05-19-10-ironman.gifFIVE STARS

Iron Man wasn’t bad. Iron Man 2 (124 minutes) was fantas-tic. Unfortunately Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is still irritat-ingly ineffectual and completely annoying. On the plus side she doesn’t suck up nearly as much screen time.

Director Jon Favreau generally doesn’t appeal to me. Despite his occasional hit (directing and acting) he is just as likely to miss the boat. He does not know what to do with women on screen. He comes off as more than a little mean spirited no matter what kind of character he plays, and he doesn’t leave much to the imagination.

Luckily he had the good sense to hire writer Justin Theroux (Tropic Thunder). Theroux fixes almost every-thing that Fergus and Ostby did wrong in the first film. He does such a good job with the material that not even a hack like Favreau can do too much to mess it up. Pepper Potts gets less screen time, a strong female character is introduced to take down some cronies and a better vil-lain shows up. While it is a very busy script it does not drag or seem bloated.

Soon after Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) reveals that he is Iron Man and alleges that he has privatized world peace he is called before a Senate commit-tee. Senator Stern (Garry Shandling) demands that Stark release his suit to the military and Stark reacts much as you would expect.

After some early plot revelations Stark’s decision making becomes increasingly suspect. His assistants/handlers/friends/servants attempt to come to terms with his life choices against a background of new characters. Paltrow’s atrocious acting ruins every other scene she appears in. The scenes not ruined by her atrocious acting are the scenes featuring hot new female assistant, Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson).

Natalie is actually a key character in the Marvel pan-theon, but she is a much better character when her flaming red curls are cut close. The gorgeous flowing locks almost pass muster considering her role in the film, so let’s not quibble over small details.

Once all the major players are established, includ-ing Colonel James “Rhodie” Rhodes (now played by Don Cheadle), out come the villains.

Ivan Vanko (the greasy haired, fake tanned wreck that used to be matinee idol Mickey Rourke) has a histo-ry with Stark and even merits his own Mr. Bigglesworth … a “burd” who he is unnaturally attached to. Completing the evil-doer sequel quota is Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell).

The expanded presence of Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) fits into the plot even if the addition of S.H.I.E.L.D to the main story does seem like adding chocolate sauce to the whip cream on top of morning coffee. If nothing else, it helps build support for the juggernaut that is The Avengers. Speaking of which, those willing to sit through the seemingly endless credits will catch an after credits sequence set in New Mexico featuring S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) … and Mjolnir.

Overall, this movie builds a ton of momentum for Iron Man 3. We can only hope that Theroux hangs around to script the final film.

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