Pretty dull when compared to the first one.

After revealing to the public he is Iron Man. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has turned Iron Man into a showman. This causes him problems as a man from the shadows begins to plot against him, and the US Government seeks to take his armor away from him. -summary

The first Iron Man movie was an instant hit with me and surprisingly over time it managed to get better. There were plenty of reasons for this too, with serious character development and the supporting characters playing a role. Unfortunately, this second movie in the franchise hasn't gotten better, admittedly it hasn't exactly gotten worse either, but it's definitely something I don't believe I'll be watching again. Once again directed by Jon Favreau, Iron Man 2 which was released in 2010, doesn't manage to live up to the same standard as the first movie. It's still a fun ride for the most part, however, I was never really gripped to the plot.

Iron Man 2 is a mixed bag for me. The movie features several sub plots that all come together by the end. It follows Stark as he battles against the government for control over his property. To complicate things even further for him, he learns that the device that is keeping him alive is also killing him, he has a rival manufacturer in the form of Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), and there's a man by the name of Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) who creates his own suit and attacks him in public.

Favreau's direction with this movie was hit and miss for me. The plot really didn't seem cluttered, in fact, it was well done and the pacing was outstanding juggling these story elements. At no time did I feel that the movie was hard to follow, and there was a good enough focus on each of these elements to keep even the worse ADD-ridden individual up to date. He even managed to squeeze in some action here and there as well.

The problem I have with this movie is parts of the plot actually. I didn't care for the character interactions this time; the trade offs between Stark and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) overstayed their welcome too quick for me. The side characters really weren't as strong this time around and I really didn't like how they were used. Justin Hammer was a shadow of himself from the comic, and I just couldn't take him serious as an antagonist due to him being portrayed as a bumbling idiot. Hammer is a very cruel individual who could have easily been that prime villain for Stark. Samuel L. Jackson should have been replaced as Nick Fury. When I watch him in action, I see that exact same character from every other movie he has ever played in. I do not see that seriousness canon with Nick Fury at all. When I saw Spider-Man, I did not see Willem Dafoe, I saw the Green Goblin, when I saw the Dark Knight, I did not see Heath Ledger, I saw the Joker, and so on with the heroes and side characters in those movies as well. On the plus side, Rourke wasn't bad and Downey Jr was still great. Favreau really didn't do a bad job though, I enjoyed how he managed to still make Stark's life interesting, by reminding us that even outside of the armor Stark is always fighting. I also give him credit for paying homage to the Demon in the Bottle storyline, quite possibly the best arc in the Iron Man mythos.

The special effects were still very good and they made the action scenes so cool to watch. The addition of War Machine added to the battles, as both Iron Man and War Machine tore through enemy robots during a good action filled segment. Scarlett Johannson as Natalie Rushman, aka Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, put together some decent hand to hand segments. My only issue is that they tried too hard to make her look cool.

Iron Man 2 is still pretty enjoyable. It in no way compares to the first movie despite more Iron Man action. Fans of action movies may more than likely get into it, fans of the comic I don't really know. There were somethings that bothered me, still, I can't say that I harbor any dislike for it. Give it a shot if you enjoyed the first movie or just plain love superheroes.

The movie has a 125 minute run time

Pros:
-Some cool action and special effects,

Cons:
-Plot wasn't as strong this time around, some uninteresting characters and interactions