A sequel in every sense of the word.

Rating: 8/10 (8 May 2010)

Iron man 2 follows the typical modern conventions of a sequel, bigger explosions, more bad guys, and much more spectacle. Unfortunately it falls prey to all the bad things about a sequel as well, namely the idea that "more is better".
The Good: Robert Downey JR, Emma Thompson, Don Cheadle, and the newly added Scarlett Johansen all do a great job of fleshing out their characters and providing enough witty banter to entertain us (Director Jon Faverau's little fight scenes were great fun to watch).
We learn a bit more about the Avengers of course and there are plenty of nods to the comic book community throughout the film (most notably the last scene after the credits).
The special effects as is typical for today's films are top notch.
The bad: The story meanders. Tony faces off against Ivan Vanko/Whiplash and while the battles are entertaining the motivation for Whiplash is somewhat muddled. He seems more like one of those no name wrestlers that Tier 1 stars toss about the ring than a truly evil antagonist. I never really felt like Tony was going to lose. Nothing truly felt at stake.
Iron Man 2 tries to also address Tony's own failing health (tied to his power source and creating a new gizmo-power source for his suit) which is also somewhat hastily explained, bring about a redemptive father/son subplot that ultimately doesn't amount to much, and move along the Pots/Stark romance (which had its cute moment near the end).
The story seems to want to hit about a dozen different nails on the head and does, but not totally effectively; going for width in the story arc instead of depth.
My friend and I left the theater liking certain moments of the film but ultimately feeling it was bloated and could have had about 10 minutes shaved off and the stakes raised.
Perhaps the I.M. 3 will put some real "iron" back into the franchise.