Iron Man 2 (2010)

Probably one of the most hyped movie of 2010, Iron Man 2 finally arrives in theaters in the U.S. on May 7th. In this direct sequel to the movie Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man and the directing chair once again goes to Jon Favreau. Much of the older cast also reprise their roles in the first film, however Terrance Howard resigned from the productions for this sequel due to some issues involving his salary which puts actor Don Cheadle for the role of Lt. Colonel James Rodes/War Machine. The movie starts right after Tony Stark reveals to the public that he is indeed Iron Man and is praised in the eyes of the American people. Meanwhile, a Russian physicist Ivan Vanko seeking revenge creates a duplicated miniature arch reactor which is identical to the one Tony Stark has on his chest to stay alive. Creating a suit with large whips zapping electricity, he meets Stark at a race in Monaco, France where they have a short lived but very epic battle with the victor being Tony Stark. Then Tony Stark's arch nemesis, Justin Hammer, uses Ivan Vanko to "make Iron Man look like an antique" and create an army of Iron Man duplicates. Meanwhile, Tony Stark has a crisis of his own when the toxicity of his blood increases pushing him closer and closer to his death. Then using a clue that his father, Howard Stark, left him, he creates a new element giving him more power when using the suit and will keep him alive. Then both Iron Man and War Machine (a modified version of Iron Man Mark II suit) have a last climatic battle and fight the machines that Ivan Vanko has created. Now, some of the critics did not like this sequel over its 2008 counterpart. However, I liked this one more than the original due to the heavy load of problems within Tony Stark's life as himself and his alter ego and also because of the amount of action in this movie is just greatly executed. Featuring the music of AC/DC and other rocks songs, I found that it matched very neatly with the imagery of this comic book character. And the actors were also all so fit for their roles. Once again, Robert Downey Jr. steals the show and is the "big gun" of the movie. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts is great and I found her to be very elegant and beautiful. Don Cheadle was able to fit into the shoes of the character that Terrance Howard previously portrayed. Now for the villains: Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell. Mickey Rourke was, as usual, great in this movie with a Russian accent but I gotta say that Sam Rockwell just stole the show. As Justin Hammer, we was the on-the-edge, obnoxious, power hunger character which I found to be very well executed and was the comic relief of the film. He is as witty as Tony Stark and also as narcissistic as Tony Stark and it was just like looking into a mirror. And Jon Favreau was also featured in the film as Happy Hogan and was yet another comic relief character with all his great moments and proved that Jon Favreau can not only direct but act. Now, the action sequences are amazingly well done. They put a lot more time and money into the action sequences, especially the epic climatic battle between Iron Man/War Machine and the machines by Vanko and Hammer. And the subplot of the Avengers Initiative is also a subplot to the story with Nick Fury played by the great Samuel L. Jackson. And for those comic book fans who just can't get over the Avengers, you will see many good easter eggs including Captain America's shield and Thor's hammer. So overall, I say its a great movie. I give it a 85 out of 100.