Iron Man 2 (2010)

Paramount Pictures

In the world of movies, sequels are big business but typically vary in quality. Iron Man 2 has an advantage over most superhero sequels because its part of a larger picture- Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, and Thor have all laid the foundation for this year’s Avengers movie. Iron Man and Iron Man 2 are like chapters in a book rather than two separate movies.

Robert Downey Jr returns as Tony Stark, along with his staff and allies from the first. Like every sequel, there’s a new villain, yet this time it’s two and I think it’s an improvement because it raises the stakes. One villain is Justin Hammer, played excellently by Sam Rockwell. While his character steals a weapons contract from Tony Stark, he almost succeeds in stealing the show away from Robert Downey Jr. The other villain is Ivan Vanko, played by Mickey Rourke, who is out for revenge. So that means Tony Stark is being attacked on two fronts- for past transgressions of Stark Industries and because people want the new technology that Stark has.

Like Iron Man, I hadn’t watched this since it was in theaters, though I bought it as soon as it hit video stores. I liked just as much as the first, which is almost a rare occasion for a sequel. Iron Man 2, like the original, is exactly what I want from a comic book film because it has the right balance of action, humor, and drama.