Cast-Iron Sequel Soars High

Rating: 9/10 (1 February 2020)

Took a rewatch with this film. Now the first movie a success, IRON MAN 2 follows that once again with great special effects as well as editing, acting and music score (AC/DC rocks as well!) They took what was great about the original and continued to put such energy into it.
What else can be said about Robert Downey Jr. other than he is the perfect actor to play Tony Stark? Here, we go a little deeper with his character as he suffers from metal toxicity radiating from the core in his chest, has to debate with the government over ownership of the power suit, and must face a scientist rivaling his genius who is bent on revenge towards the Stark family.
IM2 is a sequel that might not exactly top the original, but it delivers on many levels and has lots of elements (no pun intended) that you would want in a movie. Of course Tony gets some assistance from Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Rhodey (Don Cheadle), who both act excellently. Now, it's a shame that Terrance Howard had to leave, but Cheadle still plays Rhodes good, and he rocked the War Machine armor. And director John Favreau expands his cameo as Happy Hogan into a full blown character (even gets his own kind of action scene).
Needless to say though, this film has some fair share of problems. If Tony could just use a car battery to power the electromagnet in the first film, why couldn't he find a similar, if not the same, non-toxic power source? Or at least focus on ways to get the shrapnel surgically removed? I mean, Rhodey uses a suit without the arc reactor directly in his chest. As well, his father kept the key to the new element in a very complex way when he could have left a note for Tony to find in the future.
Also, what happened to the government later on? After his little party 'conflict' how come they don't finally break into his house and take all the suits?
There have been some issues taken here - which also include the question of how exactly Stark managed to create world peace when he previously struggled with two fighter jets, and not exactly sure how he would be America's nuclear deterrent. But I am going to shine away from the negatives and take a look at some of the other quality points.
We also have the introduction of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) - who had previously appeared in a post credits scene in the first one - is back and they aren't a let down, as they appear to be interesting characters in this movie, albeit slightly underused. Overall the characters in this movie actually were believable, the dialogue felt organic and it actually felt like they were real people, even with some super suits and a bigger usage of 3D holograms.
Sam Rockwell was perfectly cast as Justin Hammer, the Stark/Hammer rivalry was done in the most elegant manner that it could have been done, and Mickey Rourke - thing is, he does great as Whiplash, but he doesn't get too much screen time and once he's returned for the final battle, some of the potential of his return goes to waste as he gets taken out by Iron Man and War Machine pretty easily and in a fast way, he even removed his helmet for some odd reason. More screen time is the one thing that would've improved the character, and even Rourke himself said that he was disappointed with the amounts of scenes that Marvel cut out of the movie.
Action is improved, and bigger doesn't always mean better, but the action here really is better. Special effects? They were great in the first film and excellent in the second, even though as I said they decided to use a I even miss the hydraulic movements and sounds that the Iron Man suits would make. Music score is a little weaker compared to the first one but still does good. And the best moment has got to be the Mark V suit that can transform into a briefcase, Monaco track fight was great even though the others aren't bad in comparison.
So to say in short, it's a fun movie that can be packed with other good sequels that should be watched with some snacks. Of course Favreau had the film rushed in two years when he needed three years to make so it's a flawed one, but a fun one, and if I were to give it a rating it would be a 4 Out of 5 but I'll give it an 8.5 out of 10