Iron Man 2 (***) | ||||||
directed by Jon Favreau | ||||||
written by Justin Theroux, based on the comic book created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber, and Don Heck | ||||||
Rick Norwood
Justin Theroux turned in a top notch script. For an actor turned writer, he's a wonder. In particular, I wonder
how much of his dialogue was ad-libbed by Robert Downey, Jr. Certainly, Downey's delivery makes the dialogue seem
even better than it is, but that is not to put down Justin Theroux, whose second turn as a writer is nothing
short of amazing. His only previous screenplay is Tropic Thunder, about a bunch of actors who get caught up
in a real war and think it's special effects.
The Russian villain is also very well written and well acted. They took a minor comic book villain, Whiplash,
and turned him into a major player, with a great performance by Mickey Rourke.
The action ending was a bit of a letdown. It never really works when the heroes outnumber the villains two
to one. And it never really works when the villain, for no reason at all, uses a timer to set of a bomb he
wants to explode now! That is, for no reason at all except to give the hero a chance to save the girl. A
better ending would have been for Whiplash to say, "I win." Boom! Tony and Rhodey survive because they're
wearing armor, but Tony thinks Pepper is dead -- later he discovers that Nick Fury has rescued her.
Stay for the credit cookie. "Avengers Assemble!" 'Nuf said.
Rick Norwood is a mathematician and writer whose small press publishing house, Manuscript Press, has published books by Hal Clement, R.A. Lafferty, and Hal Foster. He is also the editor of Comics Revue Monthly, which publishes such classic comic strips as Flash Gordon, Sky Masters, Modesty Blaise, Tarzan, Odd Bodkins, Casey Ruggles, The Phantom, Gasoline Alley, Krazy Kat, Alley Oop, Little Orphan Annie, Barnaby, Buz Sawyer, and Steve Canyon. |
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