New Coat of Paint (An Iron Man 2 review)

With three more days to go until the UK release of Avengers Assemble, that leaves three more Marvel Cinematic Universe films to review. Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk are down, so let's move on to the third.

Poster by Mike Saputo.

With The Avengers finally announced and moving forward as a project following Iron Man's strong box office opening in May 2008, Marvel were really beginning to lay the foundations for the film's May 2012 release. Samuel L. Jackson signed an unprecedented nine-picture deal to play Nick Fury in any films Marvel Studios produced. Thor and Captain America went into production, with the creative teams working together to create a world where modern sci-fi, high fantasy and WW2-era adventure could comfortably coincide. And, of course, we'd get an Iron Man sequel, both to show closer ties to Avengers, and because - financially speaking - Ol' Shellhead was Marvel's cinematic golden boy.

By the time Iron Man hit the cinemas, Iron Man's reputation in the comics was dire. Following the controversial Civil War event, Tony Stark now had a reputation as a mechanised crypto-fascist, imprisoning rogue superheroes in what I can best describe as Super-Guantánamo Bay without trial. He later became Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and did such a bad job that when Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, took over in his steed, this was seen as an improvement. But then, comic fans were treated to the sight of Robert Downey Jr. playing a deadpan dry-witted Tony Stark and building revolutionary technology in caves with a box of scraps, and Matt Fraction began his run on the title, taking a similar track. Fraction's run is often celebrated, often condemned, but as a comic reader relatively new to Iron Man (apart from the animated series and its kickass intro), I'm enjoying how inventive it is.

And it is this run that influences the film reviewed today, with Fraction working as a creative consultant, for better or worse. Does it hold up to the original? Let's find out after the jump as we dust off the armour and look at Iron Man 2.

Following the events of the first film, Tony Stark (a returning Robert Downey Jr.) has outed himself as Iron Man and has, in his own words, "privatised world peace". The US government wants him to surrender the Iron Man technology, but he argues that other countries are decades away from reaching an equivalent, and that the armour's his property anyway, so nyah-nyah-nyahnyah-nyah. He seems invincible, untouchable...but that façade crumbles when he's publicly assaulted by Russian scientist Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), wielding a cruder version of the Iron Man tech, complete with arc reactor. There's also Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), an eager arms dealer trying to steal the spotlight from Stark Industries by any means, even if it means co-opting the dangerous Vanko. Oh, and the fact that Tony's suffering from palladium poisoning from the arc reactor in his chest - the only thing keeping him alive.

Sounds like a real conga line of misery, doesn't it? It's surprising, then, that Iron Man 2 doesn't feel like a navel-gazing self-pity fest, nor does it feel like it's taking the usual "darker and grittier" approach to superhero sequels. It still feels as breezy and self-assured as the last film, just with a more dramatic character arc for the protagonist. Said dramatic character arc, mind you, is just a bigger version of the one from before: Tony is an arrogant jerk, brought low by his own technology, builds better version of his own technology, uses it to beat up baddies. Second verse, same as the first: same story beats, same character motivations, same number of action scenes (three, though better choreographed and improved), just with a few more bad guys chucked in.

Iron Man 2 got a more lukewarm reception than its predecessor, probably because it felt like more the same without the new film smell. In fairness, what is maintained still works; Gwyneth Paltrow continues to shine as Pepper Potts, the story still holds up even if it does get a bit deus ex machina-y towards the end, and Downey is of course having the time of his life, while still making it feel fresh. Part of the problem I had with the Sherlock Holmes sequel is that the shine had worn off slightly from Downey's performance, but not so here, as Tony still has character growth.

"Darling, we really must stop meeting like this."

Taken loosely from the famed Demon in a Bottle arc from the comics, Tony reacts to the news of his slow imminent painful death by palladium poisoning by deciding to burn out rather than fade away. He personally participates in the Circuit de Monaco, a highly dangerous race in and of itself without the sudden presence of a Russian powerhouse wielding whips of lightning on the track (a neat little evocation of The Dark Knight Returns, a comic about that other capitalist superhero). He gets massively drunk at his party and starts behaving like a jerk, trashing his home and picking fights with Rhodey (now played by Don Cheadle, and getting actual stuff to do), both wearing Iron Man suits. Obviously the film doesn't tread the dark territories that Demon in a Bottle did, but it's a logical step forward for the character presented here.

The villains are a mixed bag. Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer gets some of the best lines and delivery, with his rapid-fire pre-fab speech patterns and smarmy egotism. When he brags about how he's going to make  Iron Man "look like an antique", you sense he has the confidence to back it up, if not the credentials (his technology is clearly inferior to Stark's, as seen early on when one of his Iron Man knock-offs turns around 180 degrees with the pilot still inside). Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko/Whiplash, meanwhile...you can't accuse him of not trying. Rourke went to the sort of prisons Vanko would have lived in, chose the sort of tattoos he might have, learnt a bit of Russian for the role, and even gave his dialogue a Slovakian accent. The problem is that Vanko isn't a particularly memorable villain. He's intelligent and brutal, certainly, but he spends half the film playing Hammer's lackey, which drains whatever menace he may have had.

Critics are often keen to label Iron Man 2 as "an extended trailer for Avengers", but that isn't really true. Scarlett Johansson, as Natalie Rushman aka Natasha Romanov aka the Black Widow, is introduced early on but only contributes as a tougher, action girl version of Pepper. Her role does feel a little perfunctory, but that's really about it in terms of teasing for Avengers. S.H.I.E.L.D. themselves don't turn up for an hour with the presence of Nick Fury, and even then, all they do is create the right environment for Tony to work in within the story. Plus, I can never really say "No" to Scarlett Johansson in a tight black bodysuit taking out an entire platoon of security guards.

...Sorry, I uh...I had a point somewhere...

The ideals hinted at in Iron Man (and in my last review) are more further elaborated on here. Matt Fraction's first story arc is titled The Five Nightmares - as in Tony Stark's five biggest headaches, most of which revolve around Tony and the Iron Man technology being made redundant or outdated in some way. Hence, he holds on to it, and refuses to share it with anyone unless absolutely necessary. What with him being a self-made businessman who refuses to co-operate with the government, Iron Man can come across as the ultimate libertarian superhero; he is entirely independent, he cannot be co-opted by the powers-that-be, and he's rich enough to have condor egg omelettes for breakfast every day of his life. I think it more points to the character's inherent dilemma: he can only do good if he selfishly hoards his technology away from everyone else. He's an egotistical narcissistic alcoholic playboy, but he's on the side of the angels. He must be cruel to be kind, as it were.

It'd be interesting to see this developed further in Iron Man 3, now being helmed by Shane Black, who in the late 80's/early 90's had something of a monopoly on kickass action films with witty banter, and still does with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, his 2005 directorial debut with Downey. As it is, Iron Man 2 is just as good as the original - it's fun and charming and intelligent, if suffering a bit from bloat as it tries to cram in too many cool ideas at once, like Fraction's Iron Man. It's not without its flaws, and the shine has come off slightly, but it remains solid and entertaining enough to warrant a look.

The stinger for Iron Man 2 is actually re-used footage from the next "Road to Avengers" film to be released. Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), S.H.I.E.L.D. operative and all-around badass (who else can silence Tony Stark by threatening to taze him "and watch Supernanny while you drool on the carpet"?), mentions to Tony he's on call in New Mexico, and this is the follow-up. He approaches a digging site, and radios into who I assume to be Fury: "Sir, we found it". What they've found is a large steel warhammer.

You know it better as Mjolnir.

You'd better believe the fanboys creamed their collective jeans with this one.