The third movie in the Avenger’s lineup, Iron Man 2 followed up the financial hit that was Iron Man. Like the first one, it received critical acclaim and was also a box office success. Marketing for this movie was huge, as is with any Marvel movie, and it became highly anticipated. However, with sequels, certain expectations are established and, although Iron Man 2 did try to hold up, it wasn’t the big successor that many thought it was going to be.
Was it good? Absolutely. However, when compared to the first, Iron Man 2 seemed to fall short of expectations and this was somewhat disappointing. Although, like The Incredible Hulk, it had the chance to be better than I remember it. Maybe it showed some more redeeming qualities the second time around? Well, let’s see.
Story: The story picks up right after Iron Man and involves Tony dealing with palladium poisoning and intimidation from the government about his suit. Ivan Vanko, whose father helped build the arc reactor during the Cold War, is a Russian ex-con and physicist who builds his own “suit” equipped with electrical whips powered by a chest reactor. In Italy, Tony is attacked by Vanko, who is later apprehended and broken out of jail by Tony’s business competitor: Justin Hammer. Hammer promises to help aid Vanko in taking down Tony from a business aspect if Vanko builds him a suit to show off at the Stark Expo. Tony finds a solution to palladium after rediscovering an element that was first found by his father: Howard Stark. After making a new reactor and upgrading a new suit, he then goes to find Vanko at the Stark Expo, but is attacked by Rhode, who took the suit after a fight with Tony at his birthday party, and the drones. After Rhode’s suit is rebooted, the drones arrive to attack. Iron Man, now with the help of “War Machine”, defeat the drones, but are attacked by Ivan Vanko in a new version of his “Whiplash” suit. After Vanko is defeated, and Pepper is saved from the rigged-to-blow drones, Pepper retires as CEO of Stark Industries, Tony declines, but also accepts his “recruitment” into the Avengers initiative, and both Tony and Rhodes are awarded medals at the white house for their acts of heroism and bravery. In the end the story was great. Much like the first film, Iron Man 2 has an equally interesting plot and is just as humorous and serious as the first one. Although there were a few parts that had felt a bit rushed, such as Vanko being broken out of prison in the blink of an eye, it still offered an entertaining experience for the audience.
Director: Returning for the sequel, Jon Favreau treats us with yet another great comic book movie. In my revisit on Iron Man I had stated that Jon Favreau was a perfect example of how a director should handle a movie from the script to the actors. With Iron Man 2, he only further proved that statement to be true and succeeded in bringing a movie that I really enjoyed as far as most aspects go.
Writing: Iron Man had a great script that helped bring out each of the character’s personalities along with creating a good plot that kept the audience interested. In Iron Man 2’s case, it did the exact same thing, but was a little rushed in a few parts. Was it absolutely dreadful? Not at all. In fact, some rushed parts did work in the movie and did add some suspense and a holy-crap-stuff-just-got-real type of mood. It was a great follow up script that added both humor and seriousness to the story, while also bringing back the exciting plot points that made Iron Man entertaining.
Acting: Once again, like Iron Man, the cast was great when it came to portraying the characters. Justin Hammer and Mickey Rourke were great villains and really did bring something new to this movie. It was good to see that we weren’t getting a “copy” of Iron Man for the sequel. Don Cheadle replaces Terrance Howard as James Rhodes, AKA: War Machine, and does a great job of this as well. I liked the interactions between Tony Stark and Rhodes much more in this movie. The best friend aspect was really called into question when it came to the plot of their relationship and I thought the actors handled that well. Plus, we get to see this:
A showdown between friends is always entertaining, especially when they are in metal weapon suits. RDJ and Gweneth Paltrow were once again great as Tony Stark and Pepper Pots and portrayed great chemistry on screen. I was a little upset with Pepper being like Mary Jane in the Spiderman movies where her hair gets lighter each movie, but it was a minor flaw and it didn’t hold me up from seeing the beauty in the actor’s portrayals.
Editing: Not much to say here when it comes to comparison or even a stand-alone aspect. The editing was just as good as the first Iron Man. If any part of Iron Man were “copied”, it would be the editing aspect. However, this is not a bad thing since the editing was great in the first movie.
Action: First off, Iron Man 2 did have a lot to prove with the action. Iron Man displayed a non-stop thrill ride for the audience and the sequel had much to live up to. Unfortunately, this is where I felt the film disappointed me. Was the action really good? Oh yes, especially the fight between Rhodes and Tony at his house along with the drone scene.
However, like Thor, the final fight that has been building up the entire movie fell short in both time and excitement. The action was really good in the movie, but it did seem like the ending meant to go out with a big bang, and instead went out with Hammer Tech’s “Ex-Wife.”
Overall, the film was really good and a proud successor to the first film. A few minor disappointments did somewhat take away the experience and the film did not live up to the full expectation that it was made out to be. However, with a great cast and crew, great script, and entertaining plot; Iron Man 2 still offers an entertaining movie that many will appreciate and enjoy. Standing alone, I would give it:
On the Avenger’s lineup, Iron Man 2 ranks in 5th place.
If you would like to check out my revisit on Iron Man, click
HERE.
If you would like to check out my revisit on The Incredible Hulk, click
HERE.
Sound off your thoughts below. The next revisit will be Thor. Until next time, this is Hal Jordan signing off!