away like baseballs or paper wads all with a comic aplomb. And the scenes with Paltrow and Downey Jr have a comic tartness of writing and delivery that reminds me fondly of the best comic team ups in Hollywood, of Tracy and Hepburn or Powell and Loy.

There is also story here as well...Stark finding out new things about his father and Stark reacting to the continued degradation of his health. It is a fine mess of a comic book/action flick movie that centers itself around Downey Jr's sometimes manic performance. Well worth the time and money to see the next chapter towards The Avengers film that must come soon!

TH Reviews rating of Iron Man 2: Four stars out of Five!