FILM REVIEW - Iron Man 2
Since I now have a lot of free time on my hands, I thought it was time that I sat down to continue to watch and review some more films. The next one in the MCU to be rewatched was Iron Man 2. I had enjoyed the first one quite a bit, and you can’t deny that it must have been something if it kicked off one of the greatest movie franchises ever.
‘Iron Man 2′ continues the story of Tony Stark, who has revealed to the world that he is Iron Man. This attracts the attention of a man named Ivan Vanko, the son of Anton Vanko, Tony’s father’s business partner. Ivan is looking for revenge, and when Tony turns up at the Monaco Grand Prix, Ivan, aka, Whiplash, has a chance to get it. Added to the mix are Tony’s problems with the US government who want to use Stark technology in order to arm their own forces. Needless to say, Iron Man has a number of enemies and has to make allies of his own to combat this new threat.
So compared to the first one, I think upon rewatching this film, I actually enjoyed it less. I think this is when I started to feel that Robert Downey Jr. believed himself to actually be Iron Man, and so his acting felt like it lacked a little something. The additional cast, on the other hand, I perceived to be a little better. Sam Rockwell as neurotic villain Justin Hammer, was the standout performance for me in this film.
Unlike the first film, this film was starting to move towards the idea of a shared universe which meant that the sandbox within which Iron Man could play started to increase. Thus the inclusion of Nick Fury, Black Widow and War Machine meant that fans were getting a glimpse into what the future held for Iron Man and other Marvel Characters. That particular aspect of the film, I felt, was probably what made it a decent watch.
Overall, I didn’t remember this film as much, when rewatching, meaning that for me, it most likely wasn’t that memorable in the first place. I like that I got to see Iron Man interacting with other characters, and the final fight scene with Iron Man and War Machine against Whiplash was definitely my favourite. Would I rank it as one of the MCU’s best though? I doubt it.
Rating:
Story: ★★★
Acting: ★★★
Cinematography: ★★★½
Music: ★★½
Enjoyability: ★★½