Iron Man 2, a mediocre movie in all aspects, and a terrible
AlexR | USA | 10/08/2010
(2 out of 5 stars)
"After how fresh and fun the original Iron Man was, I was dismayed to find that its sequel, Iron Man 2, was the textbook example of how NOT to make a sequel, and worst of all, the movie commits the cardinal sin of any would be blockbuster. Its boring.
Feeling more like a set up to a potential Avengers movie than a proper sequel, Iron Man 2 fumbles its incoherent storyline from beginning to end. Scenes are thrown together with neither rhyme nor reason, many of them could be cut and mean absolutely nothing to the entire film. At no point does it ever feel like anything is at stake, and one of the primary factors that results in that feeling is the absolutely awful villain, played here by Mickey Rourke, who gets the chance to shine during an action sequence at a race track, well publicized in the adverts, but afterwards, is essentially sidelined only to briefly re-appear when convenient. The film also resorts to the worst possible way for a sequel to "top" the original. You liked the fight against 1 robot suit in Iron Man? Well here are fights with dozens of robot suits! Not only is the set-up of the action uninspired, but so is the execution. The action is lifeless, boring, unexciting, and by the end it amounts to nothing more than little dots flying in the sky and random lazers coming from various directions. Iron Man 2 is the posterboy for bad sequels. Its not as horrific as Spider-Man 3, but it is without a doubt a poor film in almost every area. I wish I could say that by the end of the film, at least Robert Downey Jr's portrayal of Tony Stark keeps the film feeling fresh, but no, even that ends up rote thanks to the dilution of the original character whose well known battles with alcohol have been a staple of Iron Man stories, and yet here are played for laughs. For shame.
The Iron Man 2 blu-ray however features excellent audio and video, and contains a decent enough set of special features, but I can't recommend the movie in good conscience."
Blu Ray Bundle review, NOT Iron Man 2 review.
MadJoe | Raleigh, NC | 10/07/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Just for clarification: I am reviewing the 3 disc combo, not necessarily the movie, although the movie was good.
I like that studios are making the bigger releases available in "3 disc" combos, and Iron Man 2 is no exception. Since BD tech is relatively new, not all of my friends or family have BD players yet, so being able to bring my DVD to their houses, while being able to enjoy the full 1080p at home, is a definite plus. The "Digital Copy" is not so thrilling (the reason for the loss of the 1 star). I have multiple BD's with digital copies, and I have not had a good experience with one yet, so I don't even bother anymore. I'll just continue to watch my movies the old fashioned way until they finally do away with it (the ridiculous DRM or discs all together - the more likely scenario). I now understand why movie pirating is becoming so proliferant; it's almost as if they would rather you downloaded an illegal copy then get to actually enjoy the one you paid for!
Things to consider when buying this 3-disc combo is that if you don't have a BD player yet, but plan to buy one and really want Iron Man 2 NOW, you can't go wrong. If you probably won't buy a BD player, I would get the DVD alone instead (if they offer it, that is). And if you already have a BD Player, and think the DVD is just a waste: maybe it is, but then again, maybe it isn't if you think about all of the people you know that don't have BD players and might want to borrow your movie, or have you come over to watch it with them. And you can play the DVD in pretty much 99% of all laptops; so the DVD is a bit more flexible than the BD.
There is also a lot of extra content packed into this deal, some 3+ hours of it. If you like all of this extra stuff, then that's just gravy on top of an already pretty sweet combo deal (assuming you enjoy gravy on your sweets).
Overall, for the great deal that I feel I got on this combo, it was well worth it and I have plenty of bonus material to keep me busy should I choose."