So I’ve been away for a while, but I plan to get back to posting regularly real soon.  I had to go to a wedding and I started a new job, but I will soon have a least 3 posts a week going again.  For now, here is a review of Iron Man 2, which I saw this afternoon.

Iron Man 2

First let me say that Robert Downey, JR. continues to be a perfect Tony Stark.  He seems to be having so much fun that is is hard to not have fun with him.  The rest of the cast is really good as well.  Favreau gives himself plenty of time as Happy, but he was enjoyable.  Scarlett Johansson is hot but kind of pointless as the Black Widow, but I assume she will be given more to do in either the sequel or the Avengers movie.  Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke play some pretty forgetful villains, but that is more an effect of the script than any shortcoming on their part.  Don Cheadle is a big improvement over Howard as James Rhodes.  The actors were all more than adequate.

The plot was sort of meandering and bloated, not really much worse than the first Iron Man and not really enough to be detrimental.  Tony makes Pepper CEO of Stark Enterprises but that doesn’t really go anywhere, the Black Widow is there but is mostly pointless, as is Sam Jackson’s Nick Fury.  The first half of the movie builds up a Tony is dying plot that is solved, but never really addressed by anyone.  When it is dealt with it is dealt with quickly and forgotten.  I know I’m mentioning a lot of things I did not like, but I really liked the movie.  Iron Man 2 has some of the Spiderman 3 syndrome, in that there is a lot of stuff there that does not really need to be there.  Still the movie is stylish and fun and shallow.  The fight scenes are well done, although I do not buy Vanko as a credible threat to Tony in their first encounter.

Fun is the most important thing to remember when watching Iron Man 2.  Some of the plot is weak, but the actors, especially Downey, Jr. and Rockwell, are a joy to watch.  It is not a movie with any motive or message other than fun.  And that is enough for me.  If you want a Superhero movie that tries to do more watch the Watchmen, which is not very good, or Superman Returns, which is a complex mixture of terrific and terrible, but for pure enjoyment Iron Man 2 is as good as it gets.