Iron Man 2 (2010)
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Written by: Justin Theroux
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow

2008’s Iron Man was a pinnacle of comic book film, thanks to a perfect cast and a willingness not to take itself too seriously. This year’s sequel is more of the same, which is great, though not outstanding.

Iron Man 2 picks up a few months after the original, seeing Tony Stark as a major celebrity and hero. Everyone in the world is out to steal, commandeer, or duplicate the technology Stark Industries has made. A vengeful son attacks, a conniving business rival teams up with him, and Iron Man has to battle another guy in a big metal suit.

The film has a lot more crammed into this time around, since there’s no need for the origin story aspect. More characters, more villains, more problems for Tony, and somehow even more snappy one liners. If you liked the first one (and I loved it) then it’s going to feel familiar and awesome.

Robert Downey Jr still does an incredible job as Tony Stark, and the character gets more depth this time around. Common themes in the books like Stark’s alcoholism are addressed (in a party scene that is equal parts hilarious and uncomfortable). At the end of the day though the movie is back where it started, just with a couple extra characters.

Iron Man 2 is more like an expansion. It doesn’t change anything, or add new dynamics, but it’s still entertaining and well acted, with a few minor exceptions (looking at you, Don Cheadle and Scarlett Johansson). The battles are bigger, especially the end fight with two Iron Man suits against an army of drones. I was disappointed that Mickey Rourke wasn’t battling more, though. Murderous automatons are badass, but Mickey Rourke invented badass.

I wasn’t feeling the chemistry as much this time around. I thought Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts was adorably in the first film, and she kind of takes a back seat in the sequel, despite her major promotion. In a way it works, since we’re following Tony, and he’s the one ignoring her, but I could have used more of her, and less of Scarlett Johansson trying her damnedest to be coy and charming.

Ultimately, the biggest thrills for me were the allusions to the Avengers as a whole. Having Black Widow and Nick Fury in the movie gets me excited for Marvel’s plans to do this team up big. There’s a particular prop gag, and an awesome post-credit scene that had me more jazzed than anything that happened in this film. But that’s kind of cool that the last four seconds of a film made me geek out like that.