Iron Man 2, the first big summer blockbuster of 2010, came out on May 7. This movie continues from the end of the first Iron Man film, in which Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) unveiles himself as the man of metal and savior of the people. Six months later, Stark finds himself in a court room with the federal government, and is being told to turn over the Iron Man “weapon” to the United States government. Meanwhile, Stark is slowly dying due to overexposure of the element palladium, the element that powers his suit.

Worried that he might die soon, Tony Stark appoints Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), his girlfriend and secretary, the new CEO of Stark Industries, which forces her to replace the secretary position with a vivacious assistant, Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson).

While on a trip in Monaco, Stark takes part in a formula one car race, and in the middle of the competition, he meets his nemesis on the track. Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), also known as Whiplash, is the son of Tony’s father’s (Howard Stark) co-creator of the arc reactor, the basis of the Ironman suit. Vanko constructs his own version of the arc reactor to harness the electrical energy, which he uses to try to kill Stark to avenge his father’s death. Not long after being arrested, Vanko is freed from jail by Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) and Hammer convinces Vanko to build him an army of “Ironmen.”

Stark is joined by his best friend, Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) of the Air Force. After an altercation between Stark and Rhody at Stark’s birthday party, Rhodes ends up flying away with one of Stark’s earlier versions of the suit, and takes it to a U.S. military base.

Another major actor in this film is Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Nick Fury, the leader of the Avengers. Jon Favreau, director of Ironman 2 and actor playing Happy Hogan, Tony’s chauffeur and close friend, also makes an appearance.

I really liked this movie because it embodied many of the more appealing genres in films: action, comedy, crime, drama, fantasy, romance, science fiction,  etc. I think Jon Favreau did a great job of sticking to the storyline of the original comic books, but also making it engaging for the whole family. I was entertained throughout the whole two hours, with the amazing visuals and sounds, and with Tony Stark’s well-known comedic narcissism. The $10 I payed for admission was completely worth it. All in all, this was a great film, and I encourage everyone to check it out!