Friday, December 13, 2024

Iron Man 2: review

From csmonitor.com
What would “Iron Man 2” be without Robert Downey Jr.? I asked the same question of “Iron Man,” and, with one exception, the query still applies. That exception, however, is a big one. As Ivan Vanko, the mad Russian physicist hellbent on eradicating His Ironness, Mickey Rourke almost pumps new blood into a franchise that is already starting to show its age.
The appeal of “Iron Man 2,” as with its predecessor, is having a superhero who is not quite super and not altogether heroic. Billionaire playboy industrialist Tony Stark revealed at the end of the last film that he was the armor-suited Iron Man and it didn’t seem to faze anybody very much, least of all Tony.
For such an extreme narcissist, a secret identity would only represent excess baggage anyway. Without it, Tony is free to be his usual hyperobnoxious self and save the world at the same time. In “Iron Man 2,” at least for its first hour or so, Tony is more blisteringly self-infatuated than ever. As he crows in front of a Senate panel grilling him about his refusal to provide the military with Iron Man technology, “I have successfully privatized world peace.” And so he has.
Iron Man is often described as a pacifist warrior, but the reason no wars have broken out with him around is because his armored firepower can best anybody. He doesn’t manufacture weapons anymore because he doesn’t need to. He makes deterrence sexy.
Everything changes when Ivan, who bears a humongous grudge against Tony’s family, arrives on the scene with a self-made armored suit of his own equipped with laserlike whips that can slice even Tony’s Rolls Royce in two. Ivan also comes equipped with a pet cockatoo and so many body tattoos that he’s like a living artwork. As rival industrialist Justin Hammer (a very funny Sam Rockwell) rightly says of him: “You look like you have friends in low places.”
Clearly this role is Mickey Rourke’s meat. Musclebound and stringy-haired, he doesn’t look all that different from how he did in “The Wrestler.” (Instead of mangling opponents this time, he mangles the Russian language.) Rourke is a one-of-a-kind actor: You may think he’s doing nothing but serving up attitude here but, in fact, he’s digging deep. Ivan’s furious sense of injustice is the realest thing in “Iron Man 2,” even more so than Tony’s race against the clock to survive his own blood toxicity. Rourke puts a human face, albeit a bashed one, on comic book villainy.
Downey Jr., for his part, does the same thing for comic book heroism. It may seem counterproductive for any actor to attempt a full-scale performance in one of these wingding franchise movies, but Downey Jr. does it every time. It may be that he’s one of those actors who is incapable of dumbing down for audiences. He gives you his best each time out, whether he’s wearing armor or Brooks Brothers or hand-me-downs. (That’s not to say that I want to see him playing Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes ad infinitum.)
Aside from these two actors, “Iron Man 2” isn’t much of a whoop-de-do. Gwyneth Paltrow, as Tony’s beleaguered, smitten executive assistant “Pepper” Potts, is still fairly bland, as is Don Cheadle, stepping into the role of Tony’s military buddy “Rhodey” Rhodes. Scarlett Johansson plays a Stark lawyer who doubles as the notorious Black Widow, and her martial arts moves are well coordinated with her slinky outfits. Both are designed to kill.
Director Jon Favreau, working from a script by Justin Theroux, isn’t particularly adept at action. He seems much more at home with catty back-and-forth badinage than with kabooms. But he’s good enough to keep the pyrotechnics on the big IMAX screen popping along. For undemanding audiences, that should be good enough to hold them until the next superhero movie arrives… which should be just about any minute now. Grade: B- (Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language.)

Related News

‘Venom 3’ to release in summer next year

Entertainment Desk : dhakamirror.com Sony Pictures has scheduled the release date for the third instalment of the “Venom” movie series, starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom, for July 12, 2024. While the film remains untitled for now, it marks the first time the franchise ventures into the summer movie season. The previous two films, “Venom” ... Read more

Jennifer Garner’s back as Elektra in ‘Deadpool 3’

Entertainment Desk : dhakamirror.com Jennifer Garner played the role of Marvel character “Elektra” in the 2003 “Daredevil” and in the standalone film “Elektra” in 2005. She will be seen in the upcoming film “Deadpool 3” as the sai-wielding superhero. The sequel is currently filming in London, falling under the Disney and the Marvel Cinematic Universe ... Read more

‘Little Mermaid’ dominates Memorial Day weekend box office

Entertainment Desk : dhakamirror.com Disney’s live action remake of “The Little Mermaid” brought in $117.5 million domestically over the four-day weekend, representing the fifth-highest Memorial Day weekend opening all-time, according to Comscore. The movie’s debut fell in line with expectations. For the three-day weekend, The Little Mermaid earned $95.5 million domestically, which is roughly the ... Read more

Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1: New trailer released for Tom Cruise’s much-awaited thriller

Entertainment Desk : dhakamirror.com The highly anticipated film, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, starring Tom Cruise, is set to hit theaters on July 12. Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, is pulling out all the stops to deliver another thrilling installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise. Fans have been ... Read more

‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ to jump past $1billion mark in global box office earnings

Entertainment Desk : dhakamirror.com The Super Mario Bros. Movie has become an unlikely cash-cow for Universal picture. The animated feature is expected to cross $1billion in earnings at the global box office. Even though the film by Nintendo, Universal pictures and Illumination Entertainment isn’t projected to reach the target until the weekend, Universal has enough ... Read more

