Iron Man 2

Sequels usually pale in comparision to the originals when it comes to the big screen, so I was genuinely surprised by Iron Man 2, which in my opinion was even better than the first film. The characters were well cast and diverse, the action gripping, the dialogue cheesy but funny cheesy rather than cringy cheesy. I'd heard the odd comment that the second in the comic book to silver screen series was just a lead up to the third film, but I disagree. Iron Man 2 was a great film on its own, and could probably be enjoyed just as much by someone who hadn't seen the first.

Robert Downey Jr excells in his role as the narcissistic and arrogant, yet lovable rogue super hero. Mickey Rourke also plays the Russian villan bent on revenge after his father's death well, fitting the role perfectly if just on looks alone. I found Sam Rockwell (as Justin Hammer, Iron Man/Tony Stark's rival in the technology race) extremely irritating, which is a compliment to his acting ability as I'm sure his character was supposed to grate, although I was really distracted by his oddly orange palms (badly applied self tanner, intentionally?). The whistles from the boys in the theatre as Scarlet Johannsen appeared in a tight black leather body suit as Natasha Romanoff spoke for itself, but looks aside, she did a fantastic job kicking ass in the fight scenes.

All in all, a really enjoyable film in its own right, and I can't wait for the third installment!