It’s week 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films where we’re watching each one ready for Avengers: Infinity War!
So, straight away we got it wrong (or did we.) We’ve skipped The Incredible Hulk, why, well it doesn’t feel like an MCU film, even with the shoe horn in Tony Stark cameo as well.
To start with, I love Iron Man 2, now I know it’s not one on the list of favourites for everyone else, but for some reason I’m a big fan of the sequel to Tony Stark’s venture. What makes the sequel so good is the action. We get so much more than the first film and it fits perfectly, plus that team up with War Machine, well, more on that later.
The sequel sees Tony leading into his new Iron Man hero role as he’s showing off at a Stark expo with his flashy new suit, then we also have him sitting in one of the most entertaining government meetings ever where he again, shows off his funny side (and non caring attitude.)
The story follows Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) wanting revenge on Stark for something his father Howard did years before destroying his families legacy. On that we have Sam Rockwell as Hammer, a not so good version of Tony, in fact useless. After a collision with Vanko and his Whiplash suit on Monaco race track, we get our first taste of the new action sequences where Marvel really up their game. Flashing off the first suit of the film, the suitcase suit, it’s even amazing how he puts it on. It doesn’t last though but we also see Stark battling his arc chest piece poisoning him ever so slightly.
Skip ahead and Stark has to battle his boozy nature, his ever declining life, needing to stop Vanko, finding a new way to support is reactor chest piece and of course, having some hard times with Rodey. That sort of sums up the story, but throw in lots of action!
We get some Iron Man v War Machine as the new face Don Cheadle finally puts on the suit and fights Tony in a hilarious party scene, then shooting off to really stick some weapons on the suit. It’s possibly the best scene of the film for sure for just that reason.
This is the film that starts paving the way for the Avengers as we get more Nick Fury, Shield and Natasha Romanoff to kick things into gear, plus some Phil of course. It does at times feel over packed, delving into too many stories, not sure where it’s feet are at and not quite understanding what direction it wants to go into, but the earlier Marvel films always had a footing problem in areas.
Visually, the suits look great, sleeker than previously and always as good. War Machine is a great addition, but every time watching the film I just wish they’d utilised him more in some of the action. And as for the action, the final battle scene is short, like really short! We see Tony be chased by War Machine and a pack of drones, sure not original, but this whole sequence sort of goes on too long before Iron Man gets his guy back as sidekick to kick ass against the rest of the drones, but wait, lets keep that to a minimum of 2-minutes. Yep, bit of a let down.
To top it off, the final of Whiplash against the guys is even shorter, blink and you’ll miss it. So, sure, Iron Man 2 isn’t the best film, it isn’t the best MCU film and honestly I get and see where it’s problems lies. It has too much crammed into the story and doesn’t leave room for the things it really needs, but that being said, it paved the way for whats to come, it’s still exciting every time I watch it, here those rock tracks for Iron Man’s entrance scenes and the characters are all as hilarious as always.
So, next week we head to Asgard for something a bit different in Thor, but for now, Iron Man 2 is a good watch.
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