Movie Review: Iron Man 2

Yesterday I saw Iron Man 2. It was definitely worth the wait, but sadly, not as good as the first movie. Warning: definite spoilers follow, so if you haven’t seen it yet, you may want to abort reading now.
There was some character development in this movie, but not a lot. Happy Hogan had a (slightly) larger role than in the first movie, as with James Rhodes, and Pepper Pots. Tony Stark continues to be the same narcissistic, seemingly?irreverent?billionaire playboy without a care in the world, but deep down he’s being killed by the power source that’s keeping him alive.
The introduction of the new villain, seemingly combining Whiplash/Blacklash, Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man into one was a little much, and unnecessary. Dear makers of Marvel Comics movies: please stop trying to cram as many villains into a single movie as possible. It’s just not necessary.
Justin Hammer was plain annoying in every scene. Playing second fiddle to Tony Stark’s superior weaponry, he’s consistently trying to get the upper-hand and win favor with the defense department by showing his weapons are better than Stark’s. Of course, this is not the case, which he seeks to remedy by enlisting the aid of Ivan Vanko, who, at the beginning of the movie, does exactly what Stark does at the beginning of the first movie (namely, making a super-powered exoskeleton from “a box of scraps”).
Finally, playing the part of Nick Fury Samuel L. Jackson we have Samuel L. Jackson. Unfortunately, he didn’t really play the part as I would have liked it – he played himself.
As for the plot and the action, they were just fine. The special effects and fight scenes were awesome as well. The acting was a bit weak, and the scene where Tony gets drunk at a party while wearing the armor was just painful.
Also, there were two real-world crossovers that I observed. The first, when James Rhodes makes his first appearance, seemed strained. Tony meets him and says “It’s you.” Rhodes, now played by Don Cheadle,?replies something to the effect of “yes, it’s me.” Okay, we get it, you’re a new actor.?Toward the end of the movie, Stark has a conversation with Fury, and tells them that he won’t be in the Avengers because “you can’t afford me.” In reality, that’s probably true, because with as many main characters as the Avengers movie will have, they really can’t afford to have him for more than a cameo spot.
Overall, despite my criticisms, I liked it a lot, and plan on seeing it again shortly.
And, as with all Marvel movies, make sure you sit through the credits for a sneak peek into one of the characters of the upcoming Avengers movie(s). ?Those few seconds were some of my favorite in the movie.