(May 27, 2010) -- Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Hulk, and other Marvel movies have suffered from sub-par sequels. Iron Man 2 is an exception to this trend. Iron Man 2 is a good movie, and anyone who enjoyed the first one will definitely enjoy Iron Man 2. (If they did like the first one, then they’ve probably already seen it and bought enough Iron Man merchandise to burn a hole in their wallet).

This time around, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is showing off his Iron Man suit after he openly admitted it was his at the end of Iron Man.  All of Stark’s staff is back, including his assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and James ‘Rhodey’ Roads (Don Cheadle). Along the way, Stark meets some new enemies such as Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a Russian scientist with a grudge against Tony’s company, and rivaling weapons dealer Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). The mysterious Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson), aka Black Widow, comes along as Potts assistant.

The movie is full of action. The fight scenes throughout the movie are filled with incredible special effects that will keep the audience on the edge of their seat. Nothing is better than seeing Iron Man flying through the air, firing off laser beams at several stunning enemies.

What made Iron Man unique from most superhero movies is that it put character development before the action, and that’s definitely apparent in Iron Man 2. Unlike movies like Dark Knight, Iron Man 2 develops the main character more instead of the villains. Stark is dealing with some real stress as his battery is dying out, his company is in danger, and he’s got to deal with Hammer’s and Vanko’s own line of Iron Man Suits. It’s really interesting to see Tony Stark start to plummet, as he starts to get erratic, take more risks, and alienate his friends.

Downey does another excellent job of playing the egotistical billionaire. Paltrow does a good job as playing the assistant to Stark, as she constantly tries to clean up his impulsive actions. Rourke is also fantastic at playing Vanko and Johansson’s performance will leave every male in the theater with their jaws wide-open.

Overall, Iron Man 2 is a great movie, and a proper step forward for future Marvel movies. It’s not as good as the first, but that’s probably because there was such a high amount of anticipation for Iron Man 2. There’s also a little surprise after the credits that everyone must see.