Short Review: Everything they did right in the first movie, they did wrong in this one.


In this follow up to Iron Man, director Jon Favreau comes down with a serious case of the sophomore blues. The original film had a sarcastic edge that smoothed out a clunky but still enjoyable plot. The origin story of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) introduced an externally belligerent/internally weak man who finds the cure for his mid-life crisis. In the original Stark is forced to beat down his past self, personified by his business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). This outing avoids all of that messy character stuff and focuses on lots of loud noises, flashing lights and Scarlett Johansson in a body sock.

Tony Stark returns having achieved world peace thanks to his use of the Iron Man suit. At least, that is what we're told. We never get to actually see him protect the world. It's all explained in a Senate hearing. This makes Stark's hero work an abstract. This in turn makes it meaningless. If it is not on the screen, it doesn't exist for the audience.

The screenplay by Justin Theroux clearly explains that the world is at peace in the opening moments. One would then expect that in turn this world peace would be threatened. Nope. Stark is attacked by Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a Russian physicist with a grudge. Vanko's personal vendetta is funded by Stark's weapons manufacturer rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). World peace is never actually threatened. The only things threatened in this story are the egos of a bunch of scummy super-geniuses. This does not make for a riveting central conflict.

This lack of stakes is the main reason the film fails so completely. Theroux doesn't paint himself into narrative corners, he paints himself out of the whole room. He is so busy introducing characters for the upcoming Avengers movie and fumbling with technological presentations that he almost doesn't have time shoehorn in any actual characterization.

There are numerous scriptural issues that make the story fall flat. This is evidenced in Stark giving up his company in the first act. Once he does this he has literally nothing to lose. At no time does he find it critical to get his company back. It is just something that happens. If it has no deeper value, why does Theroux involve it in the film?

At one point Hammer tells Vanko to take Stark's "legacy" from him. How does the audience know when his "legacy" is taken away? We are given a statement of action by the villains and it involves a motive no less intangible than them saying they're going to hurt Stark's feelings. This is poor writing.

Vanko's whole motivation is a vacuum. Favreau gives us enough to understand that Vanko is fueled by revenge, but this revenge is hollow because we don't understand its cause. This results in Vanko being little more than another hurdle Stark must overcome instead of a villain to confront. (Spoiler warning) This is why at the end, Stark so easily overcomes Vanko and his droid army and why Vanko's death has zero dramatic punch. He is a non-entity. (Spoiler done)

The film also lacks any symbolism or meaning. In the original we were given the cheesy, but effective symbol of Stark's heart. Does Tony Stark have a heart? Yes, and its sitting in this little glass box. It is a symbol that is referred to and played upon throughout the entire film.

In this film, Favreau sets up a similar conceit. Stark is literally being poisoned by his suit. While the suit gives him fame and glory, it is also making him more toxic (both literally and figuratively). This is a solid metaphor and it is strongly established early on. It is then left unused.

One would hope that when they set up in the first act that Tony Stark and Iron Man are one in the same and that he gains so much through wearing the suit, that in the end he would have to discard the suit in order to complete his heroic task. This would make Stark the real Iron Man and make the suit his accessory, instead of it being the other way around. No such luck.

Overall, this version of the film is an incomplete draft of what should have been a more enjoyable production. It stinks of something that was rushed to market. This is not a good movie. Its not even a passable one. The film ultimately becomes an elongated teaser trailer for the upcoming The Avengers movie, hitting screens in 2012.

Labels: Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Mickey Rourke, Robert Downey Jr, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, sequel, superhero

Screenwriter: Michael C. Martin
Director: Antoine Fuqua (The Replacement Killers)
Actors: Richard Gere (The Hoax), Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2), Ethan Hawke (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead), Vincent D'Onofrio (The Cell), Wesley Snipes (Demolition Man), Will Patton (The Rapture), Lili Taylor (Household Saints), Ellen Barkin (Drop Dead Gorgeous) and Brian F. O'Byrne (Bug)





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Labels: Don Cheadle, Ellen Barkin, Ethan Hawke, film, Lili Taylor, movie trailer, Richard Gere, Vincent D'Onofrio, Wesley Snipes, Will Patton

Screenwriter: Michael C. Martin
Director: Antoine Fuqua (Tears of the Sun)
Actors: Richard Gere (The Hoax), Wesley Snipes (Blade), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Ethan Hawke (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead), Ellen Barkin (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension), Vincent D'Onofrio (The Cell), Will Patton (Aliens), Lili Taylor (Household Saints) and Jesse Williams

