Iron Man 2 The Critics review Iron Man 2

[kedrell]

^The USA embargo hasn't been lifted yet.

 

[Conebone69]

Looks like the reviews are split 50/50 so far.

No way this gets a tomatometer as high as the first (93%). Hopefully it's good enough to stay fresh (above 60%).

How is it split? Only one of the reviews is bad. And you cant say it wont get as good of reviews as the first one by reading 5 reviews. Lets get serious

 

[hatebox]

The 'if you liked the first one you'll like this one and vice versa' take sounds about right given trailers and early scenes. Which is fine: I liked the first one.

But I'd bet my house this doesn't finish in the 90s on RT.

I'm curious to see whether any critics express comic book fatigue. The genre's had A LOT of films in the last decade.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I can't wait until the silly embargo is over.

 

[jadejaws]

When is the embargo supposed to be lifted?

 

[Chewy]

After the LA premiere tonight

 

[FlawlessVictory]

RE: Sam Rockwell
SOURCE

Marvel characters sure love dancing in their movies.

 

[hatebox]

Empire magazine's online review will probably be up tomorrow morning UK time. I have a mental list of critics I care most about and they're one of them as I agreed completely with their take of the first film.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I changed my mind. I'll skim over Devin Farci's review because I agree with him alot.

 

[Raiden]

Can't wait for the embargo to be lifted so we can start reading the critics' reviews and get a sense of what the movie will be like. I have no doubt that I'll enjoy the heck out of IM2 but I'm also interested to read what others have to say.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Empire magazine's online review will probably be up tomorrow morning UK time. I have a mental list of critics I care most about and they're one of them as I agreed completely with their take of the first film.

Empire's the one I'm waiting for. They are my most trusted review source. Though funnily enough, I disagreed with them only giving the first Iron Man 3 stars. They essentially wrote a 4 star review for it, too, but in the final ranking only gave it 3.

 

[marvel_freshman]

Iron Man 2: World’s first review

‘mind-numbingly dull, chaotic and unwatchable’

ONE STAR

One of the biggest surprises of 2008 was Iron Man, an honest-to-goodness crowd-pleaser that boasted not just a great story and stirring special effects but which cemented the comeback of Robert Downey Jr. Casting the former hellraiser as the latest superhero was a masterstroke; his devil-may-care attitude and that wicked glint in his eye proving a refreshingly alternative to the clean-cut rivals such as Tobey ‘Spider-man’ Maguire and Brandon ‘Superman’ Routh.

Now we have the much-anticipated sequel whose world premiere was rerouted from London to LA following the volcano eruption in Iceland.

Packed into a cinema in the distinctly unstarry Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush, there were no celebs and no red carpet but, thanks to GMT, at least we got to see the film first.

What none of realised was that another disaster was about to unfold in front of our eyes, for Iron Man 2 is a travesty – a mind-numbingly dull, chaotic and often unwatchable muddle. It might even be the ultimate masterclass in how not to make a movie.

Given the strength of part one, the sequel is not just a terrific failure but a terrific disappointment.
Things kick off in a squalid Moscow flat as the heavily-tattooed Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) sets to work with a hammer and welding torch on a mysterious metalwork project following the death of his father.

Meanwhile back in the States, our first glimpse of Iron Man comes as he leaps from a plane to land at the Stark Industries Expo, his metal suit peeling away to reveal Tony Stark (Downey Jr) who tells the whooping crowd how his metal creation has brought about world peace. With the ability to fly at supersonic speeds and fire lightning from the palms of his hands, it seems the world’s aggressors have laid down their arms.

But problems loom. The US Senate is pressing Stark to give up the secrets of this startling technology to the military, egged on by slimy businessman Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). There’s also the small matter of our hero’s health, with the energy pack fitted in his chest driving up his blood-toxicity levels.

