Reviews

Many of us loved Raimi's spidey and then came a reboot. Everyone expected it to be like the Batman Reboot but it wasn't even close to the Spider-Man 3. The plot is exactly the same as Raimi's and even the villain's characterization.As the movie goes on we feel like watching a Remake instead of a Reboot.Emma Stone is pretty as always,Ifans does a clean job and there's this guy who tries to convince us that he is Peter parker. The cinematography is really awesome and refreshing while the story and screenplay is pretty much dull.

I guess James Vanderbilt,Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves forgot to add some "AMAZING" screenplay.

George miller gives us a pretty sleek family entertainer with awesome 3D and new characters Will the Krill,Bill the Krill,Atticus and much more.The plot is simple and revolves around Mumble & his kid Erik then there's just nothing all that special or urgent about any of it. The krills reminds the Ice Age's saber-toothed squirrel Scrat hunting for that pesky acorn,yet they did bring some of the funnier moments to the film.And for the music there are several pop remixes, of course, and songstress Pink (as Erik's mom)shows off her vocal chops, even as she reveals a limited acting range.The score, in a lack of imagination, also pilfers the classical music canon (somewhere, Puccini is rolling over in his grave).When it's not singing, the movie just yawns.

In a nutshell average movie and easily forgotten.

Well, Po is already a hero now, nevertheless, he has his moments of weakness and his frailties which still need to be overcome before he can teach his new enemy the lesson of his life. Po must come to terms with his strange parentage: how can a panda be the son of a goose; so what, if the goose is the best dad in the world.... Time for some flashback and the arrival of the cutest baby panda on screen who makes you go all gooey with his baby talk.

The action sequences of the film, shot in 3D, do form the highlight of it, but there's no undermining the friendship-and family emotional sequences...Overall its a pretty sleek sequel which is outrageously funny and holding out a promise for a third part....

Iron Man 2 gives things a damn good go nonetheless...

The film kicks off at quite a tempered pace. Freed of the need to set up the character of Tony Stark and, as a consequence, Iron Man, it opens up the beginning of Iron Man 2 for director Jon Favreau to spend some time with his characters.

It's time quite well spent too: the first act of Iron Man 2 manages to introduce Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko and set him quickly on the path to becoming Whiplash, while it also begins to examine and nibble at the character that Tony Stark has become. Significantly, it digs into Stark's background and the relationship with his father, explaining some of the vulnerabilities in the character that the film subsequently explores.

As we join the film though, Stark is on top of the world. He's boasting that he's privatized world peace, while resisting attempts by the government – led by the brilliant, scene-stealing Garry Shandling as Senator Stern - to procure the Iron Man suit for itself as a weapon.

The moment arrives with the film's finest action sequence, the one that's been heavily pushed in the trailers. Rourke's Whiplash, driven by a hatred of the Starks passed down by his own father, makes his entrance in a grand racing scene in Monaco, and it's one hell of a way to say hello.

Rourke is clearly having a ball here, putting across a very still villain at times, whose actions look simply spectacular on the big screen. He's not a perfect movie foe: his mumblings are often hard to hear, and Whiplash is kept locked away for too much of the film's running time. But when he's unleashed, he's a sight to behold.

Here's where Favreau deserves immense credit, too. For he directs here an action sequence that you can both see and appreciate, freed of the desire for over-fussy cuts and too much use of the cam. Instead, he fills the screen with a scale you'd expect and demand from a massive summer blockbuster, and Whiplash's prowling around the track at Monaco is an outstanding piece of controlled action cinema. By contrast, the third act action that he melds together can't measure up to the same standard: it's still exciting, but there's little sense of the threat about it that permeates Whiplash's big entrance.

Worthy of note too is Sam Rockwell's turn as Stark's rival, Justin Hammer. While Tony Stark is reviving his father's Stark Expo project, Hammer is keen to ingratiate himself with the defense department to snap up some of their business. It doesn't take much to put Hammer and Stark at loggerheads, and nor does it take much selling that Hammer quickly becomes so interested in the carnage that Whiplash brings down.

All the while, Rockwell sells us a character that's a little uneasy, once or twice a little over the top, but pretty much always compelling. Arguably he's too much of a focal point for the ongoing story though, which is a problem for a film with so much to cram in.

Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts (in a beefier role than first time round), and James 'Rhodey' Rhodes, now played perfectly well by Don Cheadle.

It's hard to knock a film for wanting to flesh out side characters as well as developing the main faces, but there are moments where you can't help thinking this is a luxury that Iron Man 2 can't always afford. Because on top of all of this, it also has to squeeze in the introduction of Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman and deal with her character's progression, too. And there's the small matter of a meatier, more pivotal role for Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury as well. It's as if an admittedly-intriguing trailer for 2012's The Avengers movie has been wedged into the ingredients of a movie that already has too much in the mix.

Favreau and Theroux do, to their credit, get through a lot of storytelling in this part of the film, but the mid-story still slows things noticeably, before things are lifted again for the final act.

And, to be fair, Iron Man 2 does catch fire again. It packages in an exciting final third, which at times has you sitting back and simply appreciating the joys of a big, expensive, well-made blockbuster movie. It's hard too to sniff at Robert Downey Jr, who once more turns in fine work in the leading role.

Yet there's no getting away from it: Iron Man 2 is a film that can't quite recapture the magic of the first. You can't fault the fact that it tries: it throws as much as it can at you, admittedly stretching elements a little too thinly, but it's doggedly determined to give you your money's worth. There's little doubt that you get it, too.

You also get confirmation that Jon Favreau is a director who can genuinely handle action and special effects with real skill (as was, of course, originally proved in the brilliant, under-appreciated Zathura).

What you don't get however, which may just have been a little unrealistic to expect, is perhaps what you most wanted: a comic book movie that can be mentioned in the same breath as The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2 or X2. Instead, by generous compensation, you do get a fun two hours, thanks to an ambitious movie that feels top to bottom like it was made by people who seem to love films such as these as much as you and I.

It might not be quite the Iron Man sequel that you were hoping for, but it's still a fine way to kick off the summer blockbuster season, and a happily entertaining night out at the movies.

Plus: Fight scenes are fast and brutal; action is solid; single shot during house attack scene is very cool; Washington is charismatic even as a dour and violent old man; Oldman continues to make a great villain; the interlude with Michael Gambon and Frances de la Tour is fun.

Minus: Kunis and her character just don't fit; central conceit is ludicrous; ending presents two revelations, one of which goes against the entire message of the movie but is never acknowledged; you dropped your Jesus tract in my apocalypse! On the Side: First-time screenwriter Gary Whitta used to be an editor for PC Gamer magazine.