I went to see this on Wednesday. It was pretty cool! There was more action in it than the screen could hold, more futuristic technology than we could make in 100 years' time, and some delightful asshattery on behalf of Tony Stark. Of course, the villains are still able to exist given that anyone with a sack of bolts and a grudge can build an iron man suit. Then again, this is contrasted by the fact that at some point, Stark builds a freaking particle accelerator in his basement. (Pay attention during that scene, if you're going to see it.)
As for the main villain, I didn't hear the name 'whiplash' in any part of the movie. Even though those whips are cool weapons, they're more of a toy than anything else. The amount of havoc this guy wreaks when he's behind a keyboard dwarfs what he does with those whips. And whoever mentioned a horrible accent, he's got it. And it works for him.
I thought Scarlett Johansson did a good job on the cold-blooded secretary and badass secret agent type. Not smiling does good things as far as I'm concerned.