Iron Man 2 - 2010

For me the first Iron Man film felt a tad lightweight and a little underwhelming but was held together and utterly enjoyable thanks to the strong cast (mainly Robert Downey Jr, but also the effortlessly captivating Gwyneth Paltrow). In many ways it reminded me of the first X-Men film. A film which had made the most of its budget, whilst never really being able to hide it. Add to this that Irom Man was an origin story which invariably suffers from a lack of forward momentum and big set pieces (the original Superman being the exception.) and Iron Man was good, but nothing more.
So I came to Iron Man 2 expecting Favreau and his team to have ironed (pardon the pun) out most of the weaknesses which beset the first film. What I found was a film equally enjoyable but equally frustrating. The film had only two main action sequences, and only one which actually featured Iron Man. Although both were excellent, I never felt the exhilarating heart thumping I expect from Summer blockbusters, and even more so from comic book films.
Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux focus the story on Tony Stark and its a clever and entertaining addition that the power source which is keeping him alive is slowly (or not so slowly) killing him. This added an antagonist in the absence of a direct antagonist for most of the films running time. Which is really the main problem with the film and Iron Man/Tony Stark as a character. Sam Rockwell joins the cast as competitor weapons developer Justin Hammer looking to exploit Stark's knowledge and gain access to an Iron Man suit, but despite another good performance from Rockwell, Hammer is just not a threat to either Stark and his empire or Iron Man. Similarly, Mickey Rourke's Ivan Vanko, who is the central bad guy of the film is missing for much of the 2nd act, and only comes to the fore towards the end.
But Iron Man is still very watchable; Paltrow, Cheadle (replacing Terence Howard as James Rhodes), Johannson and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury make the film an enjoyable ride, even if the film never reaches the amazing heights one comes to expect from an comic book film. One of the subplots should get fanboys ready as Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. comes more the the fore ready for The Avengers in 2012.
That film focuses more on Stark than Iron Man is another commendable decision, and with Downey Jr being possibly the most watchable actor working today it makes sense for the film to foreground Stark over Iron Man, but the scales tip too much in favour of Stark for me - even to the detriment of most of the supporting cast. With Cheadle in your film you would expect a little more, and his emergence as War Machine could have been heightened. Add to that the rather pointless inclusion of Scarlett Johansson, who despite a rather cool action scene adds very little to the story.

Overall then Iron Man 2 is no better but no worse than Iron Man, and should be commended for not falling into the trap of overloading the story with big villains and massive set pieces, but could have at least done with one more good action scene. But what it lacks in acion it makes up with charm and comic moments.