I remember when they announced that they were going to make an Iron Man movie; I was not very enthusiastic at all. It seemed that Marvel Studios had a scattershot approach to producing these movies and in the wake of Daredevil, Ghostrider and Ang Lee’s Hulk I didn’t think Iron Man would really standout. To everyone’s surprise it did and I think it is because the movie was undeniably funny due in no small part to Robert Downey Jr as the narcissistic Tony Stark.

The big question is if the sequel is as good as the first and I would say it definitely is. I think the only reason for liking the first movie over the second is that the first movie was fresh, new and a surprise to audiences, while the second movie simply has big shoes to fill. What worked in the first movie still works here. I think the most important part of Iron Man is the humor. Let’s face it, unless you’re Dark Knight, superhero movies are utterly ridiculous and only a master can make that kind of plot believable. The next best thing is to ham it up with cheesy one-liners, over the top action, and fun from beginning to end. Iron Man 2 does this just as well as the first.

I think the sequel did try to step things up in terms of character interactions. I don’t say character development, because the characters are more or less the same by the end of the movie as they were in the beginning. But I for one enjoyed watching Pepper and Tony Stark bicker like an old married couple. There is something charming about their bizarre and dysfunctional relationship. I had always thought that Gwyneth Paltrow was too big for a movie like this, but I love her in the role. Sometimes she’s Stark’s mom, other times she’s a damsel in distress. I liked the scenes with Tony Stark and James Rhodes. It gave the movie that buddy comedy feel to it, though I preferred Terrence Howard in this role to Don Cheadle. Cheadle seemed a little bored by everything, and though he’s one of my favorite actors, I don’t find he really stood out in this movie as much as Howard did in the last one. Of course, maybe that’s just the kind of energy he has and maybe it’s just not what I expected from James Rhodes.

Mickey Rourke was an amazing bad guy. He was so grizzled and dirty looking it was uncomfortable to watch him. He’s believable and threatening in every scene he’s in. Sam Rockwell was pretty funny as Tony Stark’s rival, Justin Hammer.

But Iron Man is not just an action comedy - it’s also part of the juggernaut franchise of Marvel Studios. Enter Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury who has clearly retired from acting. He just puts on an eye-patch and reads lines the same way he does in Snakes on a Plane. And let’s face it, he’s Samuel L. Jackson and we all love it. What I don’t quite love is how his part in the movie is to segue into random blurbs about the Avengers. We get it, they want to make a Thor movie and a Captain America movie and God help us even an Avengers movie. Of course none of this has anything to do with Iron Man 2; the film just works as a convenient device to plug a bunch of movies that haven’t been made yet. But Sam Jackson is laughing his way to the bank, because he’s already been paid for all of these putative movies. For those of you who don’t know, Marvel had already started drawing Nick Fury, an old character from the comic books, to look like Samuel L. Jackson. More recently they gave Jackson a contract to star in nine movies featuring the character.

After having a fun time at the theatre, with great special affects, good humor, and a few touching moments, you realize Iron Man 2 is the same basic story as Iron Man. Tony Stark’s rival seeks to undo him. With the help of a few friends, Tony Stark overcomes. FYI, Thor, Captain America and the Avengers exist and they would like to make a movie of them as well. In case this hasn’t sunk in, stay after the credits to see Thor’s hammer buried in the sand. What is an Avenger’s initiative and why is it necessary? Who cares? I just hope they can make a half decent movie out of it.

And make no mistake Iron Man is a very decent movie and I enjoyed every bit of it. As something of a comic book fanboy myself, I even enjoyed the shameless plugs of movies yet to come.

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