Iron Man 2

Summer movie season has officially started, folks.

Iron Man 2 was one of my most anticipated movies of the year, but when the movie opened in foreign markets last week and the critical response was less than fantastic, I started to worry that I was going to be let-down. Fortunately, this is not the case. Jon Faverau has kicked-off summer 2010 with a bang.

First, let's get this out of the way right now. Iron Man 2 is not better than it's predecessor. Iron Man lacked a strong villain, but more than made up for it with it's charm (very similar to 2009's Star Trek). Iron Man 2 has the same problem, only reversed. Mickey Rourke as Whiplash was fantastic, but the movie lacked some of the charm that made the first one such a great movie. There are also some pacing problems in Iron Man 2, and sometimes you start to feel it's length, but the same thing could also be said for the first Iron Man. That's really Faverau's only weak spot as a director.

The rest of the cast does not disappoint. Robert Downey Jr. IS Tony Stark. He plays the part so perfectly that you can't even tell he's acting. We also get our first look at the new Rhodey, now played by Don Cheadle instead of Terrance Howard. Howard must be kicking himself, because War Machine is a badass. There is one member of the cast that seems to have been skipped over in most of the trailers (and is nowhere to be seen on any of the posters) and that is Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. I love Rockwell. He's one of my favorite actors, and in Iron Man 2 he's absolutely great. Justin is the Bill Gates to Tony's Steve Jobs, and they play off each other so well.

I'm not going to say much about this because I don't want to spoil it, but we also get a much bigger look at the Avengers initiative. Nick Fury has a much bigger role here, and provides some important information about just what it is that S.H.I.E.L.D. does. And make sure you wait till the credits finish, because there's a special scene at the end that makes a pretty big reference to a certain Avenger.

In closing, I'd say Iron Man 2 was a great way to start the summer movie season. It doesn't improve on the first one, but it definitely gives us more of what made Iron Man great. If you enjoyed the first one at all, Iron Man 2 is definitely a suitable sequel.

B+