Why It's Worth Seeing: Iron Man is back and this time he brought some friends with him. The first film was a huge success with both fans and critics. Knowing this, the filmmakers did not change the formula too much, just added to it (this is not new Coke, it's Coke Classic in a bigger bottle). Tony Stark has come out to the public as being the man behind the suit. I find this refreshing compared to the typical "secret identity superhero scenario" we normally see. The U.S. military wants Tony Stark to give them the secrets behind the Iron Man technology, but Mr. Stark thinks this could only lead to inappropriate use. Meanwhile, in Moscow Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the son of a scientist who worked with Tony Stark's dad is hard at work harnessing similar technology to use against Iron Man. Besides some spectacular action scenes the film is filled with perfectly written characters and witty dialogue. Sam Rockwell in particular shines as Justin Hammer who is working for the Defense Department. I must also note that Gary Shandling shined in his small role as Senator Stern (I'm a closet Shandling fan). Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson both pop up as characters that the comic book fans will enjoy even more than the casual fan.Why It's Not: To be honest the movie does very little wrong. The only knock against it would be that the story and characters do not feel as fresh as they did the first time around. They did not take too many risks with pushing the Iron Man story-arc in a new direction.
Verdict: The summer movie season gets off to a fantastic start. This is a pitch-perfect summer blockbuster that mixes high octane action with fun, well written dialogue.
Rythemovieguy's Grade: B+
If this movie had parents they would be: Iron Man & Rocky IV
