Homem de Ferro 2

O diretor Favreau usa de forma excelente o potencial do elenco estelar, onde até os atores «secundários» têm papéis como se estivessem escritos exatamente para eles - o Samuel de um olho no casaco de couro, o homem de negócios Rockwell desonesto, Scarlett a lutar no estilo de Blade, todos eles, liderados por Downey Jr., claro, apreciam-no ao máximo (talvez só o russo psico-inventor Rourke merecesse ser mais elaborado psicologicamente). Mas a história em si não tem absolutamente nada que o cative - a dramatização ou tensão são praticamente inexistentes, e há menos de duas cenas de ação, cobrindo apenas 10 minutos das duas horas de duração (!). Na verdade, é uma pequena maravilha como uma banda desenhada com um argumento tão pouco excitante consegue manter-se no plano de um filme de conversa tão agradável. (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)

Where is the taciturnity and momentum of the first film? Where is Stark's strong personal charm? The second film amounts to watery, scattered, and terribly lifeless blabbering of the star-studded characters, whose dialogues and jokes often feel like they were written by a five-year-old (I admit that the problem may be the dubbing, but unfortunately, that is hardly going to change my impression until I see the version with subtitles). I forgave Favreau’s routinism in the first film because Downey's character had an edge. In the second film, most of the beautiful things are gone, and all that remains is chatter, outdated humor, and surprisingly Downey, who seems to be so convinced about his own irresistibility that he completely ignores the emptiness of his dialogues. There is something wrong with a comic book film that does not get me out of my seat in two hours with even one ballbusting moment. I cannot give the dubbed version more than one star... (27/04/2010)

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)

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)