MARVEL MADNESS MOVIE REVIEW: “Oh, it’s good to be back!” And indeed it is Mr. Stark. The next stop on the journey of Marvel Madness is “Iron Man 2” which again stars Robert Downey Jr. (Zodiac, Sherlock Holmes), Gwyneth Paltrow (Shallow Hal, Mortdecai), Clark Gregg (Trust Me, Labor Day), Jon Favreau (Elf, Couples Retreat), Leslie Bibb (The Midnight Meat Train, Confessions of a Shopaholic), Paul Bettany (Inkheart, The Da Vinci Code), Stan “The Man” Lee (The Incredible Hulk, Thor), Samuel L. Jackson (Django Unchained, 1408) and newcomers Don Cheadle (Crash, Hotel Rwanda), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Sam Rockwell (The Way Way Back, Cowboys & Aliens), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler, Immortals), and Kate Mara (Transcendence, Shooter). In this sequel to “Iron Man” and the third movie in Disney’s MCU, Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) is back and has done a lot of great deeds since he announce that he is Iron Man. The government isn’t happy with him though because of his refusal to share his blueprints and plans of how to make the suits. They want to use it for the military to enhance our forces, but Tony doesn’t want to because he knows that it could go into the wrong hands and it is safer with him. Not only does he have to face the public and press about this, but Tony is also facing a huge problem in his life. The arc reactor that is keeping him alive is slowly killing him and his blood toxicity levels are climbing by the days. He has tried to find a way to cure himself, but has had no luck and is trying to accept the fact that he will die. Out of no where, during a big racing tournament, a new foe emerges by the name of Ivan Vanko (Rourke) who successfully recreates the arc reactor and uses it to send electricity to metal whips so that he can kill Tony Stark because of what his father, Howard Stark, did to his family. It is up to Tony as well as Pepper (Paltrow) and Rhodey (Cheadle) to stop Ivan before he kills more people.

It has been quite some time since I’ve seen “Iron Man 2” since I haven’t seen it since it came out in theaters in 2010. My first impressions when I first watched it that long ago was that it was dull with the storyline and had more talking than action. After four years and having re-watched it, I have a much clearer view of it. The story was a good one for a sequel. It provided good dialogue and it kept me keen during the entire duration of the film. The acting was superb like always and I feel that the replacement of Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle was a great move. I find Cheadle’s interpretation of Rhodey to be more laid back while Howard’s was more stern and stiff. The action, for what there was, was amazing especially in the special effects and it is clearly an improvement in the effects from the first. The villain was great as well and Mickey Rourke did a fantastic job of playing Whiplash (as pictured above). I thought that the way the villain was portrayed as a creepy and crazy man while sane and broken at the same time was a good mix. When it comes to the cons, I could only think of one, but its a crucial one. The con was how there were parts in this movie that seemed to drag because of dialogue. This movie isn’t the fights-around-every-corner that the first one was. What this movie tries to do is give us a real life situation and try to solve it as realistically as they can without unrealistic fight scenes. Yes, Captain America: The Winter Soldier did this, but it worked because they brought a sense of betrayal and the “you can’t trust anyone” thing. This movie does okay in this style, but it would have worked a lot more if they tried to bring more action like “Iron Man.” All in all, this was a good movie. Everyone was craving for another “Iron Man” and we got one and it was done very well, supplying us with great entertainment. It could have been better, but it is still fine the way it is and I had a better time watching it now than I did when it came out in theaters. When I got the score in from calculating, I found that it tied with “Thor: The Dark World” and because I thought deep down that it was better than that movie, but not as good as “Captain America: The First Avenger” (it got an 81%), I knocked down “Thor” 2’s score by one percentage point. Don’t worry it didn’t move in the month rankings of April. I recommend this for anyone who hasn’t watched it to watch! FINAL SCORE: 79%= Juicy Popcorn

This movie’s score has been recently modified. It does not affect the running for the Movie of the Year for 2014 because the changes were made after the event.

Here is the trailer: