Why the HATE: Iron Man 2

One of the great geek mysteries to me is why there is so much hate brought upon Iron Man 2.

No matter what the reason, it just makes ZERO sense to me.

The insanity has gotten so big that even Robert Downey Jr. himself counts the film as a failure...WHY!

The film cost somewhere around 200 million but made over 600 million - that's a hit no matter how you look at it. And the film WAS a hit.

So why the hate?

I've never understood it. Mostly because I think Iron Man 2 was actually BETTER than Iron Man. Don't get me wrong, I loved the first movie, but Iron Man 2 had so much more going for it.

Iron Man 2 was everything a sequel should be. The stakes were raised and the hero wasn't compromised for the villains a la Batman Returns. Tony Stark was still front and center, but his problems were more drastic.

A lot of people love to complain about the LACK of villains in this piece, but from where I'm standing, all I see is confrontation and villainry. The Government is after Tony and they want his armor. Corporate America is after Tony and they want his armor. An enemy from the past wants his blood. His body is dying and resisting his best efforts to fix itself. Pepper doesn't want to run his company. SHIELD wants him to be more than he can be. Rhodey wants to be on his side but doesn't trust him.

I'm sorry, but this IS drama, folks. EPIC drama. When the bad guys and even your best friends want your blood, sweat, and tears it means SOMETHING is going on. This isn't trivial. It's tragic. Tragedy makes the stuff of heroes.

Iron Man 2 ups the stakes. That's what GOOD sequels do. I'm sorry if you can't see that...it means you're fucking retarded.

People want to slam Iron Man 2 because Marvel put Nick Fury and the Black Widow into the picture. First of all, it wasn't forced. Second, who cares? All of these characters and their stories ARE interconnected and SHOULD be interconnected. More importantly, Fury and Widow MADE SENSE for the story that was being told.

TRUE, we all wish Whiplash had been more front and center...but then again, Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer was SO much fun with or without the angry Russian whipper-one.

And AGAIN, if I'd rather have a sequel that stayed focused on the HERO rather than on the lame villains. Because let's be honest, Iron Man has a HORRIBLE Rogue's gallery. Besides the Mandarin (who has YET to be seen), he's got nothing, really.

All in all, this is a flick about an ailing hero. A man who just started to figure things out when he's lambasted by some major problems.

Isn't that how it always goes? Just as we get shit straight, something comes and lashes out (see what I did there?).

It's a metaphor for getting older. Just when you think you've got everything, the girl, your best friend, the world on your side, and plenty of allies, you get hit from all sides with things you couldn't even imagine coming. You think you have everything and within a blink of an eye it can all be stolen from you, even when you have nothing but the best of intentions going for you.

I know I can relate to this.

This is the story of a man who loses his best friends and everything he holds dear and just barely get's everything back by the skin of his teeth. It's a touching and endearing story. Something that speaks to all of us about holding onto who and what we are. Fighting for our right to survive and staying true to our friends and our ideals.

In the end, Tony get's ANOTHER second chance...we all should be so lucky.

Bottom line, Iron Man 2 has more going for it than you think:

- Kick ass opening

- Dying Hero

- Chemistry between Hero and love interest.

- Multiple villains played by phenomenal actors.

- Great dialogue and action set-ups.

- Phenomenal climax.

- Humor.

- Marvelisms (connections to the Marvel universe)

May all movies be THUS successful in their endeavors...