More Iron Man!

Rating: 7/10 (2 June 2013)

After the spectacular first one, I was definitely looking forward to Iron Man 2! Robert Downey, Jr. was so good as Tony Stark, he brought Iron Man into my top list of favorite super heroes! I was very glad to hear he was back for the sequel. He doesn't disappoint! Tony is as arrogant and hilarious as ever while still kicking butt as Iron Man. Though, this time around, he's having some issues- the arc reactor in his chest is poisoning him, he's having daddy issues, there's a new villain 'Whiplash' (a great Mickey Rourke), a competitive weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer (played wonderfully by Sam Rockwell), the government wants his suit. So much to deal with but I enjoy watching Tony deal with all of it. We also get to learn more about his father, Howard Stark. Legacy is very important in this movie.
The acting is great all around, with Robert, Sam, Mickey all having fun. Gwenyth Paltrow is beautiful as ever though her role here mostly consists of being stressed out over running Stark's company. Don Cheadle takes over for Terrence Howard as Rhodes and he does a pretty good job. I only really started to like him towards the end where I felt the most that he was Tony's best friend. Scarlett kicks some serious butt here but I thought her performance was only alright. If only the script gave her more to work with.
There are some sweet action sequences like the Monaco race/Whiplash attack and Iron Man vs. War Machine/Drones/Whiplash climax. Watching Scarlett take on all those guards was a treat! So was seeing Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. Iron Man and War Machine fighting side by side? EPIC! Negatives? Maybe too much talking, the middle portion is a bit slow, Rhodes wasn't all that likable until the end, the fight between Iron Man/War Machine and Whiplash was too brief, Whiplash felt a bit too one-dimensional which was sad when you think of how the character could have been without all the editing.
Still, Iron Man 2 is a fun sequel with a ton of humor, great lines, interesting story, heart, action, and fun performances.