Iron Man 2

Great movie

Great movie works as advertised!

Good character development of Iron Man. As with other Marvel characters, you learn what makes them tick.

I won't spend too much time on the film, as most of you who are thinking of buying this blu-ray have already seen it, but here goes; The original Iron Man was a very fun ride thanks mainly to the absolutely perfect casting of Robert Downey Jr., as he essentially IS/WAS the bad boy that Tony Stark IS/WAS. The script was fun, the effects were awesome, and while a bit by the numbers the movie had the huge benefit of the fact that Iron Man was (at the time) essentially a "B List" character in the Marvel Universe and no one really expected much out of the movie. Now Iron Man 2 has the unenviable job of following up on the momentum started in part one, but for the most part pulls it off rather well. Mickey Rourke spouts ominous lines about blood and sharks and what-not that could come off as silly except he's actually making a very true point that once you show that God (or in this case Iron Man) is mortal and can in fact be hurt people will no longer worship him. Rourke delivers a fun performance with the only gripe being that I wish he was a little more fleshed out, as he really does have a reason to hate Tony Stark and the character could have been a little less one dimensional. This is a script fault though, nothing to do with Rourke, as he makes the character work. Sam Jackson is at times a bit too Pulp Fiction-ish in his delivery but for the most part is an awesome Nick Fury. Paltrow delivers her usual good performance despite having to once again be the damsel in distress, and Scarlett J. is a wonderful Black Widow (who's true super power seems to be gorgeous self curling hair in battle scenes?). Downey is Downey, he IS Tony Stark, and minus a couple times of going a bit overkill he is awesome. A good movie, lots of Avengers set up, with an ending that's a bit rushed but overall ok. Now to the actual blu-ray. AWESOME!! Tons of content, a director's commentary that's actually fun AND informative, and tight packaging. As an added plus, the digital copy that every blockbuster has to have so they can add a "3 DISCS!" to the cover also contains a DVD copy of the film, a concept a truly wish all studios would adapt. On the bonus disc you get hours worth of featurettes, some interesting deleted scenes, an AC/DC Shoot to Thrill music video, all three of the films trailers (why are some studios NOT putting the film's trailers on their own blu-ray's now???) as well as some other Marvel Trailers, etc. Overall a very good package, highly recommended.

Excellent

The people giving this bad reviews must have not watched the same movie. IRON MAN 2 was as good as it gets for superhero movies. It is a well-built story using characters and situations dating back to the 1960's. (Hence the nice addition of Tony Stark's dad in filmstrip sequences). The rivalry between him and a cold war Russian inventor plays out a generation later between Tony and the inventor's son, a character known as Whiplash (but never actually called that in the movie). I have to say the writing was top-notch and the characters excellently portrayed. For any armchair psychologists out there, the child-rearing theory of nature vs. nurture surfaces in Whiplash' origin. The young boy grew up in a climate of hate, and well, this is what happens. OK, getting too deep, more on the fun stuff... Paltrow as Virginia "Pepper" Potts, the director as "Happy" Hogan, and Rockwell as Justin Hammer all did a great job. Mickey Rourke dialed it down a notch and was superb. You will get some laughs from Favreau, functioning mostly as a chauffeur. Adding in the Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson) was a stroke of genius. Her fight sequence deserved applause! A nice touch: her decorative belt rings (first seen in Spiderman issue #86, 1970) became her weapons. Very cool! This film is great fun, balancing character development, science (best invention - Hammer's "Ex-wife" missile), thrills, politics and laughs. Highly recommended.

Great movie

If you're reading this review, it probably means you didn't see the movie in the theater. I saw it several times, at least once in IMAX, and I was genuinely concerned that a smaller screen could never do the movie justice. Hard to believe, but there is a whole group of people out there that absolutely hate super-hero movies. That's because super-heroes don't do a very good job representing us. We have a hard time seeing ourselves in the super-hero's shoes, because they're so much larger than life. On the contrary, Tony Stark is someone that a guy like me can easily relate to. No, I'm not a multi-billionaire or the son of an iconic genius-inventor / modern renaissance man. Tony Stark is a man. He's an alcoholic, and a womanizer, and he knows that money can't buy happiness. He's a charismatic leader that can charm an audience with his wit and humor, and he has developed a track record for being a hero with which no villain should even attempt to challenge. He's an athlete, and a fighter, and he has gone toe-to-toe with all manner of villains already (none of whom we get to know anything about--we just have to assume.) Don Cheadle gives a very understated performance, but he plays the part well. I do appreciate the fact that he's a serious hero that kids will love, and he also happens to be African-American (something that's not usually true of super-heroes.) War Machine is a force to be reckoned with, and Don Cheadle does a great job exhibiting the type of maschismo that would go hand-in-hand with suiting up in armor that makes one a virtual one man army. ScarJo also does a great job...But no one would have cared no matter how bad her acting proved to be. She's Eye Candy at it's very finest, and watching her in her form-fitting outfits is something akin to staring at the sun during an eclipse. I'm serious: she's so smoking hot, I couldn't figure out why Tony wasn't trying to put the moves on her. There's a scene on the night of his birthday party, when he's clearly getting drunk, and I suppose a lesser man would have been all over her. Not Tony, though. It's clear that he's already made his choice: Miss Pepper Potts. The movie has its flaws, and it has its fair share of detractors. Critics that I trust implicitly have stated unequivocably that they loathed the movie, which really hurts my heart. I loved this movie, and I intend to find out how many viewings I can get out of a Blu-Ray before it has to be replaced.