Iron Man 2: Movie Review

Robert Downey Jr. had a fledging career during the early Nineties not until substance abuse took his life to the dumps. In an instant, his life took a U-turn. From being a critically-acclaimed actor, he was soon forgotten by the masses. After almost a decade of obscurity, he had a lucky break by being cast as Tony Stark in the 2008 film "Iron Man". Since then, he has had numerous blockbusters (and all of them has scored fairly well in our rating system). Now, Robert Downey Jr. is back to play as Tony Stark again in "Iron Man 2". As all sequels go, they have a risk of being overshadowed by their predecessor especially if it was well received by almost everyone. With this in mind, "Iron Man 2" needs to jump over a lot of hurdles. Can it continue the streak of great films from Robert Downey Jr. and can it match up and even go beyond the first film? Read on to find out what we think.

Six months after the events of the first film, Iron Man has brought peace between the world's major super powers. Even though Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and his Iron Man suit has brought balance, the U.S. Government wants to get the suit technology Stark developed for their own military purposes. Stark refuses to give in and boldly declares that his technology won't be replicated by anyone in the world for years to come and the Government need not worry about it. While in Monaco though, Stark is attacked by Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke). Ivan has replicated the mini arc reactor and has used this to power his two electrical whips. Tony is able to stop Ivan but this just proves that Stark's earlier statement is false making the U.S. Government more critical of his suit. Making things worse, the palladium mineral powering Stark's heart is slowly poisoning his body. Stark has to find an alternative for the palladium core or else he will poison himself to death.

"Iron Man 2" is not as good as its predecessor (that's for sure) but this does not mean you won't have a splendid time. The main reason for the less-than-spectacular performance is the poorly-developed plot. We felt the film had too many things it wanted to show that several scenes just started and ended too fast. We also noticed that the story had some inconsistencies from time to time. What bothers us most is the filmmakers' decision to make the film just two hours long. Would an extra fifteen minutes hurt if the benefit is a better film overall? It did not help that some scenes just felt out-of-place which totally weirded us out - knowing how short the film was, this is totally unforgivable. Beyond that though, the film's other attributes are similar to "Iron Man" which is not bad if you ask us. The dialogue is still top-notch with witty quips from time to time. The acting was great but we did not like Nick Fury which was played by Samuel L. Jackson. To be frank, his character was a bit on the cheap side. As for the action, all we can say is you won't be disappointed. "Iron Man 2" will give you thrills and laughs. Just do not expect it to wow you as the original one did two years ago.

Rating: 3 and a half reels

Why you should watch it:
- the dialogue is witty and will make you laugh out loud
- action-packed from start to finish

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the plot was poorly developed
- the film feels short and rushed
- definitely not better or at par than the first film

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