So far, there really aren’t any summer movies (many of them sequels like this one) that I’m seriously jazzed to see.  Of course, maybe it’s a good thing to have modest expectations.  At least, sometimes it can be.  I thought Iron Man 2 was entertaining mostly because it was a comic book movie that felt like a comic book (at least to someone who doesn’t really read comic books).

It’s really the performances that drive this movie.  The actors look like they’re having fun (except Don Cheadle).  Robert Downy, Jr. is always watchable (remember how he almost saved Sherlock Holmes last year?), and he has Tony Stark down to perfection.  Mickey Rourke is over the top in life, so playing a Russian villain isn’t too overtaxing.

Scarlett Johansson is a welcome addition as a mysterious operative (a scene in which she takes out a bunch of security guards had me laughing out loud) while Gwyneth Paltrow carries on as Tony’s assistant and love interest Pepper Potts.  But, I was most captivated by Sam Rockwell’s performance as Justin Hammer, a business competitor of Tony’s.  Remember Rockwell from Moon last year?  He’s terrific.

The effects and action sequences in Iron Man 2 are ho-hum, the script has clever tongue-in-cheek moments but isn’t particularly memorable, but the actors sure are fun to watch.