Admirin' Iron Man 2

After watching the first teaser trailer for the first Iron Man movie, I knew I want... nay, NEED to watch it! I regretted not watching Iron Man right away in 2008, and I regretted not watching it enough multiple times in the theatres. So with the release of Iron Man 2, I had the opportunity to watch it right away and I took it! I even stayed up late to get Iron Miku up and running before I go to the IMAX version at 10 AM on Friday... The IMAX screen really showed the details well, but I don't think it's necessary to watch this movie, especially if you have to pay extra $5 to watch it.

Ok, to be honest, I didn't feel like it lived up to the first movie. That's how I felt from my first viewing. I think there were too many things going on in the story. However, the action really escalated compared to the first one. War Machine was a character I really liked when I first seen him in the comics. At the time Rhodey don the armor because supposedly Tony Stark died in the comics. Tony is shown that he is slowly being poisoned by his own tech in the beginning, so it's almost similar to the comics. The similarities end there. Let's just say War Machine and Iron Man came to terms and whupped some baddies in the most grandiose style! I was skeptical about Don Cheadle when he was cast as Rhodey. I have to say he filled his role well. I do wish he had the comic appearance, but not a big deal. It would help the illusion that he's badass Rhodey.

Even though I liked the origins and the creation of the Iron Man armor in the first movie, I thought it lacked some action. The sequel really made up for that. The suitcase armor from the comics and the animated series make its appearance in the movie and easily created one of the coolest scenes in the movie. Can't say it's the coolest armor though... War Machine takes the cake on that one. I'm still looking for the action figure right now... Despite the coolness of War Machine, I do have some complains.

SPOILER ALERT

The text is spoilers, but feel free to scroll down for just the pictures. Please make sure to put "Spoiler Alert" if you're mentioning major plot points in the comments.

I have to say that some of the science in the movie is too coincidentally convenient. The plot where Tony is dying because of what's keeping him alive is great, but it does create a plothole and it was filled by that convenient science.

Did he get squashed by the can or did his head turn into the can? Or perhaps he's drinking from it... Dr. Pepper was on special; 2 cans for $2... Except I don't like Dr. Pepper.

I was rather impressed and uncomfortable at the same time when Tony was drunk and was fully armored as Iron Man. It shows how uneasy and realistic it felt to me because that armor is dangerous, especially when the guy in it is wasted! No one got hurt except for Tony's ego. It's like a typical second part of movie series though, that it is much darker this way. I did feel how dark it was, especially with the AWI (Armored  While Intoxicated) scene and Tony's mortality.

Mickey Rourke wasn't too bad. I didn't have a problem with his performance at all. He died a bit too quickly though, even when armored. Guess he wasn't too smart... Justin Hammer played by Sam Rockwell was awful. No, not his performance that was awful, but the character... I think Rockwell really pulled off the annoying character all to well because I hated Justin Hammer from the get go. Probably what we were supposed to feel for this guy.

Black Widow was great! Scarlet Johanssen really trained quite well for this role. She kicked a lot of ass and looked good doing it! I really hope she gets a role in the Avengers movie. Jon Favreau had more appearances and lines in this one. That's his right as a director, I suppose, but he is a good comedic actor as well, so I didn't mind it as much. Gwyneth Paltrow played a smaller role compared to the first movie, and I wished she did more. She had to split her screen time with Johanssen, I suppose. Even though Sam Jackson as Fury had more time here, it didn't feel like he did anything...

It really was War Machine that stole the show for me. His appearance wasn't until the end, but his armor just looked so good, that I wouldn't mind repeating those scenes over and over again. One of my favourite lines was Rhodey being asked by Hammer which weapons he wants on his brand new stolen Iron Man armor, and he says he'll take it as he surveys a table full of arsenal. Hammer asks, "which one?" to which Rhodey responded with, "all of it". And War Machine was born! It's too bad when they had the big flying chase scene that some of the details were lost due to the speed... It wasn't until they landed on the ground for the final battle that we finally get to see War Machine in full fighting details. FRICKING AWESOME! That chain gun on his shoulder was just too damn cool as it targets ones from behind him while he shoots in front of him. Metal parts and oil flying around his face creating black-coloured oil bukkake.

I'm hoping to see this at least one more time and hoping to catch some more easter eggs hidden in these frames. I was so freaking thrilled to see Thor's hammer at the end! I wonder if that continues to his movie next year. Hopefully you folks stayed behind to watch this after the credits ^^;