A Notch Above the Preceding "Iron Man" Movies

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2013)

"Tony Stark" (Robert Downey Jr.) is having some severe traumatic difficulties stemming from his recent combat experience depicted in "The Avengers". Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to resolve these issues because a terrorist by the name of "the Mandarin" (Ben Kingsley) is targeting him, his wife "Pepper Potts" (Gwyneth Paltrow) and "President Ellis" (William Sadler). Not only that but he has also earned the enmity of a mad scientist by the name of "Aldrich Killian" (Guy Pearce). Now, not wanting to spoil the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that there are some twists involved which deviate from the original plot and serve this movie quite well. Having said that let me also state that I am not a big fan of action movies that consist of simply action and CGI. And while this film has plenty of both there is also some good acting on the part of Robert Downey Jr. and Guy Pearce. Additionally, there is a good story to be had here too. Be that as it may, I would like to advise those who haven't seen this movie to see "The Avengers" or possibly one of the other two "Iron Man" films before watching this one if for no other reason than to have a little bit of continuity. That's not to say that this movie can't be enjoyed on its own because it certainly can. In any case, I believe this sequel was a notch above the preceding "Iron Man" movies and I have rated it accordingly.