ACTION; 2hr 4min
STARRING: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson
Against the odds: Paltrow and Downey
Six months after tycoon Tony Stark (Downey) dropped his "I am Iron Man" bombshell, the peacemaker so many want a piece of is a star, but as always, dark forces are afoot. He has potentially fatal health and technical problems, the US military wants in on his Iron Man technology and sleazy Russian Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) has his evil eye on the supervillain prize.
The positives? Tony has wisely appointed clever Virginia “Pepper” Potts (Paltrow) as CEO of Stark Industries, which leaves him with new, sultry-britches assistant Natalie Rushman (aka Natasha Romanoff). Lieutenant Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Cheadle) is also attempting to stay in Tony’s corner, although Tony seems recklessly on target to screw that up. Luckily, Jon Favreau, who appears as Tony’s driver-bodyguard Happy Hogan, is also back directing and he is plainly determined not to screw that up: the glamazon juggernaut Iron Man 2 rolls out the hardware and the one-liners with breezy expertise. As the mile-a-minute Mr Stark, Downey is once again a gift from Marvel Casting — needy enough to be only human, and attitude in action when he snaps on the suit.
