Review: Iron Man 2

I got to see Iron Man 2 over the weekend, and I was quite pleased. They conveniently avoided the "hero has an extra disadvantage" cliche in this one, which is particularly refreshing, since they already used that one in the first installment. I was also pleased to see that the writers appreciated continuity, as a surprise weapon from the first film was reused in this one, albeit with different results. Also, when this movie's new surprise weapon was only used once, there was a good explanation. Clearly the writing staff had enough geeks to dodge many of my usual criticisms. The armored suits even sustain reasonable amounts of battle damage regardless of who wins.

Performance quality didn't drop in this film, either. Robert Downey Jr. continues to play a character who is an ass on many levels, but likeable all the same. The various people around him are still strained by his selfish eccentricity, and their behavior stays believable.

I wasn't thrilled by the choice of villain when I saw previews for IM2. I'm a bit of a comics buff, and I collected pretty heavily for a while. In the comics, Whiplash is at best a second-tier villain, probably just third. Still, they managed to make him into a threat without straining my sensibilities. I don't want to spoil things by saying how his first encounter with Iron Man went, but I wasn't actually displeased.

So this is definitely a "go see". The writers doing Marvel movies these days seem to be on the ball. They haven't really fumbled since Spiderman 3.

Note: There is an easter egg after the credits, but you have to be a Marvel Comics buff to appreciate it.