One of the summer's biggest movies is upon us, and boy does it do exactly what it intends to do.. perfectly. As a self-professed Marvel nerd, I can say that this movie does exactly what it needs to do, and does it splendidly. It follows up to the hugely successful first installment of the Iron Man franchise while simultaneously expanding the growing Marvel Universe. (Thor comes out May 2011, followed by Captain America in July 2011 and the Avengers and Iron Man 3 in 2012) The goal of Marvel movie studios is to have these films work together to create a comprehensive universe where events impact across the board and characters interact and are aware of one another. This is an ambitious undertaking, and nothing quite like it has ever been done before. The undertaking is in capable hands. Robert Downey, Jr. is immaculate as Tony Stark, Marvel's resident genius, billionaire playboy and titular armored hero. Gwyneth Paltrow returns as Tony's assistant turned CEO of Stark Industries and sometimes love interest Pepper Potts. Mickey Rourke steps onto the scene as Ivan Vanko, the son of a disgraced Russian physicist and genius in his own right, who bears a serious grudge against our hero. Sam Rockwell is an arms manufacturing rival of Stark's, Justin Hammer, who will do anything to get the upper hand on Stark and get the desired Pentagon contract. Scarlett Johansson is added as a sexy new Stark employee who may have more going on than meets the eye... and Don Cheadle replaces Terrance Howard as Stark's loyal military liaison and friend, James "Rhodey" Rhodes. Director Jon Favreau plays Stark's loyal right-hand man, Hap "Happy" Hogan. Downey Jr. brings an irreverent sense of playful fun to the whole enterprise, and the rest of the cast just feeds off of him. Favreau smartly lets his star-studded cast have fun with material that could otherwise be stuffy or ridiculous. This film picks up where the last one left off - with the world (and Stark most of all) dealing with the ramifications of the events of the last film - with Tony Stark having made a quantum leap in technology, leaving the rest of the world scrambling to catch up. Everyone wants a piece of the Iron Man technology, from the U.S. government (primarily Senator Stern - portrayed by a very puffy Gary Shandling), to foreign nations, to his competitors. Iron Man has publicly stamped out conflict across the globe, and is serving as self-appointed protector of U.S. security and global peace, Stark is cheered everywhere he goes, and Iron Man draws adoring throngs of fans. Meanwhile, trouble awaits, as the technology he believes is 5-10 years away for anyone else to develop, the miniature "arc-reactor" that serves as the power source for the Iron Man suit, is developed independently by Vanko, and the reactor which keeps him alive is also poisoning him, a fact that is exacerbated by Stark's continued use of the Iron Man suit. While Stark's position spirals out of control due to causes both external and internal, causing those close to him to question Stark's sanity - Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. pop onto the scene with some much-needed guidance. Oh, and Jim Rhodes dons the armor and becomes War Machine - who is really awesome. This is the perfect sequel - it does everything the original did, while expanding the story, enriching the characters and making everything just a little bigger and grander. The same sense of fun is there - and it really rewards extensive knowledge of the Marvel Universe - there is a sexy little Easter Egg post-credits that any Marvel fan won't want to miss. This is a slick little sequel - it's fast paced, fun, great to look at, well-acted and smart - and features some amazing action sequences. The re-watchability on this one is through the roof - just like the first one. Downey Jr. has created an incredibly charming and lovable Tony Stark - he needs to be the star of his own Entourage-type series. If there are any problems, it's merely that the film is too short and not everything is fully explained and expanded upon. The plot is lifted straight from the comics - and our characters grow along the way. What more could we ask for? This film is a lot of fun from start-to-finish, and is really what a comic-book movie should strive to be - there were three separate rounds of applause from Friday's sold-out crowd, and there's something to be said for that.
8.2/10 - if you liked the first one, this is an absolute must see. If you never saw the first one, go rent it, then see this one.
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