The world is aware that billionaire inventor Tony Stark is the armored Super Hero Iron Man. Under pressure from the government, the press and the public to share his technology with the military, Tony is unwilling to divulge the secrets behind the Iron Man armor because he fears the information will slip into the wrong hands. With Pepper Potts, and James "Rhodey" Rhodes at his side, Tony forges new alliances and confronts powerful new forces.

For some odd reason the second installment of sequels for comic book movies has been the best in recent memory and the same holds true for Iron Man as well. With the back story out of the way and everyone aware that Tony Stark is Iron Man the sequel is able to jump right into the action and just blow you away from the get go. Iron Man 2 has everything you would want from a comic book movie and a sequel: plenty of action, some humor and a really good story. The film is as entertaining as the original and just draws you in as everything about it is done so well.

One upgrade the sequel got from the original is a much better villain this time around played by Mickey Rourke as Whiplash. Instead of your conniving businessman gone rogue that just manages to get another Iron Man suit to battle Tony this time around you get a super villain intent on creating his own weapons and intent on destroying Tony Stark. It adds to the film having such a great villain to counterpart Iron Man and that can go toe to toe with him in not just one scene but in several action packed scenes that just increase intensity each time around.

The story of Iron Man 2 is also an interesting and unique one for the comic book genre. We have yet to see a super hero have to deal with all the troubles and problems being unmasked can lead to and Stark once again handles in his snarky arrogant manner. This makes for a great storyline that has been delved into several times in the actual comic books but not on the big screen yet. It adds depth and a story to go with all the action, explosions and fights you are already expecting.

Mickey Rourke is a great choice for Whip Lash and he pulls off the character masterfully as he seems like he could go toe to toe with Robert Downey Jr. not only in the film but in real life. Downey Jr. though still makes the film as he has the personality and arrogance that is just so befitting Tony Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow also gets a little meatier role this time around and adds a little romance to all the action. Iron Man 2 continues the trend of the second installment of comic book movies being the best installment and is worth its ticket price many times over.

Grade: A-