That’s only the first 20 minutes or so but I’m going to stop for a second and ask if you’re thinking what I’m thinking, namely that Iron Man 2 is making the same mistake that was levelled at Spider-man 3 of throwing too much into the mix. Do we really need Stark vs. the US Government, a rival tycoon and the mysterious Vanko? Aside from muddling proceedings, that’s three bad guys we’re expected to hate.
Advertisement - article continues below »

Anyways, it turns out Vanko has been knocking together his own energy pack and launches an attack on his bitter rival as he’s taking part in a Formula 1 event in Monte Carlo. Why is Stark taking part in a car race? Dunno. Why is Vanko so angry with Stark? No idea.

With the raging Russian contained and sent to jail, he receives an unlikely offer from Hammer to team up and build an army of their own iron men. Meanwhile (yes, there’s more) Stark’s old pal Lt Col Rhodes (Don Cheadle) may be about to betray him.

Confused yet? Me too – but wait, there’s still more as, for reasons none too apparent, Stark hands control of his business to his long-suffering sidekick Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and then starts to fancy one of his employees (Scarlett Johansson).
And that’s not all. It seems Iron Man has attracted the attention of the mysterious Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) who drops by to... well, talk a bit then bugger off.

How do all these elements come together? More often than not, they don’t. This is a patchwork quilt without the stitching, a muddle of too many ideas and too many characters that connect loosely at best.

If that wasn’t bad enough, our iron-clad hero is off screen for 90 per cent of the time. As Potts tells Stark at one point: “People expect you to be Iron man -- and he’s disappeared.” No kidding.

In fact Iron Man appears just four times and only two of these are battle scenes.
They’re not badly done but what’s meant to be the big, show-stopping face-off at the end is overshadowed by a perplexing, out-of-nowhere romantic pay-off.

I don’t know what went on behind the scenes while the film was being made but rumours of reshoots and recuts have been swirling around the internet. Was this the film director Jon Favreau wanted to make? I doubt it. After Elf, the underrated Zathura and the first instalment, he’s proved himself a capable pair of hands. Perhaps the blame lies higher up the studio food chain.

Whoever’s at fault, if Favreau still wishes to make the series a trilogy, this is a franchise in serious need of rewiring.



SOURCE: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/04/27/iron-man-2-world-s-first-review-mind-numbingly-dull-chaotic-and-unwatchable-115875-22214759/

 

[hatebox]

Ouch. I knew not everyone would like it but the Spiderman 3 comparison is worrying.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I don't know which critic I agree with the most.

But I do enjoy seeing the general consensus from the movie critics.

 

[marvel_freshman]

I am deeply hurting from what that guy said, but I don't think he paid attention to the film, because he didn't even know somethings, that was obviously said in the film. Like why Whiplash attacks Tony Stark.

But you can't watch a movie one time, and expect to have a final thought. When I first saw Iron Man, I literally said I hated this movie, because I didn't appreciate and pay attention to the overall concept. But now matured, I realize how much of a masterpeice it is.

But even though I haven't seen the film, there is a lot going on.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

That review is pretty bad.

and if Iron Man is off screen 90% of the time this franchise is in serious trouble.

 

[Iron_Stark]

SOURCE: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/04/27/iron-man-2-world-s-first-review-mind-numbingly-dull-chaotic-and-unwatchable-115875-22214759/

What the hell do they know, they're British, lets see them make a better one.

 

[Raiden]

That review is pretty bad.

and if Iron Man is off screen 90% of the time this franchise is in serious trouble.

I think that "off screen 90% of the time" was just hyperpole. Stark has presence in most of the trailers and I really doubt that he'd be missing onscreen that often.

 

[hatebox]

What the hell do they know, they're British, lets see them make a better one.

A) Perhaps you've heard of Christopher Nolan.

B) Comments like that just clutter up the thread. Let's post reviews and discuss them, not just chuck reactionary insults about. We're still in the position of them having seen the movie where we haven't.

 

[Keyser Soze]

What the hell do they know, they're British, lets see them make a better one.

