(2010; English, Russian) Announcing to the world that as Iron Man he has "successfully privatized world peace," narcissistic billionaire and genius extraordinaire Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Enterprises, declares: "I am your nuclear deterrent." However, the Pentagon and US Senator Stern (Garry Shandling) beg to differ, demanding that he "turn over the Iron Man weapon to the American people." Nothing doing, retorts Tony, arguing that "The suit and I are one," besides no one else - listing the world's bad boys from Iran to North Korea - is anywhere near developing a comparable weapons system, certainly not the US military's preferred contractor, Hammer Advanced Weapons Systems. So forget it: "We're safe. America is secure," says Tony defiantly: "You want my property - you can't have it! But I did you a big favor."

At the Monaco Grand Prix as he's racing in a Formula One, Tony's confronted by Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a Russian physicist whose father Anton had defected and worked with Tony's dad back in the '60s, in a stripped-down version of Iron Man, wielding his powerful electric whips. Director (and playing the part of Happy Hogan) Jon Favreau's sequel (screenplay by Justin Theroux) to his original 2008 film, based on the Marvel comic-book hero, is a wham/bang worthy effort, continuing the momentum and adding characters from the Avengers with fantastic special effects (especially Tony's collaboration with his in-house computer system Jarvis), adult action, subtle comedy, and a touch of romance, without overdoing it.

In addition to his loss of credibility with the rogue Russian's crude construction, Tony discovers that the palladium in his personal arc reactor, embedded in his chest and necessary to keep him alive, is gradually poisoning him. He's also suffering from issues involving a perception that his late father displayed neither love nor respect for him. Expecting this birthday will be his last, he hands over reins of the company to the reliable, efficient Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and proceeds to go out of control (costing him her former respect and affection), which forces his pal, Lt Col James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Don Cheadle), to don one of the Iron Man suits and quell Tony's recklessness.

Meanwhile, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) arranges for Ivan's escape from the Monaco jail, bringing the Russian into his employment with hopes of finally creating a superior product for the military; but Ivan has his own ulterior motive to settle a score between his father and Tony's: "I will do what Howard Stark did to my family over 40 years ago to you in 40 minutes."

Vulnerable in all respects, Tony gets help from Nick Fury (James L. Jackson) of the Avengers along with the exceedingly gorgeous brunette Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) - earlier making her appearance as Pepper's new legal assistant, Natalie Rushman, to whom Tony remarks: "You're a triple impostor. I've never seen anything like it. Is there anything real about you? Do you even speak Latin?" - who kicks ass in her Black Widow outfit.

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Copyright © 2010 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
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