Iron Man 2

Iron Man is back and this time the entire world is aware that the billionaire narcissist Tony Stark is the armored hero.  Under pressure from the government to share his technology with the U.S military, Tony is unwilling to divulge his secrets behind his technology because he fears the information will slip into the wrong hands.  But before we know it, some crazy Russian, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) turns up on the scene in some very familiar gear.

Vanko is out for revenge as he believes that Stark’s family stole his fathers ideas.  He eventually teams up with Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a rival weapons manufacturer to try to defeat Iron Man and destroy the Stark’s legacy once and for all.

The problem with superhero sequels, is they always feel they have to be bigger and bolder than the first.  Sometimes it works, Spiderman 2 being a great example, and sometimes they just throw in too many characters and it fails massively, Spiderman 3 or Batman & Robin anyone?  So I watched Iron Man 2 with some trepidation.

From the trailers alone you know you’ve got a hell of a lot of characters thrown into the mix, Whiplash (Mickey Rourke), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Cat (Scarlet Johansson), Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and Sam Rockwell eating up the scenery as Justin Hammer.  Character overload?  Well luckily no.  It does lengthen the story somewhat and distract you from just being able to enjoy Robert Downey Jr’s Stark but it certainly can’t stifle what is an action packed and thoroughly enjoyable sequel.

As well as develop Iron Man and all that comes with him (War Machine, Whiplash, Pepper Pots), the writers squeezed in many references to The Avengers.  And it’s whilst incorporating these bits the story feels a bit convoluted and the pace is affected but as soon as Sam Rockwell dances across the stage at the Stark Expo things get quickly back on track for an action packed climax.

A thoroughly enjoyable sequel.  I’m still not sure if it’s better than the first but it’s certainly as good as it.

A big thanks once again to Sky Movies HD for getting us into the gala screening which would have been the world premiere if it was for that damn volcano.