Loses its way in the middle, but brings it back in style

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2010)

In Iron Man 2 Tony Stark is dealing with high pressure from the government to turn over his technology to make weapons, however he feels that the technology should stay with him, however another physics prodigy has other ideas
The reason that the original Iron Man was so good for me, besides the fact that marvel had finally taken creative control over their own characters, was that Robert Downey Jr. was able to completely personify the character of Tony Stark. In Iron Man 2 he is back again doing all of the things which made the original so great. However in my opinion it was Mickey Rourke who stole the show.
With a combination of excellent script writing and an actor who has really found his form again, Rourke was able to take a Marvel character who isn't particularly strong or developed, and give him an amazing screen presence, every scene he is in you feel uneasy, with his appearance intimidating, and his lines delivered to perfection to give the audience the feeling that this guy knows exactly what he is doing.
Sam Rockwell is also typically brilliant as the Tony Stark wannabe, with all of the one liners, but none of the charm, every time he is on screen, you can't wait to see him get his comeuppance.
I do feel that after the first big action sequence the film begins to let off the pace a little too much, where I personally was left slightly bored waiting for what I was sure to be a big finale. One positive in the middle section for Marvel fans however is that the middle section is full of fan service, look out for a famous piece of memorabilia in Tony's lab
This brings me to my next biggest complaint. Nick Fury, Samuel Jackson and the writers have managed to take one of Marvel's greatest heroes and turn him into what I can only describe as a non-character. Nothing he says in this film captures the comic book character, and some of the one liners are painful. I feel that fans of Marvel will like him purely because they know who he is supposed to be, however people who are unfamiliar with the comics I imagine will not understand this character.
However the ending of this film is so utterly well done that it reduces all of my complaints to knit picks, with a showdown of epic proportions that is sure to have you leaving the cinema feeling completely satisfied.
P.S. Marvel fans don't forget to wait until after the credits, no matter how much of a fool you feel waiting