Had a lot of potential

Rating: 7/10 (2 May 2010)

Iron Man 2 is a great flick, not doubt about it. But, unfortunately, it fails to live up to hype and expectations of the first Iron Man.
There were enjoyable action scenes in Iron Man 2. However, they didn't feel as compelling as the first one. Through each and every action scene, it's easily predictable that Iron Man will just win, so that does take out most of the enjoyment from them.
There is a lot of humorous and satisfying dialogue throughout. This is probably mainly due to the stellar cast. Robert Downey is perfect, again! Sam Rockwell was probably my favourite actor in this movie as he mixes evil and comedy up very nicely. Most people didn't like him because of his attitude, but personally, he's acting is wonderful.
ScarJo is sexy, but that's about it. She isn't really given much to work with and the one long action scene she is provided with seems too forced and clichéd to have any powerful affect. Don Cheadle's just there, he's not great and he's not bad, nothing too fancy about him.
Samuel L. Jackson is provided with very little screen time, but I assure you, he delivers just like you would expect him to deliver. The ring on the tone of his voice is impeccable.
Mickey Rourke is a fantastic villain and he really had me satisfied in every scene, but it was quite unfortunate how quickly and easily he lost the final battle. Blame the writers on that one. Using an actor with so much potential, but failing to use him to his full potential, that's just a shame.
That's the acting side of it. Right about now, I'd probably give the movie an 8. But the biggest problem Iron Man 2 had is, in my opinion, the lack of continuing the storyline.
A storyline was introduced with Tony's father and Rourke's father. It was mentioned here and there. Samuel L. Jackson also played particular attention to Tony's father. Yet, in the end, a storyline that was built up significantly from the beginning and the middle had hardly any affect towards the end, if any. It's almost like it was forgotten about and was merely introduced to by time. That was disappointing.
Overall, Iron Man 2 will satisfy your hunger, but it will leave the dessert compartment empty and unsatisfied as it lacks many of the elements that made Iron Man 1 such a big surprise.