Iron Man 2

Who doesn't love a good guy movie? Explosions, violence, action-while these things don't appeal to the classy type, they are staples of box-office hits. Most action movies, unfortunately, rely on only these devices to make their point. That's the bad news. The good news? Surprisingly, considering the writer (Justin Theroux) has virtually no track record as a writer (his ONLY other movie being Tropic Thunder,) Iron Man 2 actually had a decent plot.

By "decent," of course, I mean "completely unimpressive." The story itself wasn't half bad, but the dialogue was. I was sincerely hoping to hear some clever, quipping lines that the wonderful Robert Downey Jr. delivered so flawlessly in Sherlock Holmes, but I was just as sincerely disappointed. While there were some lighthearted laughs hidden in the movie, there was no chemistry between the characters. And by "no" chemistry, I mean "none at all." But not to be to harsh on Mr. Theroux, after all, it is only his second real production. Which begs the question... why on earth would Favreau hire him?

Luckily for Mr. Favreau, the writing wasn't this movie's only saving grace. While most of the actors did an average job, Downey Jr. delivered a better than expected--although quite falling short of his work in Sherlock Holmes--performance and is in my mind, the only good actor in the entire movie. What on earth happened to Terrence Howard? I thought he played his role in Iron Man 1 very well, and I was angry to see him replaced in the sequel, especially by Don Cheadle, who I thought butchered the part.

Acting aside, this movie had some wonderful graphics as well as some of the best action I've seen in a long time. Thankfully, Favreau cut down a lot of the sex and language from the first Iron Man, making this a more widely-appealing movie. Scarlett Johansson's action sequence was superb, as well as the final Iron Man vs. iron men battle.

The only flaw in the filming-particularly in the action-was how the camera stopped from time to time in order to present extended views of product placement and, lets face it, Scarlett Johansson. Favreau should have known better than to pollute his beautiful work with product placement.

Speaking of Scarlett Johansson, the biggest flaw in the plot was the Stark\Potts\Rushman love triangle. While it made it clear that Tony Stark was attracted to Rushman (as denoted when he remarked "I want one" after seeing her beat up his boxing trainer) it certainly didn't give it time to allow it to grow into anything more than physical attraction. Potts and Rushman didn't really either get along, or not get along, so there was no real definition emotionally.

In fact, almost the entire movie lacked emotional definition, as Tony never really started coping with his death, struggling with his relationships, or loosing his faith in himself. Come to think of it, there was no real emotional conflict in the entire movie. Remember what I said about Justin Theroux?

On the whole, this movie was not very impressive. The action was excellent, the graphics were what's to be expected, but the plot, acting, and dialogue (aside from Downey jr) was deplorable. If you're looking for a good time, this is your movie. If you want a content-based, character-driven movie like Dark Knight or Sherlock Holmes, I'm afraid you're going to have to keep looking.