Iron Man 2

So, to begin, I will make it known that I do indeed enjoy Robert Downey Jr. in most anything, but this review is written complete bias aside. Hard to forget such a devilishly handsome man though. Anyway, compared to the first IM2 is a definite flop. BUT as a sequel it is golden. Sequels, to me anyway, are either total successes or total flops. Favreau did a great job with it. Comic bias aside as well, the storyline was alright, and a great setup to the Avengers, (though the Captain America and Thor touches were slightly--totally obvious, which is what they were going for, obviously.) Rourke was a good Whiplash, surprisingly. (My favourite touch being the 'i vant muy brd' bit, hilarious.)
My biggest problem was how Tony was so obviously chasing Pepper. Tony Stark is a man's man, a ladies man--he does not chase after women; they chase after him. I don't mean that he would never find the woman that he would want to be with and found worthy of chasing, my problem is with the way it was portrayed; as if she was completely uninterested. But, I do like Gwen (indifferent about her being Pepper) but she's a good actress, so it worked.
I lied about the biggest problem. That would be Scarlet Johansson. To be honest, I cannot for the life of me find that woman attractive in any sense (except I will admit she's got nice breasts) but honestly people, does she really look like Romanova? Or act like her (last time I checked she was born and raised in Russia, I'd expect a heavy accent.) She didn't add to the movie at all, for me, except maybe to make Tony swoon at her "mysterious" and "sexy" ways.
Also, I very much like Terrance Howard as Rhodey more than Cheadle. (Sorry, Cheadle.) It's not that he was bad, he was quite good and all, but Howard fits the role better I find. So that was a bit of an upset as well. And the way War Machine was introduced wasn't very awe-inspiring, though it was funny.
But of course, there to save the day the Iron Man himself in the flesh--RDJ. There is no better actor to play the part, I find. He looks like him, acts like him (the new him) and overall just nails the role. The first film was better, I think, due to the fact the origin was the main focus of the story. Because, let's face it, we all want to see how our superheroes come to be, especially when they're regular humans like us (eh em Batman.) Stark's quips and witty attitude are such a refreshing delight to the usual dark and serious demeanor of superheroes. Marvel certainly knows how to market their books and do their films right--something that cannot be said for DC. (This coming from a die-hard DC fan.) DC has got to get on top of their game, because right now Marvel is destroying all competition. (We'll see how Fathom, GL, and Bats3 do, but no promises--seriously, have low expectations.)
Regardless, Iron Man 2 was a great film, and certainly should be watched. I wonder though, if Iron Man will be active in the Avengers film. At the end of IM2, it is said that his assessment (done by Scarlet Badactress) that he is to be a mere consultant for the Avengers, which in my opinion would be stupid, Iron Man basically IS the Avengers. But we'll see, Marvel hasn't really done wrong yet.