You want a sequel, you got it

Robert Downey Jr. and Mickey Rourke shoot to thrill

By Guruchathram Ledchumanan

Iron Man 2 starring Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, and Samuel L. Jackson. Paramount Pictures, 124 minutes, PG-13.

Iron Man 2 is a polished summer action flick that gives me hope. God gives some people hope, but not me. Robert Downey Jr, Mickey Rourke and AC/DC give me hope, because all of them should have been dead, in a hospital, or in Arkham Asylum by now. They did everything your mother, your best friend, your priest, and your parole officer told you not to do, but they're still here and doing it better than anybody.

The film starts off where it's predecessor left off, with Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) declaring himself to the public to be Iron Man. Unlike the dark and brooding Bruce Wayne as Batman, or the angst-ridden Peter Parker as Spiderman, the character of Tony Stark is an over-the-top, alcoholic womanizer, even in Stan Lee's comic books. So Downey Jr. pretty much had to play himself, at least the way he was in the 90s when he was jailed for drug charges, not unlike his co-star Mickey Rourke.

All heroes need a fatal flaw, and Tony Stark's is that he seems cocky and arrogant but he is dying. The battery pack in his chest that is keeping him alive is slowly poisoning him. The key to Downey's performance that gives his character depth is the fact that he seems cocky. He seems cocky, but his arrogance masks his insecurities over his own mortality.

Every good superhero flick needs a good villain and as Ivan Vanko, Mickey Rourke delivers the tattooed Russian super villain of your dreams. Rourke based his character on a guy he met in a Russian prison. Don't ask me how; I haven't heard a Russian accent like that since John Malkovich in Rounders.

Vanko (Rourke) believes that Stark's (Downey Jr.) father stole Vanko's dad's plans for the battery pack and wants revenge. He is aided by the corrupt government official played by Sam Rockwell, who wants an Iron Man-suited army of his own. Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johanson bring the babe factor that will keep fanboys in their seats, and Samuel L. Jackson makes for a frustrated Nick Fury.

Just like it's predecessor, you might want to stay in your seats until after the credits.

Great actors play alike

It's about time that Downey Jr. and Mickey Rourke worked together. Both their stories have similar arcs. Both showed immense promise early in their careers but they squandered it all on drugs, booze, women, and bad choices. Despite their alienating bad boy behaviour, they had undeniable talent.

Director Francis Ford Coppola cast Rourke as Matt Dillon's older brother in the black and white “art film for teenagers” Rumble Fish (1983). Downey Jr. was picked by Oliver Stone to play Aussie reporter Wayne Gale in the violent and controversial condemnation of the media, Natural Born Killers (1995). Rourke was a powerhouse in Barbet Schroeder's Charles Bukowski biopic, Barfly (1987).

Downey Jr. was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his depiction of Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough's Chaplin (1992). Rourke's breakthrough role as professional arsonist Teddy Lewis in Lawrence Kasdan's film noir Body Heat (1987) made everyone in Tinseltown take notice. He stole the screen from William Hurt as he sang Bob Seger's “Feel Like A Number” while making a bomb.

In his poem “Roll the Dice,” Bukowksi says “If you're going to try, go all the way, otherwise don't even start...it could mean jail, it could mean derision, mockery, isolation. Isolation is the gift, all the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it, and you'll do it despite rejection and the worst odds and it will be better than anything else you can imagine.” Robert Downey Jr. and Mickey Rourke are a pair of unfulfilled promises coming true.

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