Sick Sad World

I hope your script is good! The Brett Ratner double feature next on
Sick Sad World
 









Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 plot... let's see.  The son of an old associate of Tony Stark's father comes looking to settle his father's score.  Stark is poisoned by the power source for his magnetic heart.  Stark fights with a business rival.  Pepper Potts becomes CEO of Stark, Ind. Oh, they try like hell to set up an Avengers film.

This film is a mess.  The screenplay seems like it was filmed in rough draft form.  There are a lot of good elements in the film, but they don't come together into a cohesive whole.  This film brings into focus Jon Favreau weakness as a director.  While the first Iron Man has a straightforward narrative with a clear man character who the film revolves around. Iron Man 2 has several characters all fighting for screen time, and while Tony Stark is still the main character, he isn't the sole focus.  Favreau doesn't know how to juggle these plots and the film's pacing suffers greatly as a result.  The presence of Nick Fury and Black Widow (two characters who will feature into the Avengers), crowds an already over-populated film, and serve no real purpose besides reminding us that Marvel is building to an Avenger's film.

So, what works?  The cast is great (Marvel generally does a really good job of casting).  Robert Downey, Jr is amazing once again, although without the character arc he had last time.  Gwyneth Paltrow plays of Downey perfect, again.  Sam Rockwell is hilariously slimy as Justin Hammer, Stark's business rival.  Mickey Rourke is fearsome as Ivan Vanko/Whiplash.  Besides Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson (as Nick Fury and Black Widow) whose characters have no business being in this film, the weakest part of the cast is (I can't believe I am actually going to type this) Don Cheadle as Col. Rhodes, replacing Terrance Howard from the last film.  Cheadle is one of the most gifted actors alive, and there is almost nothing he can't do, but he is mostly lifeless here.  I would tend to blame  Favreau and Justin Theroux, the writer, over Cheadle as he is a better actor then they director and writer, respectively, but that doesn't change what's on screen.  Sorry if I am hanging on this for too long, but I can't bear to call Cheadle the weak part of the cast.  I need to rationalize it for myself.

The action scenes are improved from the first film, with the obvious highlight being the fight between Iron Man and Whiplash in the middle of a racetrack.  Most people, when they walk onto the middle of a busy racetrack, you would worry about their safety.  When Mickey Rourke walks onto said racetrack, you worry for the safety of the oncoming traffic.

Honestly, most of the scenes and plots work in-and-of themselves, but they aren't combined into one film successfully.  Still, the parts are interesting enough to warrant a mild recommendation, so here it is.

*** (out of *****) 

Thor

When kicked out of Asgard by his father Odin, Thor must learn humility and sacrifice, while his scheming brother, Loki tries to take over his father's kingdom.

Although equally mediocre as Iron Man 2, Thor is mediocre for the opposite reason: nothing is that good.  It isn't bad, per say, but there is very little here to get excited about.

The film flows smoothly.  The action scenes are fine.  The plot, in theory works well enough, although it is hard to buy Thor's complete change in attitude within two days time.

Once again, the acting saves this film.  Chris Hemsworth has charisma to spare as the god of thunder (Thor, for those of you not in the know).  Tom Hiddleston makes for an effective villain, and I hope to see him refine his performance further as the villain in the Avengers.  Besides these two, the other cast member I quite liked was Kat Dennings as I actually found a lot of her one-liners funny.

  

I am having trouble working up any excitement for this one.  If you like the Marvel comic book universe, see Thor some day when you have nothing else to do.  Although not horrible by any means, I doubt directer Kenneth Branagh will be placing this film on the shelf next to his masterful 1996 adaptation of Hamlet.

*** (out of *****)

PS.  If you were wondering why the review of Thor is so short, that is because I have tickets to see the Avengers in one hour.