Iron Man 2 in an election news sandwich

So, last night I was reading the news websites I like, trying to find something that made me angry to write a blog post about.  I wasn’t disappointed. 

There’s this story about a Conservative MP & policy advisor who founded 2 churches, which attempted to ‘cure’ people of being gay by praying to rid them of their demons.  And a really interesting article on the issue here.  Then I found this story about the Arizona immigration laws getting completely out of control.  Oh, and Roman Polanski’s moaning.  Then I read this ace Charlie Brooker article.  All good stuff.  But then I went to see Iron Man 2 and that jumped to the top of my list.

Apologies in advance, this isn’t really a review… it might not make much sense of you’ve not seen the film.

I have been excited about this film from the second the credits rolled on the first one, but I’d read a few reviews and started to worry.  So I stopped reading them.  I’m really glad I did.  I loved it. I loved it for all kinds of reasons, big and small, common and oddly personal.  So I thought I’d look at some not so glowing reviews, and see what problems they could have possibly had!

First, a criticism that I saw a few times is that the courtroom scene is too long, boring and is really unnecessary.  Part of me just wants to shout “GROW UP AND GET AN ATTENTION SPAN!” at these people.  But that wouldn’t be very constructive.  It sets up Sam Rockwell’s character, introduces us to the new ‘Rhodey’ and lets RDJ show up Gary Shandling’s slimy Senator.  All important stuff.

Another common problem seems to be that Sam Rockwell’s performance is too over the top.  Sorry, but nobody talks about Sam like that and gets away with it. I guess the critics can’t pick on RDJ so they have to choose a different target.  His performance was excellent.  Really not as hammy as I was expecting.  Justin Hammer WANTS to be like Stark.  He’s jealous of his success.  He tries to act like him but he’s just not cool enough.  He can’t pull it off and the more he tries, the more disasters he encounters.  I love the scene where he shows off all the weapons.  His speech about the missile thingy is fabulous.  Especially considering the amazing pay off when we see the weapon in action.

Finally, the issue of Pepper Potts.  This character pops up as the most consistent criticism of the film.  Either that she’s underused, too shrill or that her relationship with Tony is really ambiguous.  Honestly, owing to the fact that I’m not Paltrow’s biggest fan, I was never going to think she was underused. Just the right amount for me!  The chemistry between her and Tony is great fun to watch.  I didn’t find her to be shrill.  I really hate that word.  It only ever seems to be written by men.  Tony Stark NEEDS someone to tell him when he’s being a fool, and she does that. 

To sum up…

I thought Don Cheadle did a great job.

The Monaco action sequence was the most exciting thing I’ve seen in forever.

RDJ was as awesome as ever

I loved Mickey Rourke even though they kept showing his hands. (They really bother me!)

It was great to see John Slattery out of the offices of Sterling Cooper as Tony Stark’s father.

One last thing before I post this.  Gordon Brown made an amazing speech today.  One that nobody thought he was capable of making.  You really should watch.  Whether you’re voting Labour on Thursday or not, you’ve got to admit it’s a pretty special ten minutes.