Iron Man 2

A demonic Mickey Rourke, a captivating Robert Downey Jr., and three monumental and magnificently shot action scenes. You can see the budget, the big picture looks good, and so do the details, everything is sleek in this über fucking cool blockbuster. But I think that one installment was more than enough, this sequel reeks of milking money for as long as possible. That said, it is evident that Robert enjoyed the role. (18/09/2010)

Business as usual. As long as Downey is playing himself (or, if you like, Stark) it is mostly fun, but as soon as he puts on the suit then he just stares and it’s time for something else than verbal action, and then comes boredom, routine and... more boredom on top. Next time it needs a lot more of those “mating call" comedy scenes like those in Stark’s former CEO’s office and a lot less action. Or else a director who is good at action. (03/05/2010)

Where is the taciturnity and momentum of the first film? Where is Stark's strong personal charm? The second film amounts to watery, scattered, and terribly lifeless blabbering of the star-studded characters, whose dialogues and jokes often feel like they were written by a five-year-old (I admit that the problem may be the dubbing, but unfortunately, that is hardly going to change my impression until I see the version with subtitles). I forgave Favreau’s routinism in the first film because Downey's character had an edge. In the second film, most of the beautiful things are gone, and all that remains is chatter, outdated humor, and surprisingly Downey, who seems to be so convinced about his own irresistibility that he completely ignores the emptiness of his dialogues. There is something wrong with a comic book film that does not get me out of my seat in two hours with even one ballbusting moment. I cannot give the dubbed version more than one star... (27/04/2010)

This doesn’t work, man. A by-the-numbers comic book movie with zero interesting scenes. I wasn’t particularly thrilled by the first Iron Man, either, but I had no trouble watching it as a mind breather. What I liked the most were the dialogues and the interactions among the characters, something that unfortunately I can’t say about the second one, and thus the lower rating. And the worst is that when there finally was some action, it only took a moment for me to long for it to finish quickly. Bland, without any spark or ideas. (04/09/2010)

Two days after watching it, the only memories left in my head were strawberries, great actors, and a lot of missed chances (for everyone - Scarlett's absolutely tragic fight in the corridor, like the rest of the action). Even the first film wasn't particularly perennial, but this is a pretty sad downgrade. (11/09/2010)