First things first how did this sequel one up itself from it's predecessor? Continuity: The film takes place 6 months after Stark reveals his identity in the first film and the entire plot is driven because of that.

Characters: Downey Jr. is back and his freestyle acting yet again is what brightens his screen time. Don Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as Rhodes, which really didn't bother me that much because personally I think both Cheadle and Howard are brilliant actors. War Machine will not disappoint. Mickey Rourke plays Ivan Vanko who is a hybrid of the Crimson Dynamo and Backlash and this character should have been given more screen time. Paltrow comes back as Pepper and her ability to keep up with Downey has improved. If there is no Mandarin for this film at least they got Justin Hammer another well known foe who I think should have been the villain of the first film. Scarlett Johansson plays the Black Widow, pretty much that is a character for the male audience. And Sam Jackson plays Nick Fury.

Action: It had a lot more bad-assery (hope that's a word) than the first film, a lot more. However it wasn't presented like that in the trailer, which therefore I was sort of hesitant to expect greatness. If the trailer was presented like the A-Team thats coming out this year or the first Spider-Man film eight years ago then I would have bought my ticket way in advance. But don't be mislead, there is a lot of action sequences.