Hopefully not Downey Jr's last.

Rating: 8/10 (29 April 2013)

"Things are different now, I have to protect the one thing that I can't live without. That's you."
Since Shane Black has signed to do Iron Man 3 I have been so excited for this picture, and i was already excited enough for Marvel phase 2 after the Avengers. Teaming up once again in his second outing with his Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang lead, and it does not disappoint.
A typical Super hero story, The international terrorist The Mandarin arrives on the scene and causes mayhem across the world, and may have help from some scientist acquaintances from Tony's past. For me Iron man's greatest strength is the casting of Robert Downey Jr. He encapsulates the character so well, the charisma,the humor, the ego so well. If this is to be his last appearance in a stand alone Iron Man. I for one can not think of anyone around at the moment who could take over the role,especially in the inevitable reboot of the franchise. Getting back to this film the cast of iron man has always been top notch with great support characters played by Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, and i could go on. This sequel hasn't gone down the usual route of recent sequels. Not going darker but keeping fun, not going bigger and louder (don't get me wrong there are some big action set pieces) but stripping Tony of the suit for large parts and focusing on the character. There is decent action to be seen, with the destruction of Tony Stark's home, for me being some of the best 5 minutes of intense action i have seen for quite some time. Also Iron man keeps it's good humor and puts in a decent amount of laughs.
The ending of the movie is where i find some problems, as it quite predictable and never built any sense of dread, that the bad guys could win. The bad guys in this film The Mandarin, Aldrich Killian and there Extremis Super soldiers. Which are a major improvement on previous Iron man villains. Seem very intimidating and imposing, but the motivation for there crimes seems a little fuzzy.
A good film by Shane Black in his first foray in to comic book/action, and if it is Downey Jr's last. It's not a bad way to bow out.