Does not compare to the original

Rating: 6/10 (10 May 2010)

We saw Iron Man 2 over the weekend at the local drive-in. Sadly I think I would have preferred to wait for the DVD. Not that the movie is awful, but it really is lacking some cohesion. The film seems to jump from scene to scene without a lot of background explanation. For example: Stark and company travel to Monaco for a corporate event where a Formula I race is taking place. Stark steps away to get a drink and reappears a minute later on the track itself, dressed in a racing suit. He makes a quick public statement about racing his own race car and jumps in to his Formula I racer. We are left wondering just where did the car come from and just how did he make this quick change?
Rourke's, "Whiplash" suffers horribly from character development. This is a true disappointment, because he was convincingly maniacal in all of his scenes. I would have loved to see and learn more about him. He is supposed to be Iron Man's equal adversary and his screen time reduces him to an annoying thorn in Iron Man's side. The climatic fight scene is totally unsatisfying and just hammers that point home more. It ended too abruptly.
ScarJo's "Natalie," seems like an after thought. She transforms from a mild-mannered pretty secretary - with very few lines - to a near superhero fighting what seems like an endless array of security guards and we're not even informed as to who she is and where gets her butt-kicking talent from. A few minor hints to the fact that was more than just a pretty face might have made her shine more than just for her looks.
Robert Downey, Jr. is the only real bright light here. His portrayal of Tony Stark is lively and amusing and is on par with the original film. The downside is that we don't get to see as much of Tony Stark being Iron Man as we want. It seems that he's in the suit more for parties and promos than he is for actual superhero work. A serious flaw here.
As for Don Cheadle, he is good as Rhodes, but his character needs A LOT of explanation. It is the biggest flaw in the film. I think anybody who has seen IM2 is wondering the same thing: Just how was Rhodes able to operate an Iron Man suit like a pro in a manner of minutes when we were told that the suits were calibrated just to Stark thus rendering it impossible for anyone else to run them? Not to mention the fact that it took Stark weeks to learn how to operate it himself?
There are other open-ended questions that are posed by the film that I could write about. But these are the main points that stood out for me. Regardless, it is still entertaining. Just not nearly as much as the original. It's still worthy of a look if only to see RDJ's performance as Stark.