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| Iron Man 2 (2010) |
Alright, so what is it about this movie that I find the most 'meh' out of the entirety of the MCU? Well, for one thing, the story is really kind of weak. There's some interesting stuff in there: Stark's arc reactor slowly killing him making Tony go nihilistic is a nice direction to take the story after the first one, and the general plot surrounding Vanko is interesting, but beyond that, I didn't really find myself caring all that much. The rest of the movie basically deals with Stark Industries and Hammer Tech facing off, and I just don't find that kind of story inherently fun to watch. It doesn't help that, though Stark's story in this movie is a good one, especially when you throw his dad into the mix, Tony himself kind of just does his own thing throughout the movie, and doesn't really become proactive in dealing with the problem until the third act. For the most part, it's just him kinda moping about dying, and then just doing whatever for the rest. Also, