"Iron Man 2" loses the structure of its predecessor (3/5)

I guess I don’t entirely understand how sequels are continuously handled they way they are. From the outside looking in, I understand that they have to be bigger and louder in order to justify the film going public to buy another ticket to see these celluloid characters. But at the same time, they’re consistently driven away from what made the original film a critical and commercial success. To no one’s surprise, there are obviously exceptions to the rule. The “Toy Story” franchise and “The Dark Knight” are all prime examples of sequels living up to the original film, if not exceeding it. Yet, often sequels fall to excess. Despite the goodwill Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau generated with “Iron Man” back in 2008, all of it was seemingly thrown away with “Iron Man 2”. With the first “Iron Man”, we received probably the most charismatic Comic-Book film you’d ever see. Featuring witty banter, a great lead performance, and extremely well executed action scenes, “Iron Man” was more than a pleasant surprise. As a matter of fact, it was heading up, in association with the “The Dark Knight”, a comic book renaissance that will bludgeon the multiplexes for summers to come.

Unfortunately though, the potential “Iron Man” promised simply soured in “Iron Man 2”, where the film fell to sequel syndrome and perhaps buckled under Marvel’s own intention to create an Avenger’s universe. Nonetheless, the film opens up with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) being harassed by the U.S. Government. It appears after Stark’s breakthrough with the Iron Man suit, weapon companies and third world countries are desperately trying to duplicate his success. One example would be Stark’s business rival,  Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), who always seems to be miles behind Stark in weapon production. Stark treats Hammer with no respect, thus rage boils underneath Hammer’s often sunny disposition. Thankfully for Hammer, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a man with the technological know how of Stark, plots his revenge for a slight Stark Industries dealt his family years ago. From this comes an attack by Vanko on Stark, at a Moroccan race of all places, that puts Vanko and Hammer on the same side.  Oh, but wait! There’s more! With the pressure of being Tony’s friend and, well the Government’s friend, Lt. Col. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) is trying to find a happy medium between Tony’s friendship and the Government’s need for the Iron Man suit. 

All of this is wrapped up in various subplots regarding Pepper Potts (Gweneth Paltrow) becoming CEO of Stark Industry, Tony searching for a new energy source for his heart, S.H.I.E.L.D. continuously recruiting Tony, and last, but not least, Tony getting a new secretary in the form of Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson). At the end of the day, what we have here is a plethora of plot points that often stop the moment they’re started. Now, I can respect the ambition of screenwriter Justin Theroux, but he has far too many threads to try and balance within a two hour time frame. At times the film becomes heavily focused on one story thread, but then it’s stopped dead in its track while a new thread becomes introduced. At the beginning, director Favreau had a tough hand to play, and in spite of his efforts, the film collapses on itself. So, what we have is a film that often gears up the momentum only to halt it. When a film does this, there is very little to invest in. Characters become underdeveloped and situations often become rushed because the film is constantly trying to catch up with itself. This issue is most evident in an extremely anti-climactic ending that comes and goes with a whimper despite the impressive special effects on display. 

For as underdeveloped and overly ambitious the film is, another aspect that troubled me was Marvels involvement with the film. Better yet, what I assume is their idea of shoehorning their future Avengers film into Favreau’s sequel. At times I felt that the film was far too focused on setting up “The Avengers” film to the point that Tony Stark often felt like a secondary character. Obviously this is a problem considering how big of a character Stark is, as well as how charismatic Downey Jr. can be. If only Favreau was allowed to do the fan service after the credits. Despite all of this, Favreau is still able to capture the witty banter between Downey Jr. and his supporting players. If the film is one thing, it’s a stage for Downey Jr. to demonstrate his ability to breathe life into a weak and stale film. The same could be said for his counterpart in Sam Rockwell, who continuously shows why he’s one of the more underrated actors in Hollywood. Watching these two banter is without a doubt the film’s best asset. Aside from these two, and a subtle, but honorable performance by Rourke, the rest of the cast just seem like they’re going through the motions or at least have no choice but to. Gweneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts is more of a joke pin cushion, while Don Cheadle is never given the material to truly do his character justice. In the case of Scarlett Johansson, well she’s merely there for the eye candy, as she never truly makes her character jump off screen, despite the impressive duality her character suggests.

As it stands, “Iron Man 2” is a film that leaves us wondering what could’ve been if it was able to cut down on its excess. Featuring a bloated script and a cast who really aren’t given a chance, the film unnecessarily deviates from what started it all. In this case, “Iron Man” was a film that was cracking with personality, as well as an edge. Sure, both the original and sequel rest their laurels on Robert Downey Jr’s great performance, as well as the numerous comedic spots and amazing special effects, but it’s the original that doesn’t let gluttony interfere with the storytelling. Granted, “Iron Man 2” had admirable ambition, but it set its character and universe back by trying to expand it. Iron Man, at least in this man’s mind, is more like Malleable Man.