And when I say time, I'm not talking about months or years; I'm talking about mere days. And when I say 'things,' I'm talking about one thing: Iron Man 2. I saw the film a second time last night, and after telling one of my friends my problems with it, we all came out of the theater saying that we liked it better than the first. So what happened? I'm not sure, but all I can say now is that I take back some of the things I said about the latest Tony Stark adventure. Some of them:
1) Tony Stark becomes nothing more than a jackass: originally I felt that this was pervasive through most of the film after that birthday party scene (that part still sucks, though). On my second go-round, I found Tony much more enjoyable for the most part, and bits of humor that seemed forced originally were suddenly amusing. This leads me to point #2...
2) The charm has been sucked out: While I'm still bothered by the stammering, the spark between characters did seem to give off more heat this time around. That said, the Justin Hammer character, though in the talented hands of Sam Rockwell, is irritatingly inconsistent. One minute he's just a Tony Stark-lite rival, the next he borders on incompetence. What gives?
3) The pacing/action scenes: The biggest 'wha' during round two was how much faster it felt. The opening 30-40 minutes were a blast, and the big action scenes at the end seemed more lively. However, Johannson's mixed martial arts battle is still the best thing in the whole damn movie.
Conclusion: Though there are still a few problems with the second installment, I'm actually going to go out on a limb and say that after giving Favreau and crew a second chance with a more open mind, I might actually like this film more than the 2008 original. Mr. Stark, you've been upgraded...
New Grade: B
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