IRON MAN 2

The original Iron Man film, released in back in 2008, formed a pretty solid one-two punch with The Dark Knight. Together they reasserted the Superhero movie as a critically viable and commercially successful enterprise. Yet, Iron Man differed significantly in terms of mood from Nolan’s Batman offering.  The Dark Knight was about as broody as a fertility clinic and as cheerful as a morgue, Favreau’s Iron Man attempted to capture the comic’s sense of fun. In terms of mood, it’s much closer to Raimi’s Spiderman films. This was a breath of fresh air for critics who were growing tired of these grandiose and ‘worthy’ Superhero origin stories that lock onto a serious mood from the very first scene and rarely relent for a smile throughout.

The film had a naturalistic feel uncommon to superhero flicks and the dialogue was zippy and spontaneous. The whole production felt as fresh as a squirt of Febreeze. It was also a fantastic and deserved success which, of course, necessitated a sequel. As is often the case with follow-up efforts, Iron Man 2 aims for the sky, but is weighed down by a lack of focus, a cocktail of contrary moods and a general lack of bonhomie. If I could ask Iron Man 2 one question, it would be this: Why so serious?

The film begins with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) announcing his identity as Iron Man to the press. Across the world in Russia, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) mourning the recent death of his father regards the announcement with interest and begins work on constructing similar technology. His plan is to use the technology to destroy Tony Stark – the son of the man he holds directly responsible for his father’s undeserved life of abject poverty. You may think that the whole father-son dichotomy that underlies Tony’s Russian rivalry would be meaty enough to fill a film. Unfortunately, Iron Man 2 has sequelitus and chooses instead to pull in about 3-4 different directions.

Where do you start? There’s the complicated relationship between Tony Stark and the long suffering Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) which isn't ever granted any great importance. Whilst the first film was a good showcase for the chemistry between Downey Jr. and Paltrow, the flair and energy that once existed between them seems spent. Sure there’s still the snappy dialogue, but it seems less witty and dynamic than before. Tony Stark also has to contend with his own mortality – the palladium core in his chest that keeps him alive is slowly poisoning his body and there is seemingly nothing he can do to stop it. Such realisations can be difficult on a man, and Stark is led down a dark path for much of the film – he starts drinking, alienating his friends and self-sabotaging his business. It’s a far-cry from the self-aware, it’s-nonsense-but-you-love-it tone of the first film. It’s a shame that this path doesn’t really go anywhere and that all these different strands are resolved with such ease. Iron Man 2 is a bit of a mood roulette – you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get next.

Tony also has to contend with a rivalry between himself and a rival defence contractor Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell – who looks like he’s having a good time throughout – at least someone is) that is threatening to bubble over into violence. All this and I haven’t even mentioned Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson’s roles in the film. I do so for good reason – they are almost entirely superfluous – they are here to service The Avengers, Marvel’s next big superhero project. It’s almost as though Favreau were told that he had to include these two characters and made no real effort to ingratiate them into Iron Man 2’s wider story. Despite this, Scarlett Johansson is responsible for one of the films better scenes. Late on in the film, she dons a skin-tight black catsuit, infiltrates Justin Hammer’s compound and in doing so kicks all kinds of ass. It’s a stand-out scene because for once, it’s action that doesn’t merely involve robots hitting each other.  

INCEPTION

It’s nice to see a big-budget ideas piece such as Inception do so well at the box office – even more heartening considering it’s neither a remake nor a sequel. Hopefully the success of films like Inception will create the impetus required for producers and Hollywood execs to stand behind projects which despite being both intelligent and fun don’t already have a ready-made audience. Whilst something like Pirates of the Caribbean 4 has a built-in audience, Inception has to rely on critical opinion, word of mouth press, repeat viewings and, of course that all engulfing advertising campaign for its impressive box-office figures. Whether you like Inception or not, (and if you don’t, you’re probably finding the realm of cinematic discussion quite lonely right now) you ought to be glad that it has been such an unqualified success, given the effect it will have on the industry as it moves forward. That’s not to say we should expect an influx of smart, well-made popcorn movies – there simply aren’t that many filmmakers at work in Hollywood on a level with Nolan – but it opens the door for more interesting projects to receive budgeting.

