Iron Man 2

After the opening credits, the first few scenes led me to believe this was going to be great. Alas, despite a stellar cast (headed by Robert Downey Jr. who can usually do no wrong as far as I'm concerned) giving pitch perfect performances -- when the screen was not filled with special effects, well, as one reviewer put it, "Too much iron, and not enough man!" Parts of the movie (big chunks of it) were so loud and so crashingly violent that it was physically painful to watch. Even with my eyes closed (the car chase made me dizzy!) I left the theater feeling as if I had been hit by a truck. Yes, it topped the box office for this weekend, and will probably continue to rake in the big bucks. I have to give top marks to a remarkable performances by Scarlett Johannsen. Who knew she could do all that physical stuff? (If it was a stand-in stunt person, well, I couldn't tell.) And if ever there was a villain to make you want to hiss and boo, Mickey Rourke filled the bill perfectly as the really, really evil guy. Other bad guys and some good guys, and a marvelous turn by Gary Shandling that was really fun. So, there you have it, a mixed bag. Fill it with popcorn, and enjoy the show, if you can. Blessings, SP