Iron Man 2: The Armor Holds, With Bit of Wear

When I was very young, around 10 or so, my folks and I used to go to Kentucky Fried Chicken every Sunday as a treat.

For a while we loved it and really looked forward to it, but after a year or so the novelty of the whole thing wore off and we grew accustomed to the wondrous and secret combination of herbs and spices. While the taste was undoubtedly part of the place's appeal, the novelty of it all and the "treat" aspect was perhaps a larger part and once that was gone it was hard to work up as much enthusiasm for the trips. The food was just as good, the recipe was the same but the magic had faded a bit.

So it is with the lazily titled "Iron Man 2", a serviceable and generally likeable sequel to the 2008 breakout hit "Iron Man". The director, stars and fictional universe are all (largely) the same, but it seems like we've been here before and something has been lost with the intervening years.

Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark, the zillion dollar inventor/industrialist wunderkind who moonlights as national defense hero Iron Man, donning a miraculous suit equipped with flight, advanced weaponry, strength and analysis equipment. As the films opens, Stark has become even more cocky and self-assured than he was in the previous film, though we learn quickly this may be a bit of a front to mask the fact that the same technology that keeps him alive (and powers the armor) is slowly poisoning his body.

But Stark's problems don't end there, of course. He's also being stalked by the son of a Russian inventor whose father had a grudge against Stark's dad (seems the former liked to trade state secrets to the Russkies and Stark, Sr. turned him in) and who has taken up Dad's cause by trying to discredit and destroy the younger Stark. He's also dealing with a sexy but mysterious assistant (Scarlet Johannsen) who's more than she appears, and a friend, James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) who grows weary of Stark's disintegration into self-pity and takes it upon himself to appropriate one of Stark's powerful suits to do the work that Stark should be doing.

All of these plot threads eventually intertwine as Stark comes to terms with his rocky relationship with his late father, his loyal but out of patience assistant/friend/possible romantic interest, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Rhodes in an action filled finale that tests both Stark's mettle (and metal).

"Iron Man 2" features acting that ranges from good to excellent. Downey continues to shine as Stark, an globetrotting ladies' man who continually teeters on the verge of audience rejection with his massive ego and flippant banter, but manages to earn our sympathy with his decent nature and innate heroism. Cheadle is a nice replacement for, keying in on Rhodey's disappointment and anger as well as comradeship with Stark. I liked Paltrow as I did in the first film but she, again, didn't really have that much to do beyond exchange flirtatious banter with Stark and get upset with him before falling back in love with him. Ditto Johannsen, who's great eye candy and did what she could with the "Black Widow" role, alternately sexy and dangerous and occasionally both at once. The standout guest star was Mickey Rourke as AKA "Whiplash", who oozes menace and hatred for Stark while somehow not completely forfeiting all our sympathy.

The sequel clicks along as the first one did, full of important scenes and looming danger. The only parts that seem to creak a bit are the scenes between Downey and his female co-stars. Once again, particularly in the Downey/Paltrow scenes the writers opted for the "rat a tat" dialogue style where two characters talk over each other in clever, overly self conscious dialogue, half of which is unintelligible and the other half of which is just trying to hard to be cute. Ditto the pseudo seduction scenes between Downey and Johannson, which instead of being sultry and electric just turned out awkward and flat.

The films suffers a bit from "kitchen sink" syndrome, wherein too many elements are introduced to properly do justice to them all. While Johanssen and Cheadle worked hard to bring life to their roles, the introduction of two new heroes in addition to expanding on the character of the title hero plus introducing two new villains is a bit much for the film to bear. But like most superhero franchises, "Iron Man" is feeling the pressure to amp up the 'newness' in successive films which lack the freshness of the original. Like the aforementioned fried chicken, the thrill of the new can only last so long and then it needs replacing and while it doesn't sink the film, it does show a kind of disorganization that was wonderfully lacking in the focused, lean narrative of the original.

There's lots to enjoy about "Iron Man 2"; great action scenes, a strong villain with a personal tie to the hero, some earnest and heartfelt acting, a fast paced script and a very human hero who like most Marvel heroes, struggles as much with himself as he does with his adversaries. While the taste isn't quite as sweet the second time around, it's still better than most of the other offerings on your cinematic menu. I hope the creators know when to move onto other dishes before it begins to turn sour, though.