Anthony's Film Review - Iron Man 2 (2010)

The second Iron Man is more of the same, with the right mix of character moments and action...

Iron Man 2 follows the first movie from 2008 and is the third movie overall to be considered part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That is the fictional universe of Marvel Studios films where events of one MCU film can be referenced in later MCU movies and set up events for those subsequent films. Iron Man 2 also firmly establishes the style of the MCU superhero movies, which I would describe as presenting a mixture of eye-popping special effects, exciting action, an intriguing story, and memorable characters. If anything, the story and characters come first and provide the basis for the action.

Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark, the eccentric yet brilliant mind behind the high-tech weaponry developed through his company, Stark Industries. He has just revealed to the world that he and the superhero known as Iron Man are one and the same. He no longer has to juggle his two identities and make everyone think they're separate individuals. In fact, he can attend lavish events and parties as both personas simultaneously, which really thrills his fans. Meanwhile, the United States government is still interested in possession of Stark's technology for use by the U.S. military, something that Stark stands against because of his principles as well as his unwillingness to separate himself from his creations.

There are plenty of characters in Iron Man 2 who make the story interesting. There's the assistant of Tony Stark, Pepper Potts played by Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as Natalie Rushman played by Scarlett Johansson. You also have Lt. Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes, played by Don Cheadle (replacing Terrence Howard who played the character in the first Iron Man), who is seen early as being on Iron Man's side before suddenly, and unexpectedly, going against him in the middle of the story. Speaking of which, there are two antagonists in Iron Man 2. One is Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko, a Russian scientist who has a real beef with the Stark family. The other is Sam Rockwell as a government agent named Justin Hammer, who has his own weapons manufacturing company but is jealous of Stark Industries' business success.

There are really just three action scenes in this movie. The first marks the initial encounter between Tony Stark and Ivan Vanko. The second involves Iron Man versus someone else wearing another one of Stark's Iron Man suits. The third is the climax, which is pretty cool. What struck me about this movie is that action is practically secondary to the presentation and development of characters. That's really the movie's primary element: characters and their interactions.

Overall, I would say Iron Man 2 is just as fun as the first Iron Man movie. Maybe slightly better, though not enough to bump my star rating higher by one. It's a 7 out of 10 on my scale, meaning it's not bad. It's certainly entertaining enough that audiences will want more from Marvel Studios. In fact, watch the post-credits scene to get a hint of what's coming after this movie. Then there's the side plot about Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson, putting together a new team of superheroes. But anyway, with or without connections to other MCU movies, Iron Man 2 is a good movie, for Marvel fans and for superhero movie fans.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Iron Man 2, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my reviews of Iron Man and Iron Man 3.