Iron Man 2

Málokdo by se díval na druhý díl filmu, jehož prvnímu dílu udělil jednu hvězdu. Já jsem do toho šel kvůli Mickey Rourkovi. Ten mě nezklamal, stejně jako Sam Rockwell, jinak se opakovala nuda a šeď z jedničky. Jedna akční scéna na padesát minut je proklatě málo. A trochu svižnější závěr to už nezachránil. Mickey Rourke měl dostat víc prostoru. Dvě hvězdičky tedy za něj a Sama Rockwella a půltá za pár efektních kopů Scarlett Johansson. (23.02.2011)

El director Favreau hace un excelente uso del potencial del elenco repleto de estrellas, incluso los «de reparto» tienen papeles escritos realmente para ellos: Samuel como el tuerto con el abrigo de cuero, Rockwell como el trabajador de cuello blanco, Scarlett peleando, todos ellos, encabezados por Downey Jr., y por supuesto disfrutan al máximo (quizás solo el papel del psico-inventor ruso interpretado por Rourke merecería ser más elaborado psicológicamente). Pero la historia en sí no tiene absolutamente nada cautivador - la dramatización o la tensión prácticamente no existen y las escenas de acción son menos de dos y cubren apenas 10 minutos de las dos horas de metraje (!). De hecho, es un pequeño milagro cómo un cómic con un guión tan poco emocionante puede mantener el nivel de una película de conversación tan agradable. (27.04.2010)

This doesn’t work, man. A by-the-numbers comic book movie with zero interesting scenes. I wasn’t particularly thrilled by the first Iron Man, either, but I had no trouble watching it as a mind breather. What I liked the most were the dialogues and the interactions among the characters, something that unfortunately I can’t say about the second one, and thus the lower rating. And the worst is that when there finally was some action, it only took a moment for me to long for it to finish quickly. Bland, without any spark or ideas. (04.09.2010)

Two days after watching it, the only memories left in my head were strawberries, great actors, and a lot of missed chances (for everyone - Scarlett's absolutely tragic fight in the corridor, like the rest of the action). Even the first film wasn't particularly perennial, but this is a pretty sad downgrade. (11.09.2010)

I wouldn't expect a warning about the power of (media) imagery from a film whose main protagonist spends half the time drinking and goofing around. Stark is just as amoral a character as the other arms magnate, Hammer, but he knows how to impress people and make fun of himself, a trait that characterises the whole film and distinguishes the Iron Man franchise from the dark comic-book adaptations along the lines of The Dark Knight, which don't make light of the superhero mythos. Favreau doesn’t follow the trend of psychologically more intense comic-book movies. Iron Man 2 is darker solely in what happens to Stark’s body, not in what he goes through. This focus on the surface can be seen as the reason for the popularity of Stark and those like him, who know how to perform in front of television cameras (through which we also see the protagonist several times). That focus on the surface is also the reason that Scarlett Johansson, whose curves are manna for the eyes, has a generally superfluous role in the film. Mickey Rourke, who doesn’t talk much but speaks to the point, is also delightful, as is Gwyneth Paltrow, whose verbal shootouts with Downey are reminiscent of classic screwball comedies with their double entendres and timing, and the roughly two action scenes added in just for fun (since they gave us money for them...) are a joy to watch. Throw out abundant one-liners, look good doing it and quickly fade from memory. Mission accomplished. 75% (06.05.2013)