feature: Iron Man 2

So I reckoned it was probably time I did a feature on something… I didn’t want to pick anything too far away because well, release dates change all the time, so I picked Iron Man 2.

Actually I’m not entirely sure of the release date on this. It’s supposed to be in Irish cinemas from 30 Apr 10 but the US release date is 07 May 10. I’m surprised the European release date would be earlier than the US one, but then again who knows? There’s probably some good reason for it.

Anyway I kind of assume that by now, you know there’s an Iron Man 2 coming out. Provided of course that you knew there was an Iron Man in the first place. I liked the first one enough, I didn’t love it but it was grand for what it was. I wasn’t surprised when I heard there would be a sequel; it did get some rave reviews at the time and lots of people who aren’t particularly into superhero movies seemed to really enjoy it… so… it would seem a waste not to capitalise on that good will.

If you never saw Iron Man or read the Stan Lee Iron Man comics then here’s what you missed. Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) is a wealthy industrialist / engineering genius who invented this amazing ass-kicking suit and has basically become Superman. It’s like an exo-skeleton so he can take it off and do his Bruce Wayne impression.

Ok, there was a bit more to the first film than that but it was essentially an origin story so you really just need to know the gist of it to know what’s going on.

I gather from the trailers that Iron Man 2 picks up where Iron Man left off. Tony Stark is still playing the only show in town but the government are itching to get their hands on his super-suit. No doubt they want to create some super soldiers. Tony is reluctant though, since he’s been in town war has definitely been on the downward spiral; making a load of super soldiers will undoubtedly cause a bit of an upset with that.

I have links to the trailers here so let’s see what you think….

To me this first trailer is very much a teaser trailer and it’s actually a pretty decent one. Doesn’t seem to be giving too much away but still it’s pretty flash. Mickey Rourke is obviously shaping up to be the big bad here. Looks like he’s made himself his very own Iron Man type suit. Interesting…

I don’t know anything about the Iron Man comics but if you do then I gather that Rourke’s character is a mixture of Blacklash and the Crimson Dynamo characters… whoever they are.

It looks good anyway. My main problem with the first Iron Man was that I really thought that for an action film, there wasn’t a lot of action. It looks like, hopefully, perhaps, there’ll be a little more action in this one.

For your viewing pleasure I’ve also included the second trailer. This one is a bit more spoilerish and it was released just after the Oscars the other week. Ordinarily I wouldn’t be looking at trailers like this but if you don’t mind the spoilers then give it a watch and read on…

… Looks like Rourke is off to peddle his wears around town. Later there seems to be a whole heap of Iron Man style folks around, as well as a buddy for Stark, obviously the secret is out.

To be honest with you, the reason I watched these trailers myself is that I wasn’t really looking forward to Iron Man 2… Well no more than I’d look forward to your average summer blockbuster – it’s not like it’s a period drama or something. I do love the ol’ explosions but the first one just wasn’t that exciting.

Having watched the trailers though, this one looks a lot more interesting than the first one. Perhaps I will bother my ass going after all. I just hope there’s a bit more of a story than a dude in a cave tinkering with some wires… Also it has an all AC/DC soundtrack so I’m very much looking forward to that. Should be rockin’.

What do you reckon yourselves? Are you looking forward to Iron Man 2 or are you indifferent? Are you Iron Man fans? Let me know, I’d love to hear…