Iron Man 2

2010 • 124 minutes

About this movie

Robert Downey Jr. returns as billionaire Tony Stark in this thrilling sequel to the worldwide blockbuster. Now that his superhero secret has been revealed, Tony's life is more intense than ever. Everyone wants in on the Iron Man technology, whether for power or profit...but for Ivan Vanko ("Whiplash"), it's revenge!

Ratings and reviews

Well here it is, the weakest of the MCU, and pales in comparison, but Robert Downy Jr is still the only person who can play Tony Stark. Special affects are great again, action is awesome, suitcase armor is brilliant, the soundtrack is once again awesome, I can't hate on the awesome direction and camera shots of John Favreau, and the move is ridiculously hilarious, but the worst villain in the MCU, only looking to up set the Avengers, poor character motivations and shield just shoehorned in this movie.

While not outright terrible, Iron Man 2 feels very misguided and unfocused. 6 months after revealing to the world that he's Iron Man, Tony Stark's life falls apart around him, as he continues to struggle with his alcoholism and finding a way to fix his Reactor Core. Robert Downey Jr is great is always, but if it weren't for how Don Cheadle's character, War Machine, was handled, Iron Man 2 would be a terrible movie. Black Widow's introduction feels underwhelming compared to her future appearances. Sam Rockwell's motivations for being a villain are not only petty, but feel almost childish in a way. I see that they wanted to make his character an antithesis to Stark, as while Tony does stupid things but isn't a bad guy, Justin Hammer is safe, yet a terrible person. Whiplash is very disappointing, as his character is barely developed and has some of the most anti-climatic fight scenes in a comic book movie. As mentioned earlier, War Machine was handled very well, and is the most consistently good aspect about the movie. Iron Man 2's biggest problem is that it doesn't really have an idea about what it's plot is. Overall, not awful, but very disappointing after Iron Man.

Some good ideas, fun action, good acting, and a wildly hot Scarjo? What could go wrong? Well, aside from the things I just listed, just about everything. For every great scene or plotline in this movie, there's some terrible one. This movie is the very definition of a mixed bag. Watch this movie with one expectation: Robert Downey Jr kicking lots ofass in an awesome suit of armor. And, for the most part, that's what you'll get. Sadly, you won't get a good villain or a well done story. 3 stars.