NUMBER 8
Here it is, the best "traditional blockbuster type movie" of 2010. There is an odd effect when I watch Robert Downey Jr. in anything. Let's see, I have recently viewed him in Tropic Thunder, Due Date, Sherlock Holmes, and this movie, and despite the flaws in these otherwise thoroughly enjoyable flicks, Downer Jr. carries the film by giving whatever role he has the respect that you might not think it deserves. Instead of a charismatic action hero, in the mold of say, a Bruce Willis, Downey has that charisma but also has a gravity and weariness to his performances. Instead of a brooding toughness in a performance that is motivated most primally to declare "I am the action star" around lots of explosions, special effects, and hot women, I see his Tony Stark as truly a person first and a comic book superhero second. Due Date isn't in my top 10 because despite its moments it was pretty formulaic, but it would be a movie close to intolerable if Robert Downey Jr. didn't bring some additional dimensions to a buddy comedy when numerous other movies have already had the character of the outraged neurotic mess that is saddled with a weirdo against his will.
Anyway, Downey doesn't carry Iron Man 2 all alone. There is of course the anticipation of where the movie will go after the final line of the first Iron Man, as well as the Mickey Rourke villian performance and all the pretty bells and whistles (yes, including the eye candy of Gweneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johannsen that I'm not about appreciating) All elements of a perfect action movie that hit the sweet spot in so many ways.
Sequels that are not disappointing are very few in number, but there has been an exciting recent trend of comic book movies really doing a lot better the second time around. Perhaps because more likely than not, a new Batman or Spiderman franchise is going to be guaranteed a smash, so they can devote a lot of time to what comic book geeks call the "origin story" in the first movie, where the characters take their time to fall from grace, stitch up their costumes and have about one big fight before the credits roll, with audiences still wanting more. But Iron Man 2 doesn't just make everything louder, hotter, and faster. It makes it smarter and more satisfying.
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