After smashing the 2008 box office with a performance only topped by fellow superhero The Dark Knight that year, Iron Man might have surprised many moviegoers (and critics!) with its critical success, achieving a Certified Fresh stamp and 93% Tomatometer. In a sequel filled Summer, there is no doubt that Iron Man 2 is one of the season’s and the year’s most anticipated movies. A suited up Don Cheadle, a scarlet-haired Scarlett Johansson, and a whiplashing Mickey Rourke join Robert Downey Jr. this time around, and with director Jon Favreau at the helm again, the sequel’s star power has certainly done its part to give the film all the hype you’d expect and more.
While we gather up reviews from the Information Superhighway’s tomato patch and update what will be one of the more closely watched Tomatometers of the year, we’ve got plenty of fuel in Iron Man 2 goods – with new clips and red carpet pictures – to keep all of us busy before the film premieres both this weekend and next weekend worldwide.
Inevitably, Iron Man 2 is going to be weighed against the original, and critics so far appear to be split on how it holds up to the first installment. Variety’s Brian Lowry declares that “Iron Man 2 isn’t as much fun as its predecessor, but by the time the smoke clears, it’ll do.” As the film prepares for its premiere this weekend in Australia, IGN AU’s Patrick Kolan writes, “Like Tony Stark himself, Iron Man 2 is a sleek and cheeky number that almost certainly trumps the fun-factor of Jon Favreau’s 2008 surprise hit, Iron Man.”
Acknowledging that fellow superheroes Spider-Man, X-Men, and Batman have seen their best days on screen through sequels, Time Out London’s Tom Huddleston opines, “Iron Man 2 is a lot of fun: it’s shiny, likeable and never boring. But it’s also wildly uneven and unnecessarily convoluted, leaving the viewer unsatisfied and hungry for something more substantial.” So far, Huddleston isn’t alone in thinking that the movie finds its best moments in its first half, as Total Film’s Neil Smith says, “Around 40 minutes in, Iron Man 2 is shaping up to be the best comic-book movie ever… If this keeps up, you think, we may just have another X2 or Dark Knight on our hands.” He continues, “But that’s about to change. Because the next hour of Favreau’s follow-up to his 2008 hit is surprisingly dull.”
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After helping to set a high bar with Iron Man‘s Tomatometer, a number of critics have been left disappointed by Stark’s second effort. In the UK, The Daily Mirror’s David Edwards bemoans, “Given the strength of part one, the sequel is not just a terrific failure but a terrific disappointment.” Comparing the sequel to the high-flying original, Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter says that “Everything fun and terrific about Iron Man, a mere two years ago, has vanished with its sequel. In its place, Iron Man 2 has substituted noise, confusion, multiple villains, irrelevant stunts and misguided story lines.”
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As reviews keep coming in, make sure to check back here and on Iron Man 2’s page for the movie’s latest Tomatometer, pictures, and videos. Given the success of Iron Man, the sequel already has big red boots to fill, and as more reviews surface, we’ll be keeping a watchful eye on Iron Man 2‘s Tomatometer as it kicks off this year’s Summer Movie Season.