Development originally began on Inception in 2001, where it was pitched to Warner Bros as a heist movie set in the realm of dreams. The project was shelved for nine years as Nolan wanted to experience what it was like working on films with a larger scale (having only worked on dinky think-pieces like the all-too-slight Following and the marvellous Memento up until this point). We can view Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight as practise pieces for this then: Nolan’s best made film yet.

The plot remains similar to the one pitched to Warner Brothers some nine years ago. Instead this time the heist involves not the stealing of ideas, but the planting of them inside somebody else’s head. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an extractor, who with the help of his team (which includes a rather svelte looking Joseph Gordon-Levitt) enters into a dream state with ‘the mark’ in order to extract – or in simpler terms, to steal – an idea out of their head. Extraction is becoming more and more difficult for Cobb whose dream-space is constantly being invaded by his subconscious representation of his dead wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard). We learn that authorities believed that he killed his wife and that Cobb had to flee the country leaving both his kids behind. We do not know the truth behind these accusations, but we see that Cobb’s subconscious is racked with guilt concerning his treatment of his wife.

Desperate for any way back to America to see his kids once more, Cobb accepts a job from Saito (Ken Watanabe) a business man intent on putting a stop to the stranglehold that the Fischer family are placing upon the energy industry and ending their hopes at establishing a monopoly. To do this Cobb and his team must pull of a seemingly impossible act of inception – that is, they must plant an idea in the head of the heir to the Fischer family business, Robert Fischer (played to slimy perfection by Cillian Murphy) and this idea must lead to him breaking up the family business. All this is made clear within the first 30 minutes of this 148 minute film and I am loath to give away anymore plot details. I believe the less one knows about the intricacies of Inception, the more one will be pleasantly surprised upon seeing it.

In order to pull off this act of inception, Cobb puts together a team consisting of Ellen Page (who coasts through this film in a disappointingly one-note performance) the architect who constructs the various dreamscapes, Tom Hardy (who is as wonderful as ever) the forger, who is capable of taking the form of others inside the dream-space and Dileep Rao, chemist-savant and van-driver extraordinaire. In combination with DiCaprio, Gordon-Levitt and Murphy you have a pretty damn impressive cast and that’s even without mentioning small roles from Michael Caine and Pete Postlethwaite. Leo proves worth his fee, bringing as he does the intensity that one associates with him post-Titanic. As we delve deeper into Cobb’s psyche and discover the psychological damage that dwells within him, we need to see at the same time this struggle reflected in Leo’s mannerisms and he brings it to this performance.

I’ve got to hand it to Hans Zimmer too, who has brought to the movie an absolutely masterful score. I thought Shutter Island’s score was over the top, but this takes it to a whole other level. Foghorns blast and strings weave in and out as a two-note motif repeats over and over and an enormous brass section completes the audio-assault. They’ve even roped in rock-god for hire Johnny Marr to play certain parts with a 12-string guitar. Wow. The song ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’ plays an important role in the film and has been slowed down and tweaked until it plays as a hulking great, bass-heavy audible behemoth on the score and it works perfectly.

But above and beyond the movie’s music and its stars, Inception works because it’s meticulously structured and it revolves around a series of interesting ideas. None of this would have worked had Nolan failed to establish any stakes. Saito’s aim to derail Fischer’s rival business is not the driving force of the film. Much more impetus is given to Cobb’s quest back home to his children. One of the problems of basing much of the action in the world of dreams is that dying in a dream does not constitute dying in reality, thus lowering the stakes significantly. Thankfully Nolan has a way around this, which prevents Inception from being a simple farce and gives the at times technically brilliant action sequences a sense of danger that they otherwise would not have. It appears as though over the years Nolan has thought of everything, leaving no room for plot-holes or anything of the sort. What we have is a tight, thoroughly plotted intriguing story that is capable of being enjoyed on many levels. If you wish to put your analytical hat on you can attempt to establish what is “real” in the film and what is simply Cobb’s dream (there’s some fun to be had in establishing when Cobb is wearing his wedding ring in relation to when his totem spins continuously or not). Or, like any good blockbuster, you can simply sit back and enjoy the action.