A good continuation of the series.

Rating: 7/10 (25 April 2012)

Even while I can understand some of the people's disappointments with this movie, the movie in itself is not a bad one at all. It's pretty good and entertaining for what it is, it just isn't ever up to par really with its predecessor.
Basically the thing that this movie offers is some good, simple entertainment. And there really is nothing wrong with that, as long as you don't expect a very clever or well written story, with plenty of surprises and originality to it.
It of course is still a shame that this movie didn't featured a better and more compelling story in it. The movie does in fact feels rushed, as if the studios were in a hurry to shoot and release it, after the surprising big financial and critical success of the first "Iron Man" movie. It's a good continuation of the series but not one that is offering much new stuff. In fact, it's a bit of a more poorly done rehash, without all of the great wittiness and spectacle of the first movie. But perhaps this is also due to it that this movie feels less fresh, since we already are familiar with all of the characters and its universe.
But still, the one thing that mostly was disappointing about this movie was its poor handling of the villain's story lines. But in all honesty, this also was the biggest problem of the first movie. It's a shame that this was something they didn't managed to do right this time around. The villains often aren't featured prominently enough and it's not always exactly clear who the main villain is supposed to be. Besides, their plot lines just aren't the most interesting ones and definitely also not original at all.
Nothing wrong with the actors playing the characters though. Robert Downey Jr. once again returns as Tony Stark/Iron Man. He is being sort of less likable this time, even while you are supposed to be sympathizing even more with him in this movie but hey, he is still being an awesome character and Robert Downey Jr., as always, did a more than good job. But there of course also are some additions to the cast this time. Mickey Rourke was a great villain but didn't always get used well and not enough throughout the entire movie. The one person I in fact was very fond of was Sam Rockwell, as Justin Hammer. This guy is such a great actor and lets hope he will get to reprise this role in future movies. I even wasn't all that bothered with Scarlett Johansson, as Black Widow. I actually thought she got incorporated into the story pretty well and wasn't distracting at all, as most other people seem to think.
And really, this is not a bad movie at all. Even while it does plenty of stuff wrong, the movie still manages to bring some decent entertainment and also some good action. It's never boring to watch, since the story is always kept going and as far as big budget superhero flicks go, this still is being one of the better ones to watch out there.
7/10
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