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Let's get this out of the way off the top: IM2 is nowhere near as fun as the first. It's not as clear or defined as the original, and honestly, there's noway it could have been. The problem isn't cramming so many characters in, it's what the movie has to do as a setup for itself and a slew of other franchises down the road. But it's still good fun and worth the cost of admission.
SPOILERS BELOW!!
The Bad:
The end was very anti-climactic no matter how you cut it. They probably blew their load on the flight scenes and didn't have the time or money to focus on the final battle, which feels like it only took 4 minutes or less. Not nearly enough time to give War Machine some burn.
Mickey Rorke. They probably could have done a bit more with him either as Whiplash or Vanko then have him brood and speak Russian. Good to see him get some big budget movie love, but neither he or Rockwell were as much fun to watch as The Dude.
Sam Jackson. Sam's problem is he's played the same character for the last 20+ years. True, Fury is much like Jackson, so it works on some level. But you can't help but groan a little when Sam starts into his super badass riff. But if you hire Jackson, that's what you're gonna get, plain and simple. Whether he's playing an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., a marine scientist, a hitman, a pimp, a drug dealer, a private detective, a hostage negotiator, father of a molested girl or a fucking JEDI, you're going to get the same thing. Jackson has painted himself in this box, and seems to revel in it, but he's nearing Christopher Walken sized self parody (which is not a dig on either actor, BTW).
Plot and Pacing. To say the plot was bloated would be an understatement. It's not unexpected for a few reasons. Given the nature of comic books you expect references to past issues or crossovers between characters in different books (reminds me of trying to collect all the related comics in the Sinister 6 or the 14 part Carnage storyline when I collected Spiderman back in the days). It doesn't work as well in movie form. Adding characters to further the Iron Man franchise (War Machine, Hammer), tweaking older characters to move the plot along or as a nod to comic fans (Whiplash) and integrating characters for upcoming projects (Fury, Black Widow, S.H.I.E.L.D), all while dealing with your main characters issues all in under 2 hours is going to be messy. While I think they handled it better than, say, Spiderman 3, or much of the Batman franchise (pre-reboot), it still made for a bloated, stunted film. How you can take so long with Tony dealing with his mortality and not really say much about it is baffling. Fury giving the trunk to Tony was too hackneed a plot device, as was the old movie reels. The movie just muddles its way from the incident in Monaco straight thru the showdown at the expo, with a few fun spurts in between. It made the final action shot seemed even more rushed (and how they finished Whiplash was predictable and stupid). It didn't have the direction of the first, which while necessary, is missed.
The Good.
Thankfully, casting was pretty good, considering they had so many people in this one...
Don Cheadle. Terrance's loss is everyone's gain. While I would have liked to see him get more screen time, withe as Rhodes of WM, he still added some badass to a character and suit I don't think Howard could pull off. If they ever did a War Machine spin off, I'd go see it. Go get a roof....
Sam Rockwell as Hammer wasn't as fun as Bridges, but he held his own as a smarmy, weasely ass Hammer. With the glasses and haircut he looked like a young Alan Ruck on Spin City, but he had his moments. His comeupance at Monaco was funny, and when he took the bird? Classic. It will be nice to see where he goes from here.
Scarlett J. was looking right. I see why Happy nearly crashed while she was changing in the backseat. Was her character unnecessary? Probably so. Will anybody care? Probably not.
Larry Saunders! When I saw the commercials with Shandling in them I actually got hype. Never would have expected to see him in this kind of movie, but he was funny as shit as the prick ass Senator. His exchange with Stark on the Senate commitee was great. He's got fat in the last few years, but it was good to see him.
Audi. While I hate blatent product placement, it's hard to hate on a R8 Spyder...
RDJ. As with the first, Robert is the reason this movie will succeed. While they definitely played up Stark's ego this go round, you still want to root for him because of how RDJ plays him. his rapid fire banter between everyone is as sharp and funny as ever (although the scene before the battle between him and Cheadle felt lacking and corny) and he exudes the charisma to own the character like no one in recent memory. If Downy leaves the franchise I can't see how it would succeed. He's just that good and that vital to the role.
In all, not as good as, say, the first one or Star Trek. Not nearly as bad as Transformers 2. Probably won't be the best action movie this summer, but it will still print money (if it makes under $350 mil I will be surprised). Worth the ticker and the Blue Ray purchase this fall. <-- Dave Thomas knows what's up...
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Jay: Look here homie, any nigga can get a hit record. This here is about respect.
Game: Like Gladys Knight.
Jay: Aretha Franklin.
Game: Word, I like her too.
Jay: Nigga...
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