Iron Man 2

In the aftermath of revealing himself to be the armored superhero Iron Man, billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) must contend with failing health, a tumultuous relationship with his former secretary Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), a senator (Gary Shandling) who wants to expropriate his technology for military use, scheming competitor Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) and Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a renegade Russian scientist bent on revenge.

Superhero sequels are a decidedly mixed bag. For every The Dark Knight that takes elements introduced in the original to new heights, there’s an X-Men: The Last Stand that threatens to murder an entire film franchise with its mediocrity. Iron Man 2 falls somewhere in between. Given the surprising success of the original, it was almost inevitable that there would be a drop-off the second time around. Fortunately, the decline is not too precipitous.


Helmed again by Jon Favreau (who co-stars as bodyguard Happy Hogan), Iron Man 2 preserves the first film’s humor and sense of fun. Justin Theroux’s script is full of snappy banter and laugh-inducing lines (Hammer refers to one of his munitions as being so smart that “it makes Ulysses look like it was written in crayon”), but this is no Fantastic Four. Stark is grappling with serious reservations regarding his limitations and legacy and there are plenty of well-rendered combat sequences. Iron Man does more than just fly around and shoot lasers this time.


The acting varies in quality. Downey is brilliant once again and fully inhabits the irrepressible nutcase that is Stark. Paltrow, Favreau and Samuel L. Jackson (as SHIELD director Nick Fury) make the most of their expanded roles. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise is Scarlett Johansson, who doesn’t kill the film with her reliably poor acting ability. As Natasha Romanov, a SHIELD agent undercover as Stark’s secretary, all she’s asked to do is kick ass, look good and drop the occasional line of Latin. She does all three well.


On the opposite end of the spectrum, Don Cheadle is completely miscast as Lt. Col. James Rhodes, Stark’s close ally. While Cheadle is a better actor than the man he replaced in the role (Terrance Howard, who’s no slouch), his performance seemed wooden and forced. And while Rockwell gets some good lines, his bombastic shtick wears thin after awhile. The hardest performance to decipher is Rourke’s. It’s evident that he’s trying hard and he does give Vanko some idiosyncratic flair (gold teeth, a fondness for birds), but the character ultimately comes across as more ridiculous than menacing at times.


Though the recent spate of Marvel Comics films show above-average character development, they are still, primarily, action movies. As such, nobody is expecting wholly believable plot development. But even for this genre, Iron Man 2 strains credulity. Rhodes’ theft of Stark’s armor and subsequent transformation into War Machine happened in little more than a blink, while Hammer’s implicit trust in the unhinged Vanko left me shaking my head.


It’s probably fair to say that Iron Man 2 bites off a little more than it can chew. Minus the illogical plotting and creeping character bloat, however, it remains an entertaining and solidly crafted film. It will be interesting to see what’s next (The Avengers, most likely) for this cast and crew.


7.5/10

Bloviation Nation

As some of you may know, I have begun a new project, Bloviation Nation. Whereas Zac Rates the Universe is a reflection of my own tastes, Bloviation Nation will serve as an online review resource for anyone anywhere. In other words, I won't be the only one rating the universe. :P

I intend to still maintain this blog and will contribute Zac Rates the Universe Reviews to Bloviation Nation, albeit with some modifications to meet the new site's criteria. If you've liked what you've read here and have agreed or disagreed strongly with anything I have said, I urge you to go to Bloviation Nation and let your own voice be heard.

El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant

Located at 4623 High Point Road, El Mariachi offers a wide variety of Mexican fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is a full-service bar, daily specials, late-night karaoke and a live mariachi band on weekends.


Greensboro is home to many Mexican restaurants, but few distinguish themselves the way El Mariachi does. The menu, for instance, is far more expansive than you’ll find elsewhere and features all-day breakfast and lengua (beef tongue) as a taco filling. The quality varies – a generous portion of huevos con chorizo hit the spot, but authentic-style tongue tacos were surprisingly bland and one diner compared her meatball soup to a canned Campbell’s offering – though the variety is commendable. Go here enough times and you’re bound to find something you like.


For those who like theatricality with their food, the namesake band delivers with professionalism and poise. The mariachi combo takes requests and rotates from table to table, ensuring you won’t go deaf from an evening of sitting directly in front of the music.


Servers at El Mariachi are affable and knowledgeable about food and song alike and service on the whole is swift. One diner endured a short wait after part of her order was forgotten, but we were a large group. Pricing is plenty reasonable: a filling meal can be had for under $10, though seafood dishes and house specialties run higher.


With its festive atmosphere, good value and multitude of options, El Mariachi may offer the best all-around Mexican dining experience in Greensboro. El Azteca keeps the crown for best tacos in town, but if you’re looking for more than food, the High Point Road establishment is well worth your while.


8/10

Blood's a Rover

The third novel in James Ellroy’s American Underworld trilogy opens in 1968 following the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. Wayne Tedrow is a former cop with chemistry skills and a checkered past. He serves as liaison to both Howard Hughes and the mob and looks for ways to atone for his sins while facilitating a casino scheme in the Dominican Republic. Wayne is monitored by Dwight Holly, a big brother figure and an FBI enforcer. Holly must figure out ways to placate his increasingly senile boss, J. Edgar Hoover, as well as sustain a tenuous relationship with an informant, leftist professor Karen Sifakis. Donald Crutchfield, a young private eye/peeping Tom, crosses paths with both men and finds himself knee-deep in assassination plots and international intrigue. The specter of a years-old emerald heist hangs over everything and the key to both past and present plots may be a mysterious knife-scarred woman named Joan.


Weighing in at 650-plus pages, Blood’s a Rover is not a quick read. It will also prove a daunting one for those not already familiar with Ellroy’s trademark style (multiple alternating narrators, highly fragmented sentences, faux-document inserts between chapters). Ellroy fans, on the other hand, will be pleased to know that Blood’s a Rover picks up right where The Cold Six Thousand left off. Wayne Tedrow is back and the contradictions that defined the character the first time around (a conscience and a sense of social responsibility coupled with a willingness to carry out a sinister agenda and a penchant for brutal acts) are expanded upon here. In fact, all of the leads are complex, dynamic characters with motivations that change over the course of the text – a little too rapidly in some instances. While the book oozes zeitgeist, the spirit of the times isn’t always a sufficient rationale for dramatic ideological shifts.


In spite of its length, this book really moves. The emerald heist forms the book’s central mystery and while pieces of it are easy to figure out early on, the complete picture will elude you until the end. Along the way, Blood’s a Rover juts out in dozens of different directions. Haitian rituals, Dominican politics, a Hoover/Nixon rivalry and Sonny Liston’s drug addiction are among the secondary threads. In lesser hands, this would seem unwieldy. Ellroy, however, manages to pull everything together – not seamlessly, but certainly convincingly.


The most ingenious thing about Blood’s a Rover is the way the structure mirrors the action. Just as revolution and radical change influence the book’s plot, an abandonment of the rigid alternating narrators and the inclusion of new perspectives in the later sections alter the book’s shape. It’s chaotic, confusing and utterly brilliant. Only the final chapter, set in the present, feels gimmicky.


With a gargantuan scope and a who’s who of late 60s/early 70s historical figures in the mix, Blood’s a Rover never fails to stir interest. The only thing separating it from greatness is a tighter grip on the author’s part on the chaos he depicts.


7.75/10