Thin story saved by special effects and humor

Rating: 3/10 (21 June 2014)

Iron man 2" is full of ideas that are undeveloped . It's a shame , because there was potential here. The writer starts a subplot and leaves it not really going anywhere with it. The health troubles , conflict with the army , problems of loyalty , Vankow's desire of revenge The movie doesn't explore any of this subplots and they are all too quickly resolved.
There is no real plot here. There's a bunch of ideas thrown together in hope that somehow they will make a good story. The more I think about it the more I realize that "Iron man 2" had only one real purpose – introduce Natasha that will be important in the "Avengers" movie. Ironically , her presence here is pretty much pointless (except looking pretty and some action near the end of movie).
The movie doesn't know what to do with it's characters. Ivan Vankow and Justin Hammer who were supposed to be main villains don't really do anything through entire movie. Vankow has two fight scenes and that's it . For the rest of movie he is constructing a weapon , while Hammer just waits. Vankow isn't one bit interesting or scary character. His motivation to attack Stark doesn't have any real importance to overall story. The writer could also do much more with Justin Hammer.
The performances are good with the exception of Scarlett Johansson and Don Cheadle. Johansson is boring , while Don Cheadle is very stiff. I missed Terence Howard . The plot is thin with some plot holes. I also couldn't buy the new element. I know this is a comic book movie , but that was just stupid.
"Iron man 2" is a disappointing sequel. The thin story is saved by the humor and brilliant special effects. The movie was obviously enjoyable enough to be a box office success. The next movie was even dumber than this one despite a more serious attempt at writing a story. "Iron man 2" at least doesn't take itself too seriously and works as popcorn movie. I give it 3/10.