Robert Downey Jr. is back as Tony Stark and alter ego (sort of) Iron Man in the highly anticipated sequel to the 2008 hit, Iron Man. In Iron Man 2, billionaire Tony Stark must contend with fatal issues involving the government, his own friends, competition, and new enemies due to his superhero alter ego Iron Man. Iron Man starts with our main villain, Ivan (a very vengeful Mickey Rourke), preparing to get his revenge on the whole Stark family for allegedly ripping off his dead father's ideas of post-modern technology and the Iron Man concept. Meanwhile, Tony Stark reveals he is Iron Man, and that his technology is so advanced that it will take years for other countries to harness the power and technology to match Iron Man. Of course, he is wrong. Iron Man 2 really soars when Robert Downey Jr. is on screen. He really makes Tony Stark his own, because Downey Jr. is a lot like Tony Stark: funny, charming, and totally narcissistic. This isn't a jab at Robert Downey Jr. I have been a big fan of his for a long time, way before Iron Man was around. Gwyneth Paltrow is in her usual top form, as she plays Tony's on- again, off-again love interest. As far as the villains go, Mickey Rourke is good enough. He is tattooed and ripped to the tee, and is memorable. He is very hard to understand though, and the Russian accent is forced. It's really not a huge problem though, because his character doesn't do a lot of talking. That leads me to villain number 2, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), who talks too much. Justin Hammer, who is sick of having a second-rate company compared to Stark Inc, teams up with Ivan to take Stark down. Sam Rockwell's performance was a lot like Downey's, but comes off as annoying, rather than funny. He ends up being a second-rate villain, a lot like Topher Grace was in Spiderman 3. The main problem with Iron Man 2, is that it seems like it is just a whole bunch of parts of a movie, but doesn't come together as one. It isn't nearly as refreshing as Iron Man was, nor is it really anything new. Iron Man 2 is gold when Robert Downey Jr. is working his magic, and when he suits up for the visually amazing action scenes. And yet, Stark doesn't suit up as much as we'd like, and that birthday party scene shouldn't even count. That scene was neither funny nor necessary, and should have been cut out. Another problem is the Avengers sub-plot. Yes we get it, there will be an Avengers movie, but you don't have to have Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson hogging screen time, when Tony Stark has other things he should be doing. Overall, Iron Man 2 is an okay sequel. It is not as good as Iron Man but if you were a fan of the first one, I can't see you hating this one at all. The inevitable Iron Man 3 really needs to have a better script and fall back onto its strengths though. Those strengths being Robert Downey Jr. and the originality that this genre desperately needs.

Rating: 6/10