Jon Favreau
Iron Man 2

Saturday afternoon I paid the price.

I accompanied my son to see "Iron Man 2," a film I have no hesitation in immediately defining as "the usual well-packaged American-styled junk."

The cast includes a good-but-nothing-more Robert Downey Jr. (charmingly arrogant in his cockiness and flaunted wealth), Gwyneth Paltrow (good but as exciting as a cactus in February), Scarlett Johansson (a short but lovely doll) and a surprising Mickey Rourke, an evil creature more likely to have come from The Lord of the Rings or SAW than from a Marvel cartoon.

A movie that, it should be remembered, is nothing more than a comic suitable for kids, built on a classic "good/bad" scheme that applies to any situation or character. From the opening scenes of the main titles, in fact, it's impossible not to immediately understand that the fearsome Ivan Vanko alias Whiplash (played by the unsettling Rourke with his improbable Russian, never so at ease with deviant and borderline characters) will be THE villain or that between Tony Stark and Virginia Potts sooner or later there will be THE reparative kiss.

Throw in a bit of healthy anti-militaristic rhetoric, a handful of stunning but ultimately boring special effects (although the suitcase that transforms into a costume is divine!), a dash of Action Movie indebted to various Matrix/007/Die Hard/Speed, a sprinkle of feel-good messaging on "the importance of being friends"... add the inevitable "Happy Ending" under a sky of fireworks... and the Blockbuster Hit is DONE!!

The thing that saddened me the most was invoking the Clash (and AC/DC but they are ideologically minor) in the soundtrack. Those things that, deep down, leave a bitter taste. Damn, what do the founders of Punk, who sang against the System and blah blah, have to do with a Hollywood mega production (which back in the day would have been the exact rival of their songs)? Who orchestrated this disgraceful act?

Anyway, if you want to "waste" two hours on a technically well-made comic with ZERO content, go ahead and watch it (here's the trailer). I suggest you go with a child or a nephew, to feel less "dumb" when you leave and have a good excuse to "absolve" yourself in part by saying "nice little piece of nonsense, lucky I brought XYZ because I would never have gone alone."

A bit like I did.