THE CRITIC-AL LIST
Reviews by Alan Jones
5 STAR FAB - 1 STAR RUBBISH

Salt
The Expendables
The Last Airbender
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Inception
Predators
The Twilight Saga:Eclipse
Toy Story 3
Hot Tub Time Machine
Iron Man 2
Repo Men
The Collector
Clash of the Titans
Shelter
How To Train Your Dragon
Kick-Ass
Shutter Island
Alice In Wonderland
The Crazies
Case 39
The Wolfman
Legion
The Lovely Bones
Black Death
Daybreakers
Avatar
Ninja Assassin
The Descent: Part 2
Amer
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
The Box
2012
Disney's A Christmas Carol
The Horseman
Solomon Kane
Pandorum
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
District 9
An Education
G.I. Joe: The Rise Of The Cobra
Orphan
A Perfect Getaway
The Imaginarium Of
Doctor Parnassus
Up
Harry Potter
And The Half-Blood Prince
The Taking of Pelham 123
Transformers
The Revenge Of The Fallen
Antichrist
Terminator Salvation
Last House On The Left
Inglorious Basterds
Angels & Demons
Adventureland
Star Trek
Crank: High Voltage
Coraline
Dragonball Evolution
Let The Right One In
Drag Me To Hell
Race to Witch Mountain
Knowing
Monsters Vs. Aliens
Not Quite Hollywood
Lesbian Vampire Killers
Martyrs
The Children
Surveillance
Watchmen
The Unborn
The International
Friday The 13th
Franklyn
Push
Punisher:War Zone
The Good The Bad And
The Weird
Hush
Underworld
The Rise OF The Lycans
My Bloody Valentine
Bolt
Slumdog Millionaire

Directed by Jon Favreau. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Samuel L. Jackson, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Paul Bettany, Scarlett Johannson, Gary Shandling, Kate Mara, Clark Gregg. Action thriller, USA, 130 min.

I suppose IRON MAN being so much fun and something of a shot in the arm to the superhero genre meant any sequel was bound to be a disappointment. Indeed returning director Jon Favreau’s continuation is nowhere near as engaging or exciting as his first outing. The problem is the busy storyline not taken from anything contained in the character’s Marvel canon but seemingly made up as he went along by Justin Theroux of TROPIC THUNDER fame. So you have billionaire playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr. as watchable as ever) struggling with his new-found superhero fame, shattered relationships with James Rhodes (a bland Don Cheadle taking over from Terrence Howard) and new Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), governmental pressure to share his technology (from Senator Garry Shandling no less!) and the metallic blood poisoning that seems to be infecting his mental state. Meanwhile Russian inventor Ivan Vanko (omni-tattooed Mickey Rourke) creates his own deadly suit from blueprints his, and Tony’s, father drew up before splitting acrimoniously while rival weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer (a well cast Sam Rockwell) provides him with the resources to smash Stark’s privatized world peace. Also in the mix are S.H.I.E.L.D.superspy Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Stark’s new double agent Girl Friday Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) who does her KICK-ASS bit through Hammer’s Queens HQ. Phew! Yet none of this adds up to much more than a dull coast through now over-familiar fan-boy territory with only two major action set-pieces of note: Vanko’s sudden appearance at the Monaco Grand Prix with his electrical whiplash hand weapons, and the final spectacular face-off at Stark Expo where chromium suited Rhodes joins in the just-on-the-cusp of video game deluxe CGI mayhem with Vanko’s drone robots on the explosive march.  Believe me, that spectacular ending feels like a long time in coming amongst the drawn-out proceedings.

Lacking the panache, irreverence and thrills of the first adventure, IRON MAN 2 feels so half-strength after the great solid foundation laying in the snappy origin installment. None of this is going make an iota of difference to the box-office take. Watch this inferior sequel take more than the prior $318 million based on that ever-important want-to-see-no-matter-what-anyone-says factor. But IRON MAN 3 will need some serious oiling if it’s to get back on track.

Alan Jones

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