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The School Newspaper of Franklin High School

Pantherbook

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The School Newspaper of Franklin High School

Pantherbook

The School Newspaper of Franklin High School

Pantherbook

Cyborg’s Opinion: Iron Man 2 (Movie Review)

Last Friday, one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year finally hit theaters. And as a message to all of you “sequel haters” (Noun: Someone who immediately dislikes or dismisses a movie because it is a sequel.) out there, I’d like to inform you that it did not suck. Iron Man 2 manages to live up to the reputation of its predecessor and delivers two hours of truly nerdgasmic content for all of its viewers. Alright now let’s get down to biz-nass (slang/noun: another way to say Business). Two years later we return to the life of Tony Stark in the aftermath of his announcement about his identity at the end of the first film. What were the consequences of this?
Well, at first everything seems to be great. Stark Industries is back on top, Tony is worshipped by everyone because of his iron alter ego, and Tony isn’t exactly adverse to all this idol worship either. He can be seen at the very beginning making an over the top showy entrance to his expo in his armor and then being disassembled to reveal a fashionable suit underneath. This “on top of the world” feeling is very brief once we get into the main STORIES of Iron Man 2, and I emphasize the word stories for a reason. Iron Man 2 has A LOT of plots and subplots going on all at the same time. For those of you familiar with the comic book, these will be significantly less overwhelming as you will already have a basic knowledge and understanding of what’s happening and what it is all leading up to. However, to the average unknowing moviegoer, certain things that happen or certain characters that are in it may seem unnecessary or out of the ordinary add ins to the film. The two most obvious of these are Nick Fury(Samuel Jackson) and Natasha Romanov/ Black Widow( Scarlett Johansson). For those of you who don’t know much about “The Avengers” storyline beyond what Hollywood has shown you thus far, then the easiest way to think of these characters is not as unnecessary add ins to this movie but instead necessary characters on loan from another movie yet to be released. The movie juggles a lot of story but delivers it all in a way that you’ll enjoy every second of it whether or not you fully understand it. Unfortunately because of the plot’s setup I can’t really give you an accurate summary without spoiling some aspect of it. All I can say is that the characters are all back and are just as loveable as they were in the first installment. The performances given by this all star cast are fantastic and involving. You will be invested in each storyline however big or small. This is a breath of fresh air due to the fact that in a lot of sequels, actors seem to be trying to copy their performances from the first movie rather than just playing the character as is. The movie isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t have a lot of flaws either. Its problems are arguable and can be seen as trivial issues at best.
And in case you’re wondering what these minor scratches on the surface are, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s begin with the character of Whiplash(Mickey Rourke), your typical BAMF villain guy. His character was brilliant but at the same time seemed a little too over the top. That is to say that in his first confrontation with tony stark alone he takes a car to the pelvis quite a few times and isn’t in crutches in the following scene. Exactly how strong is this guy? I’ve seen guys that bench ten times their body weight and still can’t take a sports car to the junk. But ok,ignore that and let’s moving on. There is also the issue of pacing with Iron Man. The first movie has a very loose and laid back sort of feel to it. This ends up working brilliantly with the film as a finished product. Iron man 2 brings back this sort of easy breezy pacing and style but this time around it doesn’t flow properly in certain areas. This film is not the laid back movie the first was. This movie is a comic book cluster fudge of plot, and because of this there are times when you really need things to move a little faster than they do. The scene where this is most obvious is a scene that takes place at Tony’s birthday party. This scene may have been character building and very loosely plot relevant but it wasn’t entirely necessary and it definitely did not have to drag on as long as it did. Of course, I’m not here to nitpick the little inconsistencies because the fact of the matter is, Iron Man was an amazing movie. It was also chock full of things that really drive the point home that in a couple of summers, we will be seeing Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk all on the same screen as one another. With this always in the back of your mind it’s hard not to be happy. The movie is action packed, hilarious and filled with witty dialogue and top notch performances.
Of course there is going to be a lot of talk about whether or not this is better than the original. Let me clear that up for you, it’s a matter of opinion. Don’t spend your time debating about which one is better, just be glad that this one is as great as it is. In other words, you might like this one better but your friend might like the first one better, so be it. They’re both very good and each one is better than the other in its own way. So the point? Iron Man 2 has something for everybody. It’s an epic addition to the superhero genre and a good lead in to the Avengers hype that will pay off in 2012(if we’re not all dead). Also speaking of the avengers, stay tuned after the credits of Iron Man 2 to see a quick teaser for the next superhero movie that Marvel comics is going to grace our theaters with. Trust me, it’s worth the 5 minute wait.

Now I’ll give you something that you can wrap in a tortilla and dip in hot queso , my review in numerical form. Iron Man 2 Starring Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke and Don Cheadle gets a 9.7(“I hope you’re ready.”) out of 10.

This has been Antonius Perito, and this was (drum roll please)………………… Cyborg’s Opinion.