Blu-ray Review: IRON MAN 2 Starring Robert Downey Jr

My latest rental from LOVEFiLM.com arrived swiftly as always, I was really looking forward to Iron Man 2, after putting off seeing the first one due to my usual dislike of this type of movie I eventually got round to it.  I thought the first one was a brilliant movie, you can check out my thoughts one it HERE.  Otherwise strap yourself in for Iron Man 2 in Blu-ray with the quality backing track provided once again by AC/DC.

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gwenyth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke and Samuel L Jackson

The Plot

Billionaire playboy Tony Stark has now revealed his secret to the world, he is Iron Man. That has opened up some problems for Tony though, as he now faces pressure from the government, the military and the public to allow his technology to be used openly, never mind being so selfish. Tony’s refusal and continued arrogance annoys the public figures and his biggest rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) who is more than happy to make the weaponry for the military but just needs someone with the technical know how of Stark before he builds his army of remote controlled Iron Men.

The Verdict

Tony Stark is a bit of a dick for the first hour of this movie, in fact I can't tell you a movie where I have rooted for the bad guy more, Micky Rourke's Whiplash was brilliant especially the scene at the Monaco Gran Prix where he just walks out onto the track and starts cutting up cars with his electric chains, this comes across brilliant on the Blu-ray.  It's only when you get to 1 hour 15 minutes that you start to root for Tony a little when he is given a wake up call Dharma Initiative style when S.H.E.I.L.D boss Nick Fury delivers a video of his father telling him that he is the greatest thing he has ever created.

I thought the ending was a little dissapointing, I was expecting a more spectacular showdown between Iron Man and Whiplash, the rivalry between the two started in spectacular style with the Monaco Gran Prix fight but, the build up to that in Russia was also very good.  The final fight didn't quite go on long enough for me, I mean Whiplash had an army of Drones and then he even turned up himself, in real life Micky Rourke would probably kick Downey Jr's ass so, yeah this could have gone on longer.

Although an arse to start Downey Jr still puts in a brilliant performance as Tony Stark here, Iron Man 2 is exactly what it says on the tin, an action movie which in the superhero genre can only be currently contended with by the Dark Knight movies, add in a
superb performance from the brilliant Mickey Rourke as the disgruntled Russian with a score to settle against the Stark family and you have yourself a winner. Scarlett Johansson in leather, anyone? Man she looked good, if this movie was under performing in anyway (which it didn’t do) Natalie or Black Widow would have more than made up for it. I have to hand out a nod also to the ever so cool Samuel L Jackson as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D Colonel Nick Fury.

I still really enjoyed this movie and if anything it has given me a little understanding of who S.H.I.E.L.D are and what to expect when the new Avengers movie comes out this year followed by Iron Man 3 which will start filming in May this year. 

Sound & Colour – Brilliant on Blu-ray as you would expect in a superhero special effects bonanza again, the sound is particularly good but get ready to turn down your TV especially when the big action sequences kick in, in surround sound this would have been even more brilliant. The colour was also great, especially the scene at the Monaco race track with Whiplash unleashing a bit havoc, the detail provided for High Def junkies is supreme.

Blu-ray Special Features

It depends which version you by, I only saw the one disc edition with an audio commentary track from Director Jon Faverau, I didn’t watch that and I also had the S.H.I.E.L.D data vault which is the ultimate superhero movie fan extra, this is all the information on S.H.I.E.L.D characters in detail along with information on all the weapons
available to them. I’m not one to sit through all that but I’m sure someone has.

The Soundtrack

The brilliant track is provided once again by AC/DC, and the fun starts right at the beginning of the movie when Stark makes an appearance at his annual event, hard rocking AC/DC simply add fuel to the already brilliant action.

Would I watch it again?

Yeah, like the first one I would watch this again but I look forward to this years Avengers and Dark Knight Rises more.

Rating: MMM 1/2