Triumphant return for Tony Stark

The summer movie season is officially here. The release of “Iron Man 2” marks the end of the spring slump in the box office and the start of the blockbuster months.

The film does its job well. Hype and expectations were high after the success of the original, which launched Marvel Comics as its own independent studio, and its sophomore offerings haven’t lost much steam.

The film opens with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) telling the world he is Iron Man. At the same time a Russian man watches his own father (a former partner of Stark’s father) die. He swears revenge against Stark and starts to build his own suit, a pair of laser-whips powered by the same technology as Iron Man.

Tony Stark, meanwhile, must deal with Senate hearings trying to get him to turn over the suit to the military while also battling blood poisoning from the device in his chest.
The plot hits the ground running but gets a little insular in the second half, potentially losing the interest of casual viewers while hard-core geeks are treated to several teasers for upcoming Marvel films.

The performances are fantastic and fun to watch. As always. Downey almost steals the show, but his supporting cast holds its own. Gwyneth Paltrow returns as his assistant, Don Cheadle does a good job as James Rhodes (you won’t even miss Terrence Howard), Sam Rockwell is captivating as the evil industrialist Justin Hammer, and Mickey Rourke plays the mad Russian, Ivan Vanko. Toss in Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson as members of a secret government agency known as SHIELD, and there’s plenty to keep audiences interested.

The film has quality but perhaps loses some of the mainstream appeal of the first film, finding itself firmly rooted in Geekdom. But if that doesn’t bother you, you’re in for a great movie with “Iron Man 2.”