Movie Buff: “Iron Man 2”

Not many superheroes get drunk on the job, but Tony Stark isn’t like many superheroes.

A promiscuous billionaire with no regards for social norms and a genius-level IQ, this superhero values public admiration above all else. At one point in the movie, Stark puts on his Iron Man suit and gets belligerent at a birthday party. Good thing there was a cast of straight-faced hard-asses to keep Iron Man in line.

Iron Man 2 refers to the sequel, but it could also refer to the second “iron man” introduced to the big screen, known as “War Machine.” The movie adds a whole new all-star cast which includes: Don Cheadle (Lt. Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes / War Machine), Mickey Rourke (Ivan Vanko / Whip Lash), Sam Rockwell (Justin Hammer), Scarlett Johansson (Natalie Rushman / Black Widow) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury).

Following the prequel a short time after Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) revealed his identity as Iron Man, Stark now faces a plethora of problems on top of saving the world. The U.S. government takes Stark to court demanding he hand over his Iron Man suit, since it’s considered a deadly weapon. The power source for Iron Man’s suit—the arc reactor—is slowly poisoning Stark; he has to solve these issues just in time to put his life on the line yet again to battle Whip Lash. And as if that weren’t enough, Stark has to deal with his “father issues.”

The movie is based on the premise that Iron Man’s suit is trying to be replicated by other countries and corporations. Using the same technology as Stark’s arc reactor, Ivan Vanko a.k.a. Whip Lash creates his own suit with the aid of Justin Hammer. Hammer, who owns a weapons manufacturing company, gives Vanko unlimited resources to create another iron man suit which Hammer can sell to the government and embarrass Stark with.

Vanko has his own agenda which is evident throughout the movie and unleashed at the apex of fighting scenes near the end. Stark has to team up with his friend Rhodey a.k.a. War Machine, and the two work together to bring down Whip Lash.

Sam Rockwell spoke to the CU Independent over the phone about his role as Justin Hammer during the movie Iron Man 2.

CU Independent
How did it feel playing the villain?

Rockwell
It’s fun to play bad guys, you know. You get to break all the rules and it’s a lot of fun. The scenes with Mickey Rourke were probably the best because they gave me a lot to do.

CU:I
What did you do to prepare for this role?

Rockwell
I didn’t know anything about the character prior to the movie. I got the comic books as soon as I got the part and started reading up. They didn’t try to turn me into the comic book character and force a British accent on me; they gave me free reign and just let me be me.

CU:I
You typically star in indie-type movies so how was it different working in a big budget movie?

Rockwell
You know, it didn’t feel like a big budget movie—it was a lot of fun. There were specific guidelines but they let you drift and work in your own way. Going from indie movies to mainstream you get a little bigger dressing room, a little more money; but it’s a different experience that I found more challenging.

Following suit with every Marvel movie, a post-credit scene reveals a brief trailer for a future movie. The screen shows several government officials examining a crater in the New Mexico desert and finally zooms in on Thor’s hammer: the weapon of another Marvel superhero.

Contact CU Independent Managing Editor Adrian Kun at Adrian.kun@colorado.edu.