Iron Man 2, whatever I rated the first one. Somewhere between a 8/10 and a 10/10.
I went in being undecided on my expectations, I was hoping for something excellent but the first was such a good film I struggled to believe they could top it, and whilst in some respects, it didn't - Iron Man 2 done a hell of a lot of groundwork for the future endeavours into the Marvel Movie Universe and made itself a really enjoyable film experience overall. It's a little messy in the first part, not noticeably so, but a lot of jumping around. Could be argued that's similar to where Tony Stark is in his life though. RDJ is 'da bomb. The level of improv in these films is utterly spectacular and it really shines, and similar to the first film, the supporting's actually do a great job of supporting. The new people do just as fine.
I was expecting for me more thrown off by the level of CGI, but no, that little tidbit was overhyped. There's CGI, obviously, but you can follow it, it doesn't take you out of the film and I found myself thinking something was CGI when it really wasn't. This is no Transformers, is what I am saying. If you enjoyed the action sequences in the first, you should be more than happy with its sequel.
As I mentioned, this film sets some major groundwork for future films and for that reason doesn't feel like a complete film in the same way some others do. It felt more like an TV episode in terms of structure, so much so I expected "To Be Continued" to pop up somewhere. This part, the pacing, is what might throw people off but I found myself looking at it like this is a peak into their lives. This isn't a film, I'm just watching these crazy characters and their lives for a couple of hours, expecting to revisit them again in a little while. I actually think that really works and makes me super excited for what's to come and it let the characters develop a bit more naturally than I'm used to for a film like this. It's actually really similar to the first film, in terms of almost everything. It feels so organic - a natural continuation to the story. It's also probably obvious I haven't discussed the villains (or the story at all!) and although that's not saying they aren't solid, its just they are basically there as vessels to let Stark develop. Or make an action scene. Story-wise, its like an episode in TV purely because there's more than the basic A and B story. There's also C and D, with one of them (haven't decided which is which yet) going to be paramount to future stuff. It's simple stuff, but with enough pull to keep you coming back for more.
The obvious easter eggs were fun as well I gasped like mad when I saw The Captain's Shield. That was badass to the extreme.. Stupidly, the cinema I went to shut off the projector whilst the credits were rolling, nobody had left, they just shut it off so I didn't get the see the After Credit clip which I watched just now. And to that I can say: OMFGICANTWAITTHORSHAMMERISTOTALLYAWESOME