Really?

I'm not too worried yet, it was a poorly written review and the Mirror is a rag anyway, but as a Brit myself I don't really think it's necessary to lump us all in the same category.

 

[Shivsguy616]

What the hell do they know, they're British,

 

[marvel_freshman]

Another ReviewIron Man was an unexpected success in both popularity and in the Box Office and with the imminent release of the sequel anticipation is sky high for this superhero sequel. Coming into seeing Iron Man 2 I was in buoyant mood and probably the most excited I’ve been in seeing a film this year and who could blame me with the addition of Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko -Whiplash, the most exciting and well cast villain in recent memory, the genius that is Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer and the first look at James Rhodes ‘War Machine’, it has to be brilliant doesn’t it?
Iron Man 2 thankfully just about pulls it off, but only just. It’s a strangely paced film and suffers at times from incredibly long exposition and poorly contrived story lines that seem to be added to no doubt develop the Avengers storyline rather than the Iron Man 2 story that I wanted to see. You’ll see what I mean after about 4-5 scenes throughout littered with Shield/Avengers plot developments that all seemed horribly squeezed in to setup characters for a film that will happen in 2-3 years time.
However I’m happy to say that the rest of Iron Man was a pretty dam good ride, spectacular in places with awesome action set pieces and in general a whole lot of fun but not without some worryingly boring, pointless and highly confusing moments. Without giving away too many spoilers from the film, the story is of Tony Stark’s fight against The US governments attempt to obtain the suit for themselves for the military, Justin Hammer’s company developing their own suits to rival Iron Man, Ivan Vanko’s revenge mission on Stark as he claims his father was the one who designed the Arc Reactor Technology and that Tony’s father Howard Stark stole it from him which is all bundled together with the plot of Tony’s Arc reactor which is keeping him alive is also poisoning him and he needs to find a solution, which comes in the most ridiculous and confusing way possible.

Needless to say there is a lot going on in its two hour running time with little weight given to each storyline which does hurt the movie but when the film focuses on Ivan Vanko and Tony Stark, Iron Man 2 presses all the right buttons. Mickey Rourke is truly outstanding as the villain and is the perfect foil to Starks egotistical superhero and their scenes together are the best of the film, particularly their first meeting on the race track where Tony Stark grabs the suitcase that turns into his modified portable Iron Man suit which is just awesome and leads into one of the best scenes of the film that satisfies completely.
It’s a shame Terrence Howard didn’t make it to the sequel as Don Cheadle had to make the character of James Rhodes his own which is difficult when every other character is set into there original roles but Cheadle does pretty well and when he takes the Iron Man War Machine suit for himself we witness a superb battle between a drunken Stark and Rhodes that helps you get over the actor change pretty quickly and when they team up again for a pretty anti-climatic battle against Whiplash the two have some pretty decent banter gong on.

Sam Rockwell puts in a great subtle comedic turn as Justin Hammer and definitely has a part to play in the planned third film, Scarlett Johansson was pretty average and forgettable in her role of Black Widow, again used to beef up the Avengers movie and Gwyneth Paltrow plays her part nicely as she did in the first movie which is nothing special but this is clearly Rourke and Downey Jr’s film and together they do make Iron Man 2 worth a watch.
Overall, I don’t think Iron Man 2 is anywhere near as good as the first film, It’s let down by the amount it’s trying to squeeze in to the movie with the Avengers story and all the new additiona;characters but overall it’s certainly going to please some but will equally bemuse others.

Source: http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/04/26/review-iron-man-2/

 

[redfirebird2008]

A) Perhaps you've heard of Christopher Nolan.

Pwned.

 

[Avengers-Report]

Anything on cameos? Also, the reviews are pretty much exactly what I expected. Movie looks mehh.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Damn - not as negative as the first review, but citing many of the same problems. It seems like Iron Man 2 might have benefitted from a Dark Knight running time.