Iron Man 2: A Review

I took both my boys to see the latest offering from the Marvelverse, Iron Man 2.

A brief preface, if you'll humor me...

I've been a Marvel guy pretty much all my life. One of the first comics my mom ever bought me (for a long trip to Grandma's house) was an Iron Man comic. The red and gold suit that shot energy beams was simply beyond belief. I didn't get many more issues for a few years, but the seeds of pencils and ink had been planted. As posted previously, Jim Lee's work really helped me make a transition during a tough time after my parent's divorce.

As I still have many of those comics, my boys have picked up an enthusiasm for the comics. Dyl is a die hard DC kind of guy, with a passion for Superman and Batman. Lukers is...well...just into the whole superhero fighting bad guys kind of thing. We decided to check out the movie a la Guys Night Out.

After the obligatory purchse of popcorn and drinks, we settled in for some good seats in a not too crowded local theater. Previews were nice (The A-Team looks to be entertaining) and the movie started.

No spoilers here (for the most part); you will need to watch the movie to get the full effect. But, maybe you'll get a better standard of expectation after reading this. The story line, quite frankly, is about as thin as those fancy negligee items that Victoria's Secret sells. But what are we talking about? It doesn't really matter; the story isn't why you are there, is it? As much of a comic lover as I am, I can forgive this transfer to a new medium. Comics on the screen aren't comics; they are now movies and changes are bound to happen. That being said, the visuals, like the first movie, are well done. In the scene (you've seen this in the trailers) where Tony Stark picks up the suitcase and "armors" up, I found myself enthralled with the suit's unfolding action. Quite nice. As for the acting, Robert Downey, Jr. maintains his previous standard as Stark. Gweneth Paltrow is just as luscious as before as Pepper Potts. Newcomers to the series, Don Cheadle as Rhodey and Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko left me feeling a bit off. I like Cheadle's performance and felt it added; Rourke's Vanko came across as cocky and brutish, just not quite believable and not dissimilar to the typical WWE professional wrestler's conveyed bad assed-ness.

Final verdict? Go see it. The action scenes are nicely done. As my son wanted, Iron Man makes many appearances through the film (read: lots of Iron Man, War Machine, and other "machines" to watch). I would suggest taking a buddy, as there are moments when you'll probably wonder if the admission was worth it.

One final must do: Stay for the entire credits. All of it. Don't leave before the credits. Period.

Shazam!

*****SPOILER*****

PS - For anyone that did leave before the final credits, you can check it here.