Movie - Ironman2 (30.04.2010)

On Friday 30-04-2010, since I had official leave from company, in lieu of 1st of May Labour Day, I took the liberty to go and watch IRONMAN2.

Many of my colleagues as well as my sister complaint that IRONMAN1 was a let down. Thus IRONMAN2 would not be so hot - so they said.


IRONMAN1 - 1st one third of the movie was a drag for me. 1st 10 mins into the movie I said to myself, gee wiz..war movie. Damn… But things got more interesting after he was back onto US soil and made himself the famous state of technology IRONMAN armour.. and then on it was good.


IRONMAN2 – bravo!!  compared to the 1st one. What a stimulating plot, coupled with a roller coaster ride of emotions and action. Uwah…. I must say the 2nd movie really deflated my negative preconception. It is indeed a wower…

IRONMAN2 – this episode sees Tony Stark deals with deadly issues involving the government, his own friends, as well as new enemies and state of health due to his superhero alter ego.

The storyline

Movie began with Tony Stark noticed that his blood toxicity level has been peculiarly high and kept on increasing drastically. He had exhausted all resources to reverse the situation and he knew that he was dying.
So what does a dying man does despite still having obligation towards the public? He tries to do the things he should have done, to fulfill his wishes, desires, especially with regards to the affair of his heart as well as his company. But, being an obnoxious man as he is, finds it difficult to do so. Typical.

In the midst of his messy situation, he ( I believe ) wanted to kill himself. And what better way to exit this world than to go in style and with a big bang? Get behind the wheels on a race track !! Of course!!
This is where the action began. In came Whiplash. Slow but menacing. His weapon is a pair of electric whips which could slice into almost anything. He oozes of terror on the race track as he splits some racing cars, including Tony’s, into slices of metal. But as any villain in a movie, eventually he was brought down and taken into custody after fighting with Tony who by then had turned into Ironman.

Whiplash (a scientist himself) is the son of one of Stark Industries’s scientists who was sent into exile for turning bad. Naturally Whiplash was made to believe (by his father) that the Ironman should have been him and not Tony. And that the technology was stolen from his family by Tony's father. So revenge is a foot after Whiplash's father died.

Earlier, we see the Government, represented by Senator Stern wants to own the Ironman suit. They claim that if it is still with Tony, it will pose a threat to the country, as they run the risk of its technology being copywrited by other nations. In the attempt to defame Tony at an inquest, the Senator called on Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell - fellow rival to Tony himself) who then presented his discrediting accusation. As expected, it was pathetically unsuccessful and Justin was put to shame instead.

Meantime, Tony’s spirit spirals down.
His best buddy Col. Rhodes steps in to ease up the tense situation between the Government and Stark Industries. He warned Tony that if he steps out of line again the Government will take away his Ironman suits. Opportunity came and the Col Rhodes suited up into the Ironman armour (silver) and took off to the army base.

Here, Justin Hammer had a feast with the suit and went on to make some alterations as he see fit.

At the same time, Hammer had also masterminded the escape of Whiplash who in turn used Hammer and his facility (right under his nose ) as a stepping stone to execute his revenge. Hammer wants to make a better suit than ironman’s, to be used by the army but Whiplash created a troop of drones instead.

Back to Tony Stark, as he battles for his life, in came a team of Russian secret agents, who lends a helping hand in a weirdest way. They offered clues to Tony’s new power resources where of course Tony would have to figure out himself how to make it. And this clue lead back to his old man.

I shall stop here, as I believe, if I write more, it would spoil the thrills and suspense coming. Believe me there are plenty. The “filler” characters (Black Widow, Nik Furry, Pepper Potts, Senator Stern, Justin Hammer) really played their part well to make this movie complete and an awesome watch.

My comments

I felt touched when IRONMAN’s dad left a heartfelt message for him. See boys.. things are not what it seems, especially with parents. This movie would be good for fathers day / Father and son thingy.


The star of the show I would say, is Mickey Rourke (Whiplash). He didn’t say much or do outrages stunts but his presence made such an impact and command undivided attention from us the audience. I can’t help but felt uneasy and intimidated with him up there on the screen. I could go jelly on my knees, soggy guts and  I’d just surrender and die. Now, that, is one hack of a power actor.

I love Scarlett Johanson, (she acted in The Other Boleyn Girl as Anne’s sister Mary and I loved her acting then and now) She is the Russian Spy Black Widow. Ice cool and yet skillful.

Taking my hat off for Gwyneth Paltrow’s character, Pepper Potts. It is indeed tough for a woman to be a CEO and yet remain level headed and cool. However in the end, leave the best job to the best person to execute, that’s the message and its alright to be the no.2 . As the word goes, behind a successful man there is always a powerful woman.

As usual the movie also portrays the bond between buddies Don Cheadle (Lt Col Rhodes) and Tony Stark who would stand by each other through thick and thin. Prevalent with boys / men.
Also I like the fact that this movie also shows that there is indeed no problem for two women of strong characters to work together without scratching each other’s eye balls or tearing their hair out. Women may have different focus and commitments but nevertheless they contribute well towards acheiving 1 goal. As a matter of fact they would make a pretty good team.


The success of this movie is not just owing to Block Buster names like Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Palthrow, but also the strong command of presence from the supporting actors; the villains Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, the goodfellas / fillers; Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johanson and Garry Shandling among others.


THE WAY I SEE IT –

This movie deals with a lot of subtle, unsaid emotions, both men and women. There are things that people don’t or unable to do / express when they really should. Why they are unable to do so? That is another series of reasons. It is easier for us to start labeling instead of taking the time to evaluate people’s action especially those who do not conform to what is expected of them.

Ironically, the position of IRONMAN’s power source is too scarily similar to ULTRAMAN's… mmm… right smack in the middle of the chest.. 8-) anyone noticed this???

I would definitely want to go and watch the big screen again and will sure get the DVD for keeps when it is out.