Not bad for a sequel

Rating: 9/10 (30 April 2010)

You know how the story goes... the first movie makes hundreds of millions of dollars & the Hollywood Moguls stand up and take notice. ---- "Must be on to something good, let's see if we can duplicate it...." ---- and thus begins the generally horrific tedium of re-hashed plots, over-paid actors, horribly bad script-writing, and a force-fed public looking to find something worth grabbing on to. It almost never works.
Let us for the moment consider: Shrek / Shrek 2. Toy Story / TS 2. Terminator / T2. Batman Begins / Dark Knight. Alien / Aliens. In each of these cases the sequel that followed far surpassed the original, in every sense of the word. John Q Public was treated to that rare case of suspense, drama, comedy or action which built upon the existing story and brought the characters more to life.
Now let us consider Batman Forever / Batman & Robin, Terminator 3 & Terminator Salvation. Aliens 3, 4, AvP & AvPr. In all cases, a solid waste of time, money, effort and sadly --- brain cells. In each of these sequels it comes across that someone, somewhere up there in the heights of Hollywood mega-offices, was looking to pay off a third wife's alimony. You could insert here the second Blair Witch Project, A-N-Y horror Genre flick (there's far to many bad sequels here to list), Mission Impossible 2. (3 was OK, but not great) and hundreds more. The fact is, generally speaking, sequels suck. And John Q Public knows it.
So why have I spent so much time getting this point across? Because Iron Man 2 rises to the effort flawlessly. It brings us more depth to the existing characters. Introduces more to their back-story which actually makes sense. Brings in new supporting characters who actually add flavor to the overall story. And lastly, gives us a Russian villain with a honest-to-come-by grudge that we can understand and appreciate. (Even if his powers of mastering complex computer languages IN English and typing at seeming hyper-speed is a little bit of a stretch) Top all that off with some solid IN-YOUR-FACE action scenes that show off Tony Stark's collection of cool gadgets & you have the makings of an incredible sequel. (And I, for one, really would love to have some of Scarlett Johansson's uber-cool toys.) That's not to say that the story doesn't have it's flaws. This is not Dark Knight. Then again, it shouldn't be compared to that either. This is Return of the Jedi. This is Lord of the Rings: Two Towers. This is a story in arc with still yet more to tell. And we're given fleeting glimpses of what's to come in different ways throughout the movie. I do hope that the cast / crew / director / writer's can be given another shot with the Iron Man hero.
I will not spoil things for you. I know that the movie hasn't come out yet in America --- I live in Taiwan & we're rather privileged to have it before you guys. But I will state up front that the movie gives depth and breadth to the Iron Man Character(s) and allows you to both enjoy yourself and walk away hoping there will be more. As a sequel goes --- they got this one pretty close to perfectly balanced.
I will say this --- just in case it doesn't come across elsewhere --- but there is something to watch for AFTER, and I do mean AFTER, all the credits. Stick around, it's a tease you'll not want to miss.