You Can, Iron Man

The man of iron, Tony Stark, is the talk of the world. His money, brain, and power let him become the Iron Man. He spends his time managing his company, creating new tools and weapons, and once in a while saving the world. He fought against an evil co-worker, and now he has to fight against his most powerful opponent yet, Whiplash. Almost fighting himself, Iron Man has to battle a synthetic version of his suit. However Whiplash is not his only problem. The Iron Man Arc Reactor (shiny blue light) keeps him alive, but is also unfortunately killing him too. Furthermore after proclaiming his identity in the first movie, the US Government wants the suit handed over; but Stark claims that the suit and him are one. With all of this pressuring him, will he be able to handle it?

In “Iron Man 2” Tony Stark is the world renowned superhero and genius. However the life of a hero is never easy. During a trip around the world, Tony Stark faces an unexpected villain, Ivan Vanko or Whiplash. Whiplash’s goal is to ultimately kill Stark and anything that gets in his way. While continuously skirmishing with the Iron Man, Vanko receives help from Hammer Industries, a rival with Stark Industries, to create a better suit and an army for himself. In the meantime, the Arc Reactor slowly kills Stark, making him reckless and uncontrolled. After almost destroying his reputation, S.H.I.E.L.D. (a secret organization) sends Agent Rominov to get him caught up. So, subsequently he became inspired to save himself and the world. This leads to a new sustainable Arc Reactor, and a new and improved Iron Man Suit. Nonetheless, the battle is still on. At the Stark Expo, Whiplash’s army awakens (literally, his army is made up of drones) and sets one target, Stark. So with the help of his friend “Rhody”, or the War Machine, Iron Man fights against Whiplash and his army, eventually destroying the army, and Whiplash.

Robert Downy Jr. truly portrays what Tony Stark would be like. His attitude, voice, and character really convince me that he is Iron Man. However Sam Rockwell’s acting as Justin Hammer (CEO of Hammer Industries) could have been better. His portrayal seemed to be make believe, as his boldness and unstableness didn’t depict CEO material. Sam Rockwell’s unexpected yelling ruins some environments in the movie, like a serious conversation. However sometimes the bad can be good. The main antagonist, Whiplash, was played by Mickey Rourke, who did an outstanding job showing who his role was. His accent, gestures, and calmness represents what a fearless villain would be like. Although at some times too calm, Rourke was the best choice for the Whiplash part.

During the movie there were epic parts that made my heart jump, and there were the monotonous parts that made me fall asleep. One of the best scenes was when Tony Stark first encountered Whiplash on the Formula One Race Track. The whole scene built suspense that made me frightened yet interested. The scene takes place when Stark is racing in the formula one race. You see Ivan Vanko dressed up as a technician, walking towards the track. While racecars are hurtling forward on the track, Vanko leisurely walks out onto the road. When all of a sudden his jacket burns off and you see the crackling electricity on his mock iron man suit as well as on his whips. With the crack of the whip, two cars are split in half, including the Stark car. Tony is sent spiraling into the air, just as his body guard shows up, slamming Whiplash into the guardrail with his car. Suddenly, the “football” or “suitcase armor” is flung to Stark. He picks up the suitcase and in a matter of seconds, he becomes Iron Man. The battle continues, until Vanko is overpowered, and Iron Man wins. Stark picks up Whiplash’s synthetic arc reactor and crushes it, leaving a cliff hanger for the rest of the movie. This scene was by far one of the best scenes, however not all battle scenes are as impressive as this one. One of the worst scenes in the movie was when Stark fought against Rhody in stark’s house. The battle was basically a drunk man fighting against one of his best friends. This scene had no contribution to the plot, but was a moment of embarrassment and shame. This was one of those scenes that made this movie seem like an “everything-that-can-possibly-go-wrong-goes-wrong-movie”. So “Iron Man 2” was a movie with ups and downs.

Every story, movie, book, etc. has a theme or moral. Some obvious and some not. However a prominent idea is one that Tony Stark quoted himself. “It’s not about me, or you, not even us, it’s about legacy.” For those who don’t quite understand this, it basically means that we should work our hardest for the next generation. This continuous cycle creates a synergy between the people of the world. This philosophy is a good one to live by for anyone.

Though the plot of this movie is very in depth and thorough, the initial content is not for everybody. It gets very deep into some situations and is sometimes a bit violent. This is a recommendation for any lover of Iron Man, action, small jokes, and awesome props. The MPAA rating is PG-13 and it’s a reasonable rating. The movie gets a bit vehement at times and contains a tiny bit of mature humor but any mature lover of movies would enjoy this. Overall, the rating for this movie, is 9 arc reactors out of 10.