It's been a long, and for some, very painful wait for the next installment of Marvel's Iron Man movie franchise.  John Favreau's original was a massive blockbuster, a critical darling, and wet dream for Marvel fanboys and physics nuts alike.  While light on the action, it did a fantastic job of setting up the hero's origin story, explaining the technology behind the suit, and establishing a balance between Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and his indestructible alter-ego.  So how does the sequel compare? 
  
(*Mild spoilers follow) 

With the origin story out of the way, Iron Man 2 wastes  no time setting up its plot.  Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the son of the man who originally worked on weapons tech with Tony's father, has been hiding in Moscow for 40 years, plotting to ruin Stark and Iron Man.  The opening credits feature a tattooed, golden-toothed, cackling villain putting together his super weapon.  Meanwhile, Tony Stark finds that the core that keeps him alive and powers his suit is also slowly killing him like a deadly cancer.  Also meanwhile, Justin Hammer (played to sneering perfection by Sam Rockwell), Tony's rival in the industry, would like nothing more than to see Tony brought down hard. 
 
This is all in the first half hour or so of the film.  After that, many more plot lines develop.  This brings me to the main problem I had with Iron Man 2: the movie comes dangerously close to what I like to term the Spider-Man 3 complex, in which a movie becomes so overstuffed with plot material and characters that it runs the risk of collapsing under its own weight.  Mind you, this film isn't nearly that bad, but at the same time it's a shame that with so much going on Mickey Rourke, a fantastic actor and, in my opinion, an excellent casting choice for a villain in a superhero movie, did not get more screen time.  Whiplash had the potential to be awesome, but as it stands he only gets two very short action sequences, and the rest is spent bickering with Hammer.  That said, John Favreau manages to juggle all of these plot lines and make them coherent, even though I would have liked to see more of some of these stories and less of others.   
 
Let me also say that this is one damn fine looking movie.  Iron Man was no slouch visually, and in the years since that movie the special effects have taken several bounds forward to create a stunning looking film.  Everything looks very sleek, colors pop magnificently, and the Iron Man and War Machine suits look fucking great.  As something of a flim student, I couldn't help but pay attention to the direction of the film and how beautiful it looked.  I can't wait to see what this looks like on Blu-Ray.   
 
Say what you will about John Favreau, but the man knows fan service.  You thought Iron Man was a treat for the fans? This one is an absolute nerd-gasm.  Iron Man, War Machine, Black Widow, Nick Fury, allusions to Thor and Captain America--there is a lot of stuff here that fans of the comic will absolutely love.  Seeing Iron Man and War Machine team up was nothing short of epic.  I just wished it had lasted longer.  
 
Robert Downey, Jr., of course, does great once again.  The man truly exemplifies Tony Stark.  Scarlett Johansenn is also good as Natalie Rushman aka Black Widow, though I find it odd that she doesn't have the Russian accent.  I heard somewhere that she couldn't do it so they removed it from the script.  Either way, I love the girl but she was more eye candy than anything, spending the final act of the movie in that tight black leather suit.  Don Cheadle is a worthy successor to Terrence Howard as James Rhodes, and I found myself forgetting that the actors had been switched.
 
So here's the bottom line: go see Iron Man 2 if you liked the first movie.  No, it's not nearly as good as the first movie, but it is still solid summer entertainment.  It certainly has its flaws: a convoluted script, comic relief in places where it should not have been, an underutilized villain, and a disappointing shortage of action (though what action there was was terrific) and a long running time, but those are really just minor complaints.  In the end, Iron Man 2 is a lot of fun and you'll probably find yourself charmed once again. Also, stay after the credits.  You won't be disappointed.
 
Score: B