The Always Underappreciated Don Cheadle

Iron Man 2? Kind of a disappointment. The first review I read was pretty much spot on. The main point stated that there was a lack of action for an action/comic book movie. The final battle sequence between the drones and the dynamic duo of Iron Man and War Machine was pretty cool, but extremely short lived. Stark ended the battle by shooting a lazer around in a circular manner, destroying all the remaining drones. LAME. And by the way, how is the Whiplash guy so superhuman, because he's Russian and drinks odious amounts of vodka with a bird? Seriously, all he had going for him is his super physics/computer skills and a suit on the upper part of his body that cuts cars in half (before the end suit.) HOWEVER, his bottom half was rammed with a car not once, not twice, but thrice and it hardly seemed to phase him. That does not compute. Rourke's accent wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but his role wasn't nearly as prevalent as the trailers made it out to be...and now he's dead. These comic book movies need to stop killing all the main villains. That's part of what makes comics last so long, the characters don't all die, they go to prison or get banished into a spirit world. I was extremely disappointed when Two-Face was killed off in The Dark Knight, when Obadiah was killed in the first Iron Man, the first Green Goblin in the first Spiderman, and then Doc Oc in Spiderman 2. The list goes on.

I thank God that Terrence Howard is no longer Col Rhodey. Don Cheadle is solid, and is an awesome War Machine. Most importantly, he doesn't sound like a 13 year old girl when he says "Tony" (watch the first one again and pay special attention to Terrence's whiney whine.) Don Cheadle brought class and believability to a role that would have been doomed.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. thing is getting a little overbearing. These movies are becoming promos for the Avenger Initiative and it takes away from the plot. I'm not the biggest fan of Sam Jackson as Nick Fury, but I don't hate him either. I keep seeing Snakes on a Plane when I see that bald badass. They mentioned the situation in the Southwest at least twice (referring to the Incredible Hulk for those playing at home...DESPITE the fact that Tony Stark was in the end of the Hulk movie and obviously knows about it already) and showed what I assume will be the new Captain America shield. Vomit. Also, Scarlett Johansson's character was completely unnecessary and was obviously just there for sex appeal, another S.H.I.E.L.D. operative and too many spinny take-downs.

Overall, I'd give the movie a B-. Not utterly fantastic, but not a complete failure.