MOVIE REVIEW: Ironman 2

Okay. So what happened was I watched Iron Man twice in the same movie theater. One was last Friday, April 30th and watched it again yesterday, May 2nd. And I fell asleep on both times! And I know I wasn’t particularly tired on both days.


So anyway, anyone reading on hoping for some major spoilers might have to leave this page because I’m not giving out any.


MOVIE TITLE: Iron Man 2


THE GIST: Well, the source of conflict is introduced right away. That’s probably why I fell asleep since the source of conflict was revealed at the very beginning – no more mystery left. 


Moving on, Mickey Rourke plays Ivan Vanko, son of Anton Vanko, former employee of Stark Industries. Ivan designs a weapon to kill and destroy Ironman/Tony Stark to sort of avenge his father’s death (who died of old age).


Tony Stark displays massive messianic complex and “textbook narcissism”. I don’t know why but Tony was more likable in the first movie even with his proud and narcissistic nature then. Now, he’s just too annoying for me and even found myself rooting for Ivan when he battles it out with Tony.


Gwyneth Paltrow returns as Virginia “Pepper” Potts. She’s made CEO of Stark Industries by Tony but she resigns by the time the movie ends.


The nice surprise here is finding out Black Widow/Natalie Rushman/Natasha Romanoff played by the gorgeous Scarlett Johansson is actually part of S.H.I.E.L.D. I initially thought that Tony and Black Widow would be enemies but then it wouldn’t have made sense. Ironman would easily kill Black Widow.


Stan Lee poses as Larry King. So if you see “Larry King” in the movie, that’s actually Stan Lee dressed up as Larry King.


James Rhodes is played by Don Cheadle. Don replaces Terence Howard who supposedly dropped out due to financial reasons (Marvel supposedly wanted to lower his salary. Supposedly again, he earned more than anyone in the cast of the first Ironman movie. Why Marvel would do this, I have no idea). In this second installment of the Ironman franchise, James Rhodes gets to wear one of the earlier prototypes of Ironman and helps out Tony during the final battle with Ivan (picture from LA Times Blog)

Samuel L. Jackson reprises his role as Nick Fury and according to some websites, he wasn’t sure he would reprise his role due to financial reasons. Again, Marvel supposedly wanted to lower his salary but I guess an agreement was settled since Samuel L. Jackson is in the movie.


Adam Goldstein appears in this movie. Rest in peace DJ AM.


Oh, and be sure to finish the credits. You might like what you see.


FINAL THOUGHTS: I liked the first Ironman movie better. Get it IRONMAN here and if you're into BLU-RAY, click here.


What’s up with Marvel lowering people’s salaries?? They’re a big company with a LOT of movies franchised and I know a good majority of those movies earned a lot. They should be able to deal with this more quietly and more efficiently. I don’t think they should be negotiating to lower actors’ salaries when everyone knows that the Ironman franchise is definitely profitable. Damn you selfish, selfish decision-makers.