Labels: Don Cheadle, Ellen Barkin, Ethan Hawke, film, Jesse Williams, Lili Taylor, movie trailer, Richard Gere, Vincent D'Onofrio, Wesley Snipes, Will Patton

Screenwriter: Justin Theroux (Tropic Thunder)
Director: Jon Favreau (Zathura: A Space Adventure)
Actors: Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love), Scarlett Johansson (The Island), Don Cheadle (Ocean's 11), Sam Rockwell (Moon), Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane), Paul Bettany (The Da Vinci Code), Kate Mara (Transibberian), Jon Favreau (Swingers) and Garry Shandling (What Planet Are You From?) and Olivia Munn

Labels: Don Cheadle, film, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Favreau, Kate Mara, Mickey Rourke, movie trailer, Paul Bettany, Robert Downey Jr, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johansson

A simple star vehicle for Nicholas Cage, this kind movie is a cinematic version of an easy chair - it’s comfy, warm and approachable. Cage stars as Jack Campbell a investment broker who falls into a Christmas Carol type dream world where he forgives his high-powered, Wall Street life for the pleasures of the normal life. If you can ignore the idea of a bunch of Hollywood folks telling the rest of us how wonderful regular life is like, you will find a kind and enjoyable movie with some good messages, even if it is directed by Brett Ratner.


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Labels: Don Cheadle, film, Jeremy Piven, movie review, Nicholas Cage, Téa Leoni

This is a big fat McMovie, and a very charming one at that. Remaking the Rat Pack flick of the same name, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon front an ensemble that includes Elliot Gould, Bernie Mac and Don Cheadle. The titular Ocean (Clooney), and his cohorts, plot to steal from three big ticket casinos all at the same time. Each of these casinos are owned and operated by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). Benedict is a ruthless, streetwise business man who will kill the thieves if they get caught.

Little is made of the moral questions at the heart of the piece, we are rooting for the bad guys after all, they're just not as bad as the real bad guy Benedict. Director Steven Soderbergh guides the audience away from the criminality or morality of what's being done on screen and he focuses on making us like these villains as much as possible. He succeeds in delivering a charming film that entertains but at its core, this movie's moral sleight of hand is a bit too manipulative.

I'm certain there's readers who would say "So what? So they rip off a casino? Settle down and just relax, its just a movie!" Stealing is wrong and a film that promotes it is likewise wrong. Screenwriters Ted Griffin (Matchstick Men), clearly understands how to present his story. To steer us away from judging what Ocean and company are doing as being inherently wrong, he makes sure to muddy the moral waters by giving these thieves some honor. They are robbers with rules, those rules are #1 No blood. #2 Rob only who deserves it. #3. Do it as if you have nothing to lose. This is very clever since the rules assure the audience that while these guys steal, they won't hurt anybody, they're not really that threatening. They only hurt people we can all agree have it coming, who can be against the really "bad" people getting hurt? The final rule gives the illusion they are stealing out of need, they have "nothing to lose" which also reduces the reflexive moral judgment because as we all know, there's a difference between stealing for greed and stealing to eat. This and other tricks to distract the audience from what is really happening on screen are done for a single reason - the filmmakers know what they're showing is actually wrong.

I know its a fun film but sometimes adults needs to step back and really look at what they're consuming.


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Labels: Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, film, George Clooney, Matt Damon, movie review

Screenwriter: Jeffrey Nachmanoff (The Day After Tomorrow)
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff (The Big Gig)
Actors: Guy Pearce (Memento), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Jeff Daniels (The Crossing), and Neal McDonough (Walking Tall)

Labels: Don Cheadle, film, Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels, movie trailer

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Ill-Informed Gadfly

Labels: Al Pacino, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, film, George Clooney, Matt Damon, movie review, Vincent Cassel

A bunch of meddling upper middle-class kids create a refuge for stray dogs. Parents and other authority figures don't like the idea - hilarity ensues. I'm sure the homeless appreciate the concept of this film.

If this kind of thing floats your boat, rush to see it when it comes out, I don't think it will be in theaters too long.



Screenwriter: Jeff Lowell (John Tucker Must Die)
Director: Thor Freudenthal (Monkey Business)
Actors: Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew), Lisa Kudrow (PS: I Love You), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), and Kevin Dillon (Platoon)

Labels: Don Cheadle, Emma Roberts, film, Lisa Kudrow, movie trailer