Not as great as I had hoped but still fun

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2010)

I love the comic book, Iron Man. I perhaps always have. I also loved the first Iron Man movie. I'm not a purist, I just think it's a fun story. And it probably helps that I also enjoy TheOnion's video they did making fun of Iron Man's trailer back in 2008. Classic!
However I digress...
The good parts of this story are simply what you can surmise from watching the trailer: 1.) Bad Ass robots and suits all over the place. If you are someone who like the nerdgasm that sits at the heart of the Iron Man story then you are going to like some of the battles.
2.) There's a pretty good badguy in Sam Rockwell. Could have been a bit stronger but he's becomes a better baddie by the end of this sequel. The Mickey Rourke character was okay. Could have made it still a bit stronger.
3.) MINOR SPOILER: Personal angst and drama of Tony Stark. Ehhhhh. It was not so enjoyable this time. Mainly because we have to deal with an issue that plagues him throughout the story until (of course) he solves it at which point you may be shrugging and thinking, "Okay, check that problem off the list. Next problem Tony will have to innovate around?" I think at this point whatever angst he might have had in the first movie about his father-son issues and his doubts about his own purpose gets pushed to the side which is a real shame, because, heck, that was a vulnerable part of Tony where he found himself actually contemplating his own mortality and and purpose in the world.
So, my opinion? Pushing that very cool dramatic father-son issue to the side was probably not the best choice. But heck, at least it wasn't completely forgotten. And it did play a certain role in him figuring out his own next invention. But seriously, too many dramatic issues in one two hour movie made the overall treatment of the dramatic issues rather shallow -- too much ground to cover, too little time.
Over all, I still give it an 8 out of 10. Not saying it was exactly what I had hoped for but it was still rather satisfying. May not see it again for a while, but that's okay. I'll still go see the next one... and probably the ones after that if they make them...