Iron Man 2
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IRON MAN 2 - film review
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Jon Favreau directed IRON MAN and agreed to return for the second film. Given the movie-by-committee nature of Marvel Studios it's hard to guess how much of the second film was his and how much was other people's requirements. Unfortunately, IRON MAN 2 is not as good as the original.
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Whether comic fans agree or not, the Marvel Studios way of bringing a story to the screen seems to benefit when there are multiple writers involved. The first IRON MAN had two teams of writers who received Writers Guild credit for the screenplay, but, in the case of IRON MAN 2, actor and sometimes writer Justin Theroux received sole credit for Tony Stark’s second outing. In a testimony to Robert Downey Jr’s influence at Marvel Studios in the wake of the first film’s success, he recommended Theroux to Marvel executives after his involvement on Theroux and Ben Stiller’s TROPIC THUNDER. Theroux’s story sees Tony battling with personal demons, as he discovers that the Palladium Core in his Arc Reactor is slowly poisoning his body. Elsewhere, Ivan Vanko (Rourke) vows to avenge his father, who had worked with Howard Stark years earlier but had been deported back to the Soviet Union in disgrace. The establishment of both the internal and external threat to Stark are interesting concepts that struggle to take hold in comparison to the over-the-top set pieces that punctuate the film.
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The most interesting part of IRON MAN 2 is the emergence of Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson and Clark Gregg in their respective roles as Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff and Phil Coulson. Scarlett Johansson is especially good in her Marvel debut. While her character’s origins are not explored in IRON MAN 2, Johansson’s performance is nuanced enough that the viewer gets a sense that her pathway to the S.H.I.E.L.D organisation has been wrought with danger. Clark Gregg also establishes himself with his matter-of-fact approach to everything going on around him and, at times, seems to be channeling Jack Webb’s Sgt. Joe Friday from the classic TV show DRAGNET. Unfortunately, the villain side of the character ledger is a big stumbling block for IRON MAN 2. Mickey Rourke is miscast as Vanko/Whiplash and, if the story is to be believed, the deal to cast him was done by Downey Jr. at a Golden Globes ceremony! The normally reliable Sam Rockwell also seems out of place as competing military industrialist Justin Hammer.
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Fresh off the success of THE WRESTLER, Mickey Rourke was suddenly back in vogue and Marvel were quick to sign him up for Ivan Vanko/Whiplash. Rourke was complimentary about IRON MAN 2 at the time, but has subsequently commented that he didn't enjoy making the film.
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One of the big changes from the first to the second film was the recasting of Lt. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, who was played by Terrence Howard in IRON MAN and by Don Cheadle in IRON MAN 2. The removal of Howard from the project is possible one of the best mystery movie ideas not yet produced by Hollywood. On one side was Howard, who claimed he was offered less money for his second appearance than his first. No one from Marvel Studios has ever commented on the situation but it’s clear that Howard is not an easy character to deal with and had an over-inflated sense of his worth making it a relatively easy decision to recast the part. Another story goes that IRON MAN Director Jon Favreau disliked working with Howard and was forced to make significant changes to his scenes because his performance just wasn’t cutting it. When it came time to do the second film, Favreau made it clear that ‘Rhodey’ had to be recast. With that, the always reliable Don Cheadle slipped into the role and made it his own, along the way almost erasing Howard’s IRON MAN performance from viewer’s collective memory banks.
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IRON MAN 2 saw a number of Favreau’s frequent collaborators return to help him bring the story to life. Matthew Libatique returned as director of photography, having been nominated for Oscar in between the first and second IRON MAN films for his work on the Natalie Portman showcase BLACK SWAN. Favourite Favreau film editor Dan Labental returned to piece the project together and was joined by Richard Pearson, who had worked high profile projects like QUANTUM OF SOLACE, THE BOURNE SUPREMACY and MEN IN BLACK II. Production Designer J. Michael Riva returned for the follow-up along with supervising art director David F. Klassen. Given the number of carry-over technicians from the first film, it’s easy to see how Jon Favreau was able to meet the demanding turnaround schedule for IRON MAN 2. The price for speed, however, was cost. IRON MAN 2 ended up spending in excess of $200 million just on production, a figure that would have easily exceeded $300 million by the time marketing costs were included. It’s a huge amount of money to spend on a film that is regarded as one of Marvel Studio’s best efforts.
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This clip from the film is an example of the problems that run through IRON MAN 2. This is a transition scene that takes nearly two minutes and only exists to promote a song from legendary rock band AC/DC. If you take the film's 124 minute running time and compare that to its production cost, this pointless scene cost nearly $3 million.
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Iron Man 2 - electronic press kit
Robert Downey Jr - The Mayor of Marvel Town... |
Scarlett Johansson |
Don Cheadle |
Gwyneth Paltrow |
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