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Next in the "Marvel-thon" is the first sequel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that is Iron Man 2.
It has been six months since what happened at the end of the first film (before the post-credits scene). The government believes Tony Stark's Iron Man suit is a weapon rather than a peacekeeper, for which Tony has been using it. Thus, they have been requesting for some time that he hand it over. Not only that, the element powering the core of the arc reactor in his chest is slowly killing him. To make matters even worse, someone who has history with his family is on a path of revenge.
What Worked: The performances are still really good. Robert Downey Jr. again embodies Tony Stark. Something in the first one carries over into this one: his occasional vulnerability (which actually was not mentioned in that review). He shows it even more so here, for obvious reasons. It's exploited in several ways, but I can really only mention one here, as at least a few of them could be reaching spoiler territory.
Something I did mention in the review of the first one (briefly) was the recasting of Rhodey, Tony's best friend. He was portrayed by Terrence Howard there, and while I thought he was really good, I also thought he wasn't quite as charismatic as Tony was, and especially not as much as the character himself would become. That aspect of him starts here, as the role was recast with Don Cheadle. He's more levelheaded, like Pepper, where he vouches for Tony whenever he can, but sometimes has to get in the way in order to bring him back to reality. He's also more likable here because of both that and the sense of humor that Cheadle brings to him.
Speaking of Pepper, Gwyneth Paltrow is another returning cast member. Like Rhodey in this movie, she also has to deal with a certain amount of pressure, which allows for some character development. There are some scenes where she shows concern for Tony, which additionally contributes to that.
The only other returning cast members that can be discussed here are Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S. and Jon Favreau (returning to direct) as Happy Hogan. They are still really good here, and are given more to do.
For the new characters, Scarlett Johansson is a character whose significance is revealed by the third act. She's one of the highlights when it comes to the new characters. Sam Rockwell plays Justin Hammer, a business rival of Tony. For a supporting villain, who is also the "anti-Tony Stark," his performance is good.
The main villain here is Ivan Vanko, played by Mickey Rourke. He is also a highlight for two reasons: 1: his involvement in the first major action scene, and 2: the scene that follows it. That scene, for me, is his best scene in the movie. He mentions his motive there; he wanted to show that Iron Man can be vulnerable, and before the scene ends, he mentions that he knows Tony is. Some of the other characters know it, too, but at different points in the movie.
The story, for the most part, works. It involves the repercussions of what happened in the previous film, and how everyone goes about trying to address them while having other conflicts along the way.
There is more action here, and it does follow the "Rule of Threes," but to a bit of a lesser extent, because there's the first major action scene, a fight that lasts maybe a couple minutes, and then basically the entire third act. Even so, it does follow it.
The effects are still great here. The suits look even better. There are also other designs that are shown (and sometimes used) throughout the movie that look very good.
What Didn't Work: Unlike the first one, this one does have a fair amount of problems, even though I do still like this one. One of the biggest problems is that it doesn't primarily feel like its own story like the first one did. It does what the reboot of The Mummy would ultimately do: focus on setting up something bigger. The only difference is that here, there was at least precedence for that with the post-credits scene in the first film. However, despite that, it still feels like half the movie focuses on that. There are even at least two characters (one being introduced here) that are part of that "something bigger."
There are also several sub-plots, which don't completely connect significantly to the main story. The main thing they have in common is that they all provide conflict, just from different perspectives. If it had been written better, this could have worked better. This is especially true of developing the new characters, examples being Ivan Vanko and Justin Hammer. While Sam Rockwell was good performance-wise, the problem is his character, Justin Hammer, feels more like a main villain than the actual one, Ivan Vanko.
It also feels like it relies a little too much on humor at times. It's not the fault of Jon Favreau's direction, which is still good here (but not as good as with the first one), but rather weaknesses in the script. The script is okay, but you can tell that the first one was more tightly written and even paced better.
Overall: Iron Man 2 is not as good as the first movie, but it is still fun to watch, even with the problems it has. It does a decent job at developing returning characters and setting up new ones. It has an interesting main villain with an understandable motive, and great action. While I do think the first one may be the better movie, this one has its share of good moments as well.
Of course, expect a Stan Lee cameo and a post-credits scene.