Iron Man 2

Released by Paramount Pictures

Release Date: May 7th, 2010

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke

Written by Justin Theroux

Directed by Jon Favreau

Rated PG-13 (sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language)

When the first Iron Man came out in 2008 everyone was afraid that the movie was going to be a series of mindless action sequences with no character. What we got was a well thought out origin story with well written characters. The action scenes didn't come at the expense of the characters. The same can not be said about Iron Man 2.

This is the movie that everyone feared Iron Man would be.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) has been relishing the fame that he brought on himself, after revealing that he is Iron Man. Now he has to deal with saving the world, running his company, and his slow death. He gives the company to Pepper (Gwenyth Paltrow) so that is not weighing on his mind, but the technology that he developed to save his life in the first movie is poisoning his blood.

He also has to deal with the government, who was the Iron Man suits because they view them as a weapon. This introduces us to one of way too many characters in the movie, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). Hammer is determined to up Stark in the weapons game by hiring Ivan Venko (Mickey Rourke), who has just been put into prison for attacking Stark on a Monaco racetrack.

I could go on and on with the plot, but it would take too much time. This movie is so filled with plot and characters that the action sequences take a hit. This would not be a problem if the script knew how to handle all of these characters, but it doesn't. Characters come and go as they please and show up when needed.

The other problem that I had with the movie is that it repeats much of the material from the first movie. The story line about Stark being poisoned by the heart that is keeping him alive is somewhat interesting, but the resolution to this problem is so far fetched that it feels like a cheat.

With all of this negativity towards this movie, you would think that I hated the movie. I didn't. I just feel that if the script had been tightened and some characters removed, we would have had a better movie. As it stands, Iron Man 2 is a mediocre start to a summer that seems to be lacking in the first place. The summer needed Iron Man 2 to be good and the filmmakers have failed.