In some ways, I find my love of the first Iron Man movie a bit ironic. I was never into the Avengers characters or their individual comics. I was always more interested in the X-Men and their various mutant brethren than Cap, Tony, or the other Avengers. However, from the first trailer, I really wanted to see Iron Man. I was intrigued by the character in a way that none of the covers I’d seen or the storylines that I’d heard about had achieved… and so I started looking into Iron Man’s past. I also discovered the Ultimates comic which made those old characters who so often sounded stilted and dry to me fresh and edgy. 

I LOVED Iron Man. I loved that it looks to be leaning toward the Ultimates version of the characters (though not so much that fans of World 616’s Avengers wouldn’t love it as well) and couldn’t wait to see more.

And so, when I first began hearing news of IM2 being developed, it was a given that my husband and I would be there opening night. From the opening montage which introduced Ivan Vanko and his father as well as providing a subtle recap of the first movie to the teaser at the end of the credits, Iron Man 2 was fun, it was smart, and it was many levels of awesome. 

The highlights of the movie for me included:

• Ivan Vanko: Mickey Rourke did a fantastic job as Ivan. He had a consistent low-grade menace coupled with a fierce intelligence and attention to detail that I found very believable.
• Tony Stark: They really start to touch on more of Tony’s inherent personality flaws in this movie and really lay the foundation for fully addressing Tony’s alcoholism in the next film… He’s charming, he’s witty, and his ego is completely out of control, but even while he’s being an utterly obnoxious drunk, you still can’t help but love the guy.
• Lt. Col. James Rhodes: Ah, Rhodey! I never really liked Terrence Howard’s portrayal of Rhodey. Granted, as I’ve admitted, I wasn’t a huge reader of the comics, but I have read some and it seemed to me that Howard played Rhodey WAY too straight. He always seemed uncomfortable and like he had a stick rammed up in a very uncomfortable place. Don Cheadle’s Rhodey, on the other hand, is a hard, hard man when he needs to be, but he’s also playful. He can go toe-to-toe with Tony in every aspect, from duking it out in the armor to rattling off quips and one-liners. Bringing in Cheadle was a smart move on the part of the studio and Terrence Howard will be missed by very few, if any, fans after seeing this version of Rhodey.
• Natasha “Black Widow” Romanov: I’m very pleased to say “I was right” on this one. My husband was dubious when they cast the lovely and talented Scarlett Johannson as Natasha, but I thought it would be a great choice and dear God was it EVER! Natasha is tough, capable, and looks damned good whether she’s wearing the ubiquitous little black dress, or the movie variation of the Widow’s skintight black catsuit. My only quibble was that Scarlett didn’t affect the Russian accent, and I can TOTALLY live without it. 
• Nick Fury: I LOVE that Fury had a bigger role in this film. He, like Rhodey, had just the right amount of gravitas to make Stark realize that he’s screwing up, and just enough playfulness to make Stark wonder if Fury is just messing with him. 
• WAR MACHINE: Oh. My. GOD! Seeing Iron Man and War Machine fight was absolutely amazing! I loved it and thought it was well-worth the wait. 
• Armor, Armor, Armor: There is a major abundance of armor in evidence in this movie. From the beginnings of Tony’s “Hall of Armor” to the much talked-about “Suitcase armor”. Although Tony spends plenty of time out of the armor, it’s also great to see that they balanced it with time inside the iconic “prosthesis” as Tony dubbed it.
• Justin Hammer: I love Sam Rockwell. He’s such a great character actor, and, for me, he didn’t disappoint here. One of the highlights of watching him was during the scene where he’s eating dinner with Vanko in the hangar by his plane. I kept looking at the palms of his hands and wondering ‘What the fuck is wrong with his skin?’ There was an orangish tint to them that was really bizarre… and then it hit me: it was fake-bake! The character was clearly vain enough to use self-tanner, but too half-assed to wash his hands after applying it like you’re supposed to. It was such a subtle thing that I’m not sure most of the audience caught it, but it was a great little physical indicator of his personality for those who were paying close attention!

I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Iron Man, both in the inevitable IM3, as well as the Avengers!