Tom Cruise returns To fighter pilot glory in thrilling ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ trailer

Tom Cruise is set to relive his glory days by reprising his role as top fighter pilot Maverick for the long-awaited Top Gun sequel. It’s time make sure your seat is in its upright and locked position because the new trailer for Top Gun: Maverick is here. 36 years after the original Top Gun, Paramount ... Read more

Oscars 2022 Winners List: CODA wins Best Picture, Will Smith & Jessica Chastain win Best Actor & Best Actress

The 94th Academy Awards were held at the Dolby theatre in Los Angeles. CODA won the Best Picture award. The Apple Original Films drama also won Adapted Screenplay for Siân Heder, and its Troy Kotsur took home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Dune led the field with six Oscars, while Jessica Chastain won the Best ... Read more

James Bond gets a gravestone to mark No Time to Die’s ending

No Time to Die spoilers follow from the start. Daniel Craig’s latest James Bond movie No Time to Die does indeed feature the legendary agent dying at the end in an act of sacrifice. The film used the Faroe Islands as the villain Safin’s lair where Bond meets his end, which is why a gravestone ... Read more

Netflix has just made its first ever adults-only movie

The long-awaited fictionalised Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde” may finally be available to stream soon – but it will be strictly for adults. The movie has hit the headlines recently after being given an NC-17 rating in the US for sexual content, the equivalent to an 18+ rating here, meaning that it is only for adult ... Read more

Ryan Reynolds’ new movie The Adam Project has fans saying the same thing

Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo also star in the Netflix film Netflix’s latest film has a pretty impressive cast. Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Garner, Zoe Saldana and Mark Ruffalo all appear in the brand new movie, The Adam Project, and it seems to have gone down well with fans. The film has strong themes of time ... Read more

Real bat disrupts screening of ‘The Batman’ in US theatre

Moviegoers in Austin, Texas, got to see more than one type of bat during a screening of The Batman A visitor brought a live bat to a screening of The Batman in Austin, Texas, prompting the staff to pause the film. The incident happened Friday and a video of the incident was posted on Twitter ... Read more

The Batman Has The Biggest Opening Weekend Of The Year

The Batman raked in $128.5 million (£97.6m) at the domestic box office over the weekend, marking the biggest opening weekend of 2022 so far. As reported by Variety, the DC flick – which stars Robert Pattinson as a moody iteration of the Caped Crusader – saw huge earnings in North America. These were matched by ... Read more

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ becomes 6th-highest grossing film in history

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” has been climbing up the ladder and has become the sixth-highest grossing movie in history with $1.69 billion at the global box office (not adjusted for inflation). It passed “Jurassic World” ($1.67 billion) and “The Lion King” ($1.66 billion) to secure that spot. Now in its sixth weekend of release, “No ... Read more

Chris Hemsworth Returns As Tyler Rake In ‘Extraction 2’ Trailer

Chris Hemsworth appears at Netflix’s global live stream event TUDUM to confirm that his character Tyler Rake will return in Extraction 2. Netflix released the first teaser of Chris Hemsworth’s starrer action franchise “Extraction 2” on Saturday. The 1 min 35-sec teaser showcased the last scene of the movie where Tyler Rake( Chris Hemsworth) gets ... Read more

Get Your First Look at Netflix’s ‘Persuasion’ Adaptation

Jane Austen’s novel ‘Persuasion’ is being adapted by the streaming giant Netflix for a feature-length project, which will reportedly star Fifty Shades alum Dakota Johnson taking on the role of Anne Elliot. Helmed by British theater director Carrie Cracknell, the film will take a “modern, witty approach” to Austen’s famous work, Variety reported. A highly ... Read more

Terminator Genisys, Minions to hit Dhaka cinemas

Two Hollywood films- Terminator Genisys and Minions- will hit two Cineplexes in the capital today and run in those cinemas during the upcoming Eid festival. Terminator Genisys, the fifth installment of sci- fi action franchise Terminator, will be released at Jamuna Blockbuster, while Minions, the third installment of animated comedy franchise Despicable Me, will be ... Read more

Thor: The Dark World tops US box office

Marvel superhero blockbuster Thor: The Dark World pounded its rivals at the North American box office, taking $86.1m (£53.8m) in its opening weekend, reports BBC online. The sequel to the 2011 movie sees Chris Hemsworth reprise his role as the god of thunder who battles to save Earth from evil forces. Bad Grandpa, from the ... Read more

Ender’s Game tops US box office chart

Sci-fi adventure Ender’s Game has zoomed to the top of the US box office chart in its debut weekend, reports BBC online. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, about an 86-year-old and his eight-year-old grandson, was shunted into second after hitting the number one spot last week. Ender’s Game, a story about children forced to fight an ... Read more

“The Counselor”: A tale of mostly evil

Film Review “The Counselor”: A tale of mostly evil “The Counselor,” Ridley Scott’s terrifying, implacable new movie, opens on a seductive scene. The setting is a softly lighted bedroom in which two people are murmuring under a white sheet. You don’t see who they are until there’s a cut to under the sheet, bringing you ... Read more

Avatar sequels to begin filming next year

Director Sam Worthington is all signed up to return to Pandora for the various sequels to Avatar, with the star confirming that filming is set to begin in October 2014. James Cameron is thought to be hard at work on pre-production on the sequels, with the second, third and fourth instalments set to film back ... Read more