Iron Man 2

A sequel, and a collapse. Tony Stark revealed his identity and is now paying for it. The government wants the suit, a rival company is trying to build its own version, and he is testifying before the senate. He is also dying. The reactor in his chest is poisoning his blood and he tells nobody. At a race in Monaco a man walks onto the track. Ivan Vanko attacks with electric whips and his father had an account to settle with the Stark family. From there the film comes apart. Tony drinks, behaves irresponsibly, wrecks his own birthday party in the suit, and his friend takes one of the suits and leaves. What the narrative is interested in is not an enemy but inheritance: both characters' fathers worked in the same laboratory, and both are dealing with what their fathers left. The best section is the decoding of a message hidden in a model at an exhibition, and that scene is not action. The narrative is also preparing films that come later, and that is the main reason its rhythm breaks. A new character arrives. Natasha Romanoff appears first as a legal employee, and the fight in the corridor is the character's first calling card. The version of the suit that comes out of a briefcase is the most memorable design in the film. Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson are in the cast. Jon Favreau directed. Who it is for: anyone following the series. Who it is not for: anyone expecting the tidiness of the first film; the narrative tries to do three jobs at once and finishes none of them.