It was quite a challenge to top such an exhilarating, original (at least by today's storytelling standards) summer extravaganza like 2008's big hit "Iron Man." That film was well done on a technical level, but the reason why it is so good and why it is twice the movie that "Transformers" (2007) was because it used its special effects as a service to its story instead of simply relying on them to save the day. So it's a real challenge to not only build on that, but improve upon that. But by Jove, director Jon Favreau and his cast and crew have done that with flying colors with "Iron Man 2" which to my mind is not only better than the original, but the best film that I've seen so far this year.

The movie picks up where the first one left with Robert Downey Jr.'s alcoholic, eccentric character of Tony Stark revealing his alter-ego identity as Iron Man. While he combats a power-greedy senator's strive to strip him of his technological triumph and to maintain a somewhat stable employer-employee (and sometimes romantic) relationship to his assistant Pepper Potts, again played with grace and conviction by Gwyneth Paltrow, a new villain with his own technological tools and dazzling wit (Mickey Rourke) arrives, seeking revenge not only on Stark as a person, but his legacy.

It seems to be a trend these days for the second installment in superhero movie franchises to be better than the first. That was the case with Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" saga, with Christopher Nolan's marvelous reinvention of the Batman character, and now with Jon Favreau's Iron Man pictures. In my original review, I stated that I really enjoyed the first "Iron Man" picture but felt that its climax was a little lacking and that there were some weak zones in its plot. However, all of that is built up and enhanced with the sequel and if there is one word I can use to describe it, it is: exhilarating. Even as it builds up new story lines with new characters, some of which may be ostensibly unnecessary, it never bogs down.

Like "Spider-Man 2", "Iron Man 2" brings up the plot element of the main character's alter-ego taking over his life to the point where his normal life starts to fall apart, causing him to shun his responsibilities and obligations. Although this is a sort of familiar story, the filmmakers do a great job at keeping things on the move. What's also great, and carrying down from the first picture is how it's not all grim and tough, but has effective moments of comedy such as a scene where Scarlett Johanssen reveals to a cocky boxing manager that she knows a little more about the sport than she led him to believe. And of course the highlights are conversations between Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow and these melodramatic moments are blended with the more traditional tones seamlessly so that it does not feel like the movie is phasing in and out of one personality, heck, like its central character.

You want special effects? You got 'em. Just like in the first picture, "Iron Man 2" is packed with lots of explosives, bursts of action, ear-jarring sound effects, and marvelous camera tricks and cinematography to lock the audience's attention in place. But once again, these special effects, unlike the effects in "Transformers" and its sequel, are used as a service to the story and that is why they do not overstay their welcome. The movie saves its drawn-out climax to the end and this climax is twice as exciting as the somewhat shallow final battle of the first movie.

Robert Downey Jr. is still most effective as the troubled character of Tony Stark. He's charming, witty, humorous, and believable not as a caricature, but as a human being. Gwyneth Paltrow is equally effective as Pepper Potts; Scarlett Johansson is both seductive and convincing as the new assistant who has her own way of backing herself up; Sam Rockwell does a fantastic job playing the techno-dweeb big on money but short on brawn; Mickey Rourke is sinister and cold-blooded as the villain; and Don Cheadle does a surprisingly good job taking over for Terence Howard as Tony Stark's military pal.

I can't think of one person I know whom I won't recommend seeing "Iron Man 2." From start to finish, this is one exhilarating piece of film-making. It excels, I say, over its already exhilarating predecessor and many of its companion superhero sagas, and proves itself to be one truly enjoyable time at the movies.