First of All, I am a huge fan of the first Ironman--The FIRST Ironman had a great plot, excellent acting(especially the guy who gives his life to save Tony in the cave) and great special effects.

But this film opens to an interminably boring scene of Tony making a big speech, and then goes downhill from there. The biggest problem was replacing a nice-looking black actor,Terence Howard, with an UGLY black actor,Don Cheadle--Cheadle looks like a monkey inside that Ironman suit, very distracting.

Speaking of ugly, Mickey Rourke, with his all-too-real destroyed face, makes an excellent villain(what else COULD he be?)--The scene at the racetrack was unexpected and really well done.