As films inspired by comic books go, 2008's Iron Man was a rare win-win success, scoring both critical raves and $100 million in its opening weekend alone. But, if some early reviews are any indication, its sequel, Iron Man 2 (opening May 7) is a mess. "Iron Man 2 is a travesty," says David Edwards in the Mirror U.K., "a mind-numbingly dull, chaotic and often unwatchable muddle." Is the film that bad? (Watch the Iron Man 2 trailer)
How profoundly disappointing: "Everything fun and terrific about Iron Man," says Kirk Honeycutt in The Hollywood Reporter, "has vanished." Robert Downey Jr.'s charmingly anarchic superhero Tony Stark has become a "borderline psychotic." And worst of all, the whole film "seems to pivot around who will win a new Defense contract" — not exactly an "emotional grabber."
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