Not up to the standard the first set, but still one to check out.

Rating: 7/10 (28 April 2010)

Two years ago, the first Iron Man movie was released, becoming a surprise critical and commercial success. So, naturally, a sequel was inevitable. The question was, can the sequel fulfill what seems to be the code for comic book movies, and top the first? The answer: Not quite. But that is not to say it was a bad movie at all. It just falls short of great. One of the main issues of the movie was the pacing. There were many points where it lagged, leaving you simply waiting for the next scene. It just felt a little padded out. It just didn't feel as well put together as the first.
Of course, the movie had many good points as well, including Robert Downey Jr pulling out his charisma again as Tony Stark and Mickey Rourke embracing his dark side to play a pretty good villain. Not to mention Don Cheadle doing a fine job stepping into the role of Rhodey that Terrence Howard playing in the first, with this time the character having a much bigger and better role. When the action scenes do finally arrive, they are generally a whole lot of fun, with the exception of the big villain fight, which was sadly very anti-climactic. A big complaint from some people about the first movie was that it had a disappointing villain with a mediocre final fight. Well, Iron Man 2 had a really cool villain, but an even more mediocre final fight. The visual effects were just as good as the first film, but also seemed to be used a lot less.
Also joining the cast list was the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell and the director Jon Favreau, as Natalie Rushman, Justin Hammer and Happy Hogan respectively. Johansson did a decent job, not bringing a whole lot to the role, but basically all that was needed for the character. Favreau being in the movie was pretty unnecessary, with his character being basically the same sort of offsider that Favreau played in Daredevil. As Justin Hammer, Rockwell did well playing a sleazy Stark competitor.
In closing, the movie is worth checking out, but make sure you don't go in expecting the first movie again. I personally enjoyed myself, despite feeling occasionally bored. I feel that it was the sort of movie that will seem better on repeat viewings, when I'm not just waiting to see when they will give us another action scene. Not that I am only interested in action scenes, it's just that as I said before, certain parts of the movie just lagged a little too long.