The Sophomore Curse?

I don't think this particular curse applies to the second installment of Iron Man. The special effects alone were enough go blow one's mind. Add to that Robert Downey Jr.'s quintessential portrayal of Tony Stark and all his cool stuff, Iron Man 2 is indeed a must-watch.

However, there's something about this movie that didn't give me the complete satisfaction that the first one did. At 2 hours, it isn't that long (usually superhero movies run for 2 1/2 hrs). I don't know if that's the reason why the whole thing felt rushed. It made the same mistake that Spiderman 3 did: cram too many things into a single movie.

1. The blood poisoning
2. Tony and Pepper's relationship
3. Tony and his dad's relationship
4. Recruitment to SHIELD
5. The villain, Ivan Vanko
6. Tony's responsibilities to the future

Kudos to the writers who were able to sew all these things together into an intelligible and highly-entertaining screenplay. But there were things that were left unexplained because the action didn't leave much room to do so.

1. What's with Vanko's always saying "You lose" when clearly, he's the one who lost?
2. What's the extent of Tony and Pepper's relationship? Was that their first kiss or has the romance been going on for a long time?
3. So... What's that new element called?
4. What the heck does this movie really wanna tell us?

The biggest question in my head is that last one. The first movie had a clear aim: to show us how and why Iron Man came to be. Part 2 is confusing: is this really about Tony's journey to be an Avenger or his withstanding the consequences of Stark Industries' operations or his father's revelation of his (Tony's) role in the future?

I'm thinking that maybe a second viewing is needed to get me a clearer grasp of the plot. Come on, DVD!

My verdict:
Due to Stark's sheer awesomeness, even if there were a few glitches in the movie, I give it four stars out of five. On to the thrid!!!