Iron Man 2

The most anticipated blockbuster sequel of the summer didn’t just hit theaters this weekend, it hit them big. Earning $133.6 million in three days, Iron Man 2 has clinched the fifth highest opening weekend ever, putting it just shy of Pirates of the Caribbean 3’s $135.6 million debut. (Fellow comic book movie The Dark Night still holds the weekend record of $158 million.)

Numbers aside, both Iron Man 2 and Robert Downey Jr. have gotten a lot of attention leading up to this movie (i.e. my May 3 post) and both the movie and Downey deliver. Iron Man 2 has all the good stuff: a star-studded cast, amazing cars (all hail the Audi R8), massive explosions, jaw-dropping gadgets, clever dialogue (often horrifyingly absent in popcorn flicks) and a plot that is actually interesting (also absent in popcorn flicks to an agonizing degree).

Rather than giving you a premise that you’ve probably already read in a magazine or online, I will give you my top ten reasons to go see Iron Man 2 as soon as soon as possible:


SPOILER ALERT! (Yeah, I said it)


10) AC/DC tunes make up a majority of the soundtrack and are used as background for pivotal scenes in the movie.

9) Justin Hammer’s (Sam Rockwell) gun show which includes bigger, badder versions of a pistol, shotgun, minigun and grenade launcher.

8) The late DJ AM’s (Adam Goldstein) surprise posthumous cameo. The credits list the film as being in his memory.

7) The sparks between Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) are palpable and helps to humanize Stark which is quite a feat considering his credentials, bank account and IQ.

6) An old video of Stark’s genius father eases our hero’s pain and also gives us a great line: “After almost 20 years, you're still taking me to school.”

5) Another comedic gem that takes place when Tony Stark is speaking to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) regarding "The Avengers” initiative: “I told you before- I don't wanna join your super- secret boy band.”

4) Mickey Rourke’s tattooed, gold-toothed, Russian nutjob self is like the enormous car wreck he causes in the movie – you want to look away but you just can’t.

3) The Iron Man suit folds out of a compact brief case and onto Tony Stark within seconds. So awesome.

2) Robert Downey Jr. is as charismatic, smart and awesomely arrogant as he was in the original. He is one hell of a leading man, not to mention a movie star.

1) Every character in this movie has their own unique kind of swagger but no one steps on anyone else’s toes.