Iron Man 2

Tony Stark is back as we get the follow up to phenomenally successful Iron Man, yes its, er Iron Man 2.

Basically we pick up the story a few months after Tony's declaration of hero status. The world it seems is a more peaceful place but Tony is under increasing pressure from the government, his business rivals and feeling the physical strain of being a full time hero. Then a mysterious Russian scientist emerges to push Tony's world out of control.

Now much like the first outing it's Robert Downey Jr who drives the film along as he once again mines that charisma but this time was a darker edge as the cracks begin to show. And once more it's the chemistry between him and Gwyneth Paltrow that really brings heart to the film as Tony and Pepper continue to spark of each other.

Elsewhere Mickey Rourke is the fore mentioned Russian crazy man (and Mickey gives good crazy) but he and follow supporting player Scarlett Johansson doesn't get enough to do and feels rather wasted. Don Cheadle as Col. Rhodes gets more to do as he gets to put on a robo suit of his own and he slips into the ensemble cast with ease, striking up a likable double act with Downey in their scenes together.

Sam Rockwell's business rival Justin Hammer however is a weak link and never really convinces coming across as a petulant buffoon more than genuine credible rival for Tony.

Much like the first outing the film is again fairly light on action and relies more on it's characters to entertain which thanks to the mostly excellent performances and writing, they do. Of the action we do have the early Monaco set mid-race face off is by far the most effective whilst the ending sequence feels over familiar and once more comes down to power suited face off. Sadly the film lacks a good solid, strong villain to really focus the action. Rourke's scientist is underserved and so feels a little like an afterthought in the end.

In the midst of this the march towards The Avengers continues as SHIELD and Nick Fury get a little more screentime to lay the starting blocks a little more, but whilst offering promise of what is to come it does make the film feel like it's still building up to something, which for a sequel is not what you want.

Iron Man 2 is not as X2 was to X-Men, it feels more like a scene setting movie all over again. But whilst this may seem quite negative it is an enjoyable watch with a sense of fun running through the whole project. So not the all out spectacular you might have expected (in fact there is quite a lot in the trailers not in the finished film) but it is still high quality entertainment.