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Surprisingly enough, the people who are going to be most disappointed (or at least underwhelmed) by IRON MAN 2 are those who are part of the movie's ostensible target audience, that is, those who are looking for tons and tons of consecutive, loud action sequences. I'm not a part of that group of people, which is why I had no problem with the fact that this movie dedicates its first hour and a half to exposition and dialogue-based scenes, while reserving the kick-ass action for the last act. It's hard to complain, though, when that hour and a half of dialogue and exposition features Robert Downey Jr. being as brilliantly irreverent as he was in the first film.
Justin Theroux's screenplay features so many one-line zingers that it puts to shame the so-called "wit" in the recent (failed) attempt at a franchise that was THE LOSERS. If there's a flaw in IRON MAN 2 as far as the dramatic component is concerned, it comes in the scene involving our protagonist watching a video of his father... it's something you'll easily see coming, and it seems to tie up a plot thread in a far simpler way than I would've hoped.
Added to Downey Jr.'s charisma is Gwyneth Paltrow's consistently genuine turn as our hero's love interest, the great Sam Rockwell in a delightfully twisted villainous performance, and Mickey Rourke taking sleazy to levels that I suspect not many actors could achieve. Scarlett Johansson doesn't have much to do in early scenes except assume the femme fatale persona, but there's a pretty rewarding scene towards the end in which she quickly dispatches a bunch of people (this won't be too impressive for those of who, just a few weeks ago, witnessed what a certain Hit Girl can do, but still).
Once again, there's the obligatory "after the credits" scene, which may or may not satisfy people as much as the one we got from the first movie. Basically, my suggestion is to stay for it only if you're a fan of Thor. Is that a spoiler? I don't really think it is, but well, sorry if you feel like I spoiled something. It's not much of a revelatory moment, anyway. There aren't many signs that there'll be an IRON MAN 3, but there are a heck of a lot of references to the upcoming AVENGERS franchise. Personally, I'd pay money RIGHT NOW to be able to see Chris Evans ordering Robert Downey, Jr. around, but I guess we'll have to wait a little bit.
Overall, I think the IRON MAN 2 experience is basically just as satisfying as that of the first film. It may leave something to be desired for those who would've preferred more action sequences during the film's first two acts, but for my taste, this approach was very good. The build-up is fantastic, and the final battle sequence is intense and well-made, and doesn't simply consist of pieces of metal clanging against each other (you'll have to wait for the next TRANSFORMERS movie if that's what you're looking for). Regardless of whether the IRON MAN franchise continues, or if we'll simply see the character of Iron Man transferred over to a new franchise, you have to be thankful that this superhero has been portrayed by such a versatile actor who has made these two films so much fun.
7/10
