A Dominatrix Against An Industrialist Slut in Iron Man 2

Robert Downey Jr. is one drunk bastard. Well not really, in Iron Man 2 Downey is all about kicking the habit, sobering up, and indulging in boyhood fantasies of tin men hatched on psychotropics. While familiar ground for Downey, given his past stint with the White Rabbit, Iron Man 2 isn’t all that sober a movie. Multiple story arcs, aching from the presence of multiple characters making futile attempts to justify their six-future price tags for the best sequel we’ll see this summer, pulls Iron Man 2 down. Don’t F the critics just yet – Iron Man 2 has something going for itself – it’s awesomely entertaining.

Downey’s billionaire military-industrialist slut, Tony Stark, slams down into his own expo as his ironclad superhero avatar. Dressed in a handsome pinstripe suit, the rough-edged Downey pats himself on the back for saving the world , praises the scantily clad entertainment, then finds himself served with a subpoena to testify at a Senate committee hearing, where he sermonizes about his accomplished privatization of world peace. Indeed he has, with an opening predicted to equal our caped crusader (The Dark Knight), Stark’s Iron Man series has our attention, courtesy their creator.

Though in the first 20 minutes, you wouldn’t catch anything exploding, a few minutes later Mickey Rourke walks into a grand prix, looking like the dominatrix from Tron, crackling two sizzling electric whips to spat the holy sh!t out of Tony Stark. Seeing Rourke, one would think of drunken brawls Downey and Rourke probably would (read should) have had during the shooting.

Replacing Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle, gets us another Iron Man in a role that carries more weight than in the first movie. The addition of Scarlett Johansson as a mysterious new Stark Industries hire only sweetens the intrigue. When she steps into the boxing ring wearing work attire and gazes at the audience, one know Black Widow will be appreciated despite the lack of screen time to justify her character. No wonder Tony Stark mutters, “I want one of those.’’ Black Widow makes a strong entrance, but has even less to do than Paltrow, who really got a raw deal this time around. Some witty exchanges aside, Gwyneth Paltrow hasn’t really come a long way since her Shakespeare in Love days.

The beauty of Downey’s performance is that Tony’s narcissism rubbishes the typical superhero cliche of double lives, think Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne. Stark is out, loud and proud. So is Iron Man 2. Expect to be entertained. That’s about it, which isn’t all that bad a movie experience.

More Stuff More You: