Movie Review: Iron Man 2

Taking off from the previous Iron Man movie, the world now knows that billionaire Tony Stark is Iron Man. He is pressured by the government to share the secrets of the Iron man suit to the military which Tony refuses to do. Meanwhile, new enemies emerge which rival Iron man's capabilities.

Returning to reprise his role as Iron Man/Tony Stark is Robert Downey Jr. who as always is effective in portraying his character's "cool" personality. The movie actually has an all-star cast with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Samuel Jackson as SHIELD's Nick Fury, Mickey Rourke as Whiplash,  Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman (Stark's new assistant) and Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard as Stark's good pal James "Rhodey" Rhodes.

Regarding the new actors joining the movie, personally, I would have preferred Terrence Howard over Don Cheadle (may be because Don is too small for the War Machine character and Terrence appears to be more beleivable as Stark's good friend). Although Scarlett is always nice to look at, her character would have required someone with a Russian look and accent to be more believable.

Good news though! Considering a lot of sequels do poorly than their predecessors, the movie actually is very good. It offers a visual feast. The movie is full of action and special effects especially towards the end. (More than the 1st movie). I think it even defeats Transformers in the "metal against metal" fighting aspect. There is more use of firepower and weaponry and not just "hand to hand" combat.

And if you are a Marvel comics fan, you will recognize some references to the other superheroes of the group Avengers as in the other Marvel movies like the Incredible Hulk. There are 2 objects related to 2 Avenger superheroes that make an appearance in this movie. One appears in a very important scene prior to the final fight sequences and the other comes at the very end, after the final credits have been flashed in the screen. So do not go out of the movie theater until the very end.

One should realize that this movie is believed to be a prelude to a series of movies on the different members of the Avengers (like Thor, Captain America, etc.) which will culminate in a movie that unites all of them with the common denominator being SHIELD led by Nick Fury (played by Samuel Jackson as in the Ultimate Marvel comics series).


This movie is definitely worth seeing in the big screen itself.


And by the way, as in other Marvel movies, look for Stan Lee...Enjoy the movie!