Iron Man 2 falls into the same sophomore attempt that Transformers 2 fell into. Both first movies made tons of money, so with both 2nd attempts the directors give the audience too much action, too many characters and not enough of a story to care about. For Fanboys who have read the Iron Man comic book they know that the creator of Spiderman and Iron Man, Stan Lee, took time to develop characters, and bad guys that you cared about. Similar to Doc. Octopus in Spidey 2. Stan Lee is one of the writers of this movie so I wonder if his input was honored?
The story is about Tony Stark, Iron Man, who must contend with deadly issues involving the government, his own friends, as well as new enemies due to his superhero alter ego Iron Man. In this movie you have Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson. They are all great on screen but there is no substance. Scarlett Johansson has a great action scene but so what? Iron Man 2 is an OK movie that could have been better. Robert Downey Jr.'s stock does not go down in this flick, he is great as always. I am not a Gwyneth Paltrow fan but she was good in this movie. I think it's because it looks like she is having fun in the role. You will be disappointed if you see it in IMAX because the IMAX previews prior to the movie (Tron, Toy Story 3, Shrek 4, and Inception) look better in IMAX than Iron Man 2.
Verdict: It will make a ton of money and there will be an Iron Man 3. Terance Howard is not missed because Don Cheadle rocks. Fanboys and Marvel Baby Boomers stay until all the credits are gone for a surprise. All others head to the exits.
