Iron Man 2 (M) 140 minutes
* * * * Who wouldn't want to be like Tony Stark? The billionaire inventor (played by Robert Downey Jr) seems to have it all and now the world knows it. As we discovered in the original Iron Man, Stark possesses an iron suit that transformshim from a simple man to a powerful force against evil. He no longer wants the weapons his company once made to encourage war, he wants his new suit to enforce peace. But now the world is aware he is Iron Man, he finds himself under enormous pressure from the armed forces to turn over his technology to them for the greater good of the country. At a time when Stark should be celebrating his greatest hour, he is faced with threats from several different directions. The power source that keeps him alive is slowly poisoning him, the country he serves wants his technology and an evil opponent emerges from the depths of Siberia. Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) is the bitter genius son of a Russian inventor who once worked with Stark's father. Vanko has longed to exact revenge for the way his father was treated and is determined to bring down the Iron Man. Using the same technology Stark uses, Vanko proves to be a potentially deadly adversary. And making his threat even greater is an unsavoury alliance Vanko forms with Stark's business opponent Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). With Hammer's millions and Vanko's genius, Stark faces a ''kill or be killed'' challenge.
It is then that the real fun starts in Iron Man 2. With Vanko and his robot army armed, deadly and dangerous, it is all on. Stark, Lt Col James ''Rhodey'' Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and new super ally Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) face an all-action battle to the death. Sequels can be hit and miss but Iron Man 2 makes a lot of hits. The action is fast and furious, the storyline intriguing, the humour most welcome and the acting talents of a star-studded cast give Iron Man 2 lift-off.
