Iron Man is a copyright of Marvel Comics
Jon Favreau's Iron Man and Iron Man 2 certainly rank among the more prominent robot-themed films of the last few years, along with the Transformers films. What is interesting about the Iron Man films (as discussed during the review of Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz) is that the nature of the film, as an example of robot cooperation with man or the co-opting of robots for service to man, is a departure from the typical adversarial relationship between Man and thinking machine that is typically encountered in American science fiction; the opposition of Man to robot being, essentially, a manifestation of American resistance to central authority structures as part of the enduring concept of American rebellion. As stated before, this persistent Man vs. Machine motif is less present in the science fiction traditions of other nations, especially Japan, therefore Iron Man himself is an atypical character in American lore. Iron Man 2 stars Robert Downey, Jr., Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, and Sam Rockwell in a film written by Justin Theroux, Jr.
The film begins with Tony Stark revealing to America that he is Iron Man, kicking off a series of publicity events called the Iron Man Expo. The viewer is soon introduced to Russian convict Ivan Vanko, who bears a grudge against Stark Industries for the deportation of his scientist father forty years ago. Soon after, we meet Justin Hammer, the primary competitor of Stark Industries in the military weapons sector during a Senate hearing in which the U.S. Government unsuccessfully demands that Tony Stark turn over the Iron Man technology. While racing in the Monaco Grand Prix, Tony Stark runs into Vanko who fails in his attempt to kill Stark. Vanko is captured and sent to prison, but escapes and is soon recruited by Justin Hammer in an attempt to bring down Stark. Meanwhile, Stark has turned over Stark Industries to his former secretary Ms. Potts and descends into a cycle of alcoholism and irresponsibility. In order to curb in Stark's personality issues, a U.S. officer Colonel Rhodes acquires one of the Iron Man suits, becoming the infamous War Machine. Eventually, Stark and Hammer have their long anticipated showdown with Iron Man overcoming War Machine, which Vanko was controlling remotely.
Iron Man 2 fails at creating a cohesive story; the film seems pulled in different directions by multiple story arcs and excessive pandering to the audience. In fact, the screenplay comes across as hastily written and amateurish. The film is certainly entertaining and is successful in presenting an image that is accessible and understandable to a mainstream audience. Interpreting the film as representative of the genre of robots in film, Iron Man 2 (as mentioned above) falls into the category of Machine co-opted by Man for his own use, which castrates the thinking machine and renders him impotent from what is perceived as his essential quality as usurper of mankind and the inheritance of humanity (at least in American science fiction). Even the theme of Man as automaton is not relevant in the film as the writer/director/producers evidently strove to create a film that was more entertaining than anything else. Iron Man 2 is recommended to the action film aficionado, but because of the overly-simplified plot, it is not necessarily recommended viewing for the science fiction connoisseur.
