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Marvel has done it again, or should I say Tony Stark? Iron Man 2 opened on May 7th in North America, and two weeks ago in Europe. It already made $100 million while there and counting, while it raked in $50 million at the box office on opening day here in North America.

Iron Man 2 has proved itself worthy of surpassing its first origin movie, Iron Man. Many have asked has a movie like The Dark Knight set the standards too high for comic book movies? I’d say, not enough because Iron Man 2 has proved that a well-balanced film with action, dialogue, and plot is far better than a film with just good dialogue and very minor action scenes to help with the pacing.

Now before you read on, beware: There are MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD, so read at your own risk if you have not seen the movie yet.

Iron Man 2 starts off just a few months after the ending of Iron Man where Tony Stark revealed to the public that he is indeed, Iron Man. His status as CEO of Stark Industries hits celebrity level as he is now respected by the whole world and everyone looks to him to keep world peace. He even has a Stark Expo. The intro starts with an establishing shot of Moscow, Russia, the home of Ivan Vanko, a.k.a. Whiplash (deftly played by Mickey Rourke). He is seen taking care of his dying father, and then opting for revenge on Tony Stark and his legacy for ruining his father’s life. The pictures and blueprints of the arc reactor in his room suggest that his father, Anton Vanko, worked with Howard Stark, Tony’s father. Something went wrong and Anton got the boot from the Stark family and company. As the story progresses, we see their first encounter at the Monaco F1 race track, but Whiplash is not strong enough for the suitcase armor (which is based off the Silver Centurion armor used in the Armor Wars.) We also discover earlier in the film that Tony Stark is dying from the same thing that is keeping him alive, his arc reactor. It is infecting his blood with some sort of toxic substance, and until he finds a formula to fix it, he will have to continue to change the batteries to his arc reactor.

Making another cameo appearance and more of a speaking role, is Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), director of S.H.E.I.L.D. He and Howard Stark founded the organization while Tony was still a young child. It turns out that Howard left a huge legacy of ideas and plans for Tony to build on when he grows up. Joining Nick Fury in his quest to see if Tony Stark is a suitable candidate for the Avenger Initiative is agent member, Natalie Rushman, a.k.a. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). A sexy femme fatale skilled in martial arts and lucha libre Mexican wrestling. She is sent to keep tabs on Tony because of his eccentric lifestyle, especially after revealing his identity to the world.



The movie also explores Tony’s alcoholism. Because he is slowly dying, he celebrates his birthday with a big party and things escalate to another level when he is caught drinking and acting outrageously. His best friend, Rhodes shows up and straightens him out with a fight in the Mark II silver armor which later turns into War Machine. Also making special appearance is Stan Lee as Larry King and Olivia Munn from Attack of the Show as a news reporter. There are also a few Easter eggs in the movie not to be missed. The first being a brief scene of Tony using Captain America’s shield to help level his new tech. Another notable Easter egg is after the end credits where (HUGE SPOILER) another Agent of S.H.E.I.L.D. is sent to New Mexico to confirm the appearance of the Molijnor, or THOR’s hammer. Iron Man 2 sets up for Thor, and Captain America, which will come out sometime in 2011. Finally, these two movies set up for the AVENGERS massive Marvel movie project.


Now, to answer some questions and speculation many fans and moviegoers have been asking. Many of you who saw it are skeptical on the ending of why Nick Fury said Iron Man shouldn’t be an Avenger. It’s quite obvious, because of his behavior. Another question is what is the timing of the movie in the Marvel Universe? Iron Man 2 is set before the Incredible Hulk, because as you all know, Tony made a cameo appearance at the end of the movie to counsel General T. Ross about his failure to capture the HULK. Finally, the last question is what plot is this is based on? Iron Man 2 fuses Demon in a Bottle with Armor Wars. I’m sure you’re with familiar with them if you’ve read them before. This is a Marvel fans’ wet dream come true. Jon Favreau is an amazing director.

Another question is raised about why they didn’t use the original, white Nick Fury (played by David Hasselhoff in the TV series Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D). Simple: Because the black Nick Fury is from the Marvel ULTIMATE universe, a more modern look to Marvel comics and new readers who haven’t lived in the early 60’s to grow up with Iron Man and other heroes, so don’t get your panties in a bunch.

Overall, the film deserves to be seen more than once, and in IMAX while it’s still in IMAX for less than 2 weeks. You can’t top 12,000 watts of sound power and a 50-foot screen. It really makes you feel like you’re in the movie.

But to top off the Iron Man experience, I suggest you go out and buy Iron Man sponsored merchandise and snacks. $100 million dollars were put into marketing alone. So, if you see brands like Hershey’s, Diesel, 7/11, Wal-Mart, Audi and Dr. Pepper in your local mall, don’t be surprised. Hell, they even have a soundtrack for Iron Man 2 by AC/DC . It’s basically a compilation album of hits from the 70’s to 2008. Some of these sponsors have contests. Hershey for example is telling people to buy Oh Henry and Reese’s Pieces chocolate to enter a contest to win an Audi R8 Spyder, Tony Stark's car of choice. Dr. Pepper is having another contest where people can buy cans or bottles of it to enter a contest to win a role as an extra in an upcoming Marvel movie. If that’s not enough, Marvel is planning to release a DVD box set of the 1994 animated series that was on FOX kids. So, save your money and enjoy the ultimate Iron Man experience this year. I’m sure some of you know this, but to those who don’t, every May 1st is free comic book day. You heard it right, you get two free comics when you go to your nearest comic book shop. Not satisfied? Go to your video rental store and feast your eyes at the "Iron Man 2 video game . It’s not really based on the movie at all, but on events that have happened in the Iron Man universe and major characters from there. It’s slightly better than the first game, but it’s not worth your 60 dollars, but it is worth a rent if you’re a true Iron Man fan. You’ll get all the achievements or platinum trophy in two to three days’ tops. It’s very fun controlling the War Machine and unlocking some notable armor suits from the old age of comics.

So, to conclude, Iron Man 2 is truly an unforgettable action-packed movie of the year. Great acting, great story, amazing special effects, more comical dialogue from Happy Hogan and badass villains. I suggest that you watch it in IMAX; the experience is satisfying to say the least. I also suggest reading some of the storylines for Iron Man, including Extremis, World’s Most Wanted (part of the Dark Reign event) http://marvel.com/catalog/?id=5816 and Civil War http://marvel.com/universe/Civil_War , a HUGE Marvel event that entails to every superhero to reveal their identities. Overall, this movie gets a 20 out of 10, a seal of epic approval by Detox. LONG LIVE IRON MAN.