A film review of Iron Man 2

New to dvd is the sequel to Iron Man - Iron Man 2. In the opening scenes, Tony Stark admits to the public at the Stark expo that he is Iron Man. He does not like to consider himself a superhero but he is one in the eyes of society anyway.

His admission is followed by a barrage of photos taken of him by the media and introductions made to fans.

Later, as he gets to his vehicle, Tony Stark is served a subpoena. He states then and at other times during the film that he does not like to have things handed to him. He'd rather a person give an item to someone else or place it on a seat next to him and he could pick it up later.

After being served the subpoena, Stark has to appear before a committee in Washington, DC at 9am the very next day. At his appearance, he successfully and boastfully provides defending arguments about the technology he owns, especially the Iron Man suit. He states that he does not work for the government and will not hand over his technology to the government even though the capabilities of the technology are being categorized as weapons.

Stark notably states that he and the Iron Man suit are one and an entity can not claim one without the other and he is not for sale.

Stark is much of a loner when it comes to his work and his work ethic. He is driven but he wants to do everything on his own.

Stark is even threatened by offers of help from one of his closest buddies, Rhodey who is in the military. In the film Don Cheadle give a charismatic performance as Rhodey. There was much prior controversy because while recurring characters such as Pepper Potts played by Gwenyth Paltrow from the first film remained the same, Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard as Rhodey. Howard had also been very likable in the role.

Tony Stark considered eccentric and difficult to control is seen as a threat instead of a superhero to some government officials. In trying to get his friend to comply with government wishes and become more aware of his out of control nature, Rhodey goes head to head with Stark, donning one of his suits without permission and fighting with Stark. The night it all occurs is the night of Tony Stark's birthday party. He is dressed in his Iron Man suit and acting like a drunken fool. Rhodey enters in a suit very similar to the Iron Man suit (silver/gray instead of red and gold) and clears the party out. In a menacing way, he demands that everyone leave and they run scared. Rhodey tells Iron Man/Stark that he does not deserve to wear the suit and the two get into a physical fight more brutal than known enemies would. They both recover, later apologize and remain friends but not before Rhodey takes the suit he stole to the military to have it outfitted with weapons.

The weapon supplier, Hammer is an antagonist in the film as he also wants to get his hands on Stark's technology. He even employs an ex-prisoner of a Siberian prison (played by Mickey Rourke) to work on copying the technology.

Hammer himself presents at the Stark expo claiming that soon human soldiers dying in battle will be a thing of the past. He unveils a military of robots/drones for various sectors - army, navy, air force... We hear the claps of the audience but the focus is on Pepper Potts who sits in the audience bewildered by the idea. She is accompanied by a new character played by Scarlett Johannson.

For much of the film, Johannson's role is mysterious and cryptic. She is first introduced as the notary who handles the paperwork when Stark surprisingly promotes Pepper Potts to CEO of Stark Enterprises. Little does Potts know that Stark does this because he thinks his is dying. His heart is powered by palladium (detailed in the first Iron Man film) and as stated in Iron Man 2, he is slowly being killed by the same thing that is keeping him alive.

It turns out the Johannson's character is a tough fighter who is sent to be of assistance when it appears that Stark is dying.

Tony Stark/ Iron Man must find a replacement for Palladium and fast!....

Rent this movie today to learn more.

I rate it 3 out of 5 stars *** (I enjoyed the first Iron Man movie more)

Rated PG-13

124 minutes

Directed by Jon Favreau

Starring Robert Downey Jr, Gwenyth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and more.