Too bad it's not like "The Dark Knight"!

Rating: 7/10 (29 April 2010)

I had colossal expectations for this movie. That was a bad mistake. I expected to relive "The Dark Knight" moment. A perfect sequel. I expected Mickey Rourke to give a performance worthy of Heath Ledgers Joker and I hoped for a deep and intriguing story. Alas none of my hopes and dreams came true. But it was still a pretty good movie.
No need to waste words on the visuals. They are everything you expect them to be in a modern Marvel movie - marvelous.
The acting is pretty solid. Robert Downey Jr. was cool, funny, egocentric and everything you expect Tony Stark to be. I though I would miss Terrence Howard but Don Cheadle did a good job as a recast Rhodes. I was a little disappointed at Rourke, he did a pretty swell job but still it was not one of his best performances. Maybe I got that impression because of the lack of depth the writers gave the character, or maybe the very little dialog he had.
The action was nice and entertaining and as its predecessor it had a few very funny moments nicely and delicately put in place. Also there was a few details that made the whole experience a little more special like Don Cheadles opening line that went something like "It's me, I'm here, get used to it.", and can be understood as a response to the recast from Terrence Howard.
All in all it's a very entertaining and visually beautiful movie, but it falls a little short from Iron Man (2008). The story maybe has the depth but the presentation of it felt a little rushed. It also felt like the movie should be at least 20 minutes longer or so. Also the soundtrack hasn't got the power of the first movie.
If you love Marvel you will probably like this movie. If you like action you will probably like this movie. If you liked Iron Man from 2008 you will probably like this movie. And if you see Iron Man 2 levelheaded and not bearing sky high expectations you will probably love this movie.