Iron Man 2

Peu de gens s’amuseraient à regarder la suite d’un film auquel ils n'ont attribué qu'une étoile. C'est pourtant ce que j’ai fait étant donné que Mickey Rourke y jouait et je peux dire qu'il ne m’a pas déçu, tout comme Sam Rockwell. Mais bon, pour le reste, la morosité du premier film était au rendez-vous. Car une seule scène d’action par cinquante minutes, c’est vraiment maigre – et ce n’est pas le léger regain de dynamisme à la fin qui sauve la mise ! Je trouve que Mickey Rourke aurait dû avoir plus d’espace. Ce sera donc deux étoiles pour lui et Sam Rockwell et une demi-étoile pour les quelques coups de pied remarquablement envoyés de Scarlett Johansson. (23/02/2011)

Le réalisateur Favreau utilise brillamment le potentiel de la distribution d'acteurs célèbres, où même les "seconds rôles" ont des rôles qui leur vont comme un gant - Samuel, l'homme à l'œil unique en manteau de cuir, Rockwell, le vendeur en costume-cravate, Scarlett, qui se bat froidement, ils profitent tous de chaque instant (seul le psycho-inventeur russe Rourke mériterait d'être plus développé psychologiquement). Cependant, l'histoire elle-même n'a absolument rien pour captiver - il n'y a pratiquement pas de drame ou de tension, et les scènes d'action durent à peine deux minutes et couvrent à peine 10 minutes du film (!). En fait, c'est un petit miracle de voir comment une bande dessinée avec un scénario si peu excitant parvient à rester à un niveau aussi agréablement conversational. (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)

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)