Movie Review: "Iron Man 2"

5. The real mettle of "Iron Man 2," like it's predecessor, is the cast.

4. Robert Downey Jr. is again magnificent as Tony Stark/Iron Man while Don Cheadle shines as the sidekick, Gwyneth Paltrow glitters as the love interest and even bit players Garry Shandling and Samuel L. Jackson chew up scenery for the betterment of the film.

3. The plot is nicely layered: Tony Stark is dying and acting like a jerk, secret agents, the government, rival industrialists and terrorists want a chunk of Tony's iron hide and there are lots of metal robots for Iron Man and Cheadle's War Machine to blow up in a brilliant bluster worthy of summer movie opulence.

2. The sequel improves on the original in one respect: Mickey Rourke is a delightfully creepy and powerhouse villain and Sam Rockwell's turn as Justin Hammer, the anti-Tony Stark, adds another dimension of peril and skulduggery to the already belabored man in the iron suit.

1. Unlike "Spider-Man 2" and "The Dark Knight," the second "Iron Man" doesn't surpass the original nor does it move the superhero genre forward as those flicks did, but neither does it loose what made the first film so enjoyable: director Jon Favreau squeezing every ounce out of Downey's irrepressible charm in the title role.

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"Iron Man 2"

- 2hr 5min‎‎ - Rated PG-13‎‎ - Action/Adventure‎ -

Director: Jon Favreau

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Rockwell

Finney's Flicks Grade: B