With the first Iron Man movie being a huge success for Marvel Studios it only made sense to make another one with the same cast and even the same director Jon Favreau. Its reception when it was released seemed to divide many fans as some of them call it a lackluster sequel and not as fun as the original. While I myself agree that it’s not as fun as the original, I’m still rather shocked at what people say about this second outing as I believe there is still a lot of fun and kick-butt superhero action to go around that more than compensate for some of the story’s weaker elements.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) has revealed to the public that he is in fact, Iron Man. Six months later, Tony is not only finding himself against the odds of the government but also starting to figure out that the device in his heart that’s keeping him alive is also killing him. Tony tries his best to balance his double life while trying to find a new substance that can replace his heart which leads to some rather troubling consequences in his actions. Meanwhile, Ivan Vanko is building a new weapon to avenge his father Anton Vanko who was fired from Stark Industries a long time ago during a dispute. To make things worse Tony’s enemy Justin Hammer sees Ivan’s progress and decides to hire him to put an end to Tony’s reign of success. With the help of new allies including some of the agents from Shield and Kernel Rhodes (Don Cheadle) as War Machine, Tony Stark will need to figure out a cure for his heart fast while stopping Ivan from wreaking havoc in the city.
There are many things that really work including a new story that attempts to dive into more of Tony Starks complex problems and character flaws. I like the story of how the artificial heart is killing Tony and the rather absurd choices he makes when he feels like he’s not gonna live much longer. It works in pushing the characterization of Tony’s personality further as he has new challenges to overcome and whether or not he wants to address them with others. His choices can be seen as stupid but it all comes down to how he’s reacting to the fact that he is dying and there is not much life left to live for him. The only thing stopping this story is some of the character arcs specifically with Tony and Pepper’s relationship as it can just feel awkward and not very satisfying in its execution. There are also sometimes I wish that Tony’s character arc would pay off more in the long run like last time because his character growth in this movie can feel kinda unfinished at points. I personally think there are more good things about the movie than there are bad and while I do agree it could have been better, it also could have been much worse.
It’s pretty easy to tell that the filmmakers wanted to go even bigger for this film in its visual style and it luckily delivers with fast-paced action sequences and eye-popping CGI effects. Much like the last movie, they really do a great job of showing off the Iron Man suit and its capabilities. Not only that, but we also get to see other great effects such as Ivan’s whiplash persona with those impressive electric rods spewing out of his hands and Kernel Rhodes as War Machine with his impressive array of many attached weapons to his suit. Most of the CGI is so good that it’s sometimes hard to spot when it’s practical and when it’s not. The Music for this movie is done by John Debney who has collaborated with Jon Favreau before as he has helped him with making the music score for the Elf and Zathura. His score is quite good and perfectly captures the spirit of Iron Man and his personality.
While the first movie is much better in its story and its execution, there is still a lot of fun to be had in Iron Man 2 and that’s thanks to a flawed but well-meaning story, awesome action sequences, likable characters both old and new, and a pretty good music score to tie the whole thing together. Compared to other weak entries in the MCU, this movie is at least attempting to tell an engaging action-packed adventure with familiar characters. I still say it’s worth seeing even if despite the fact that it may be even better to just watch the original movie again.
(Final Grade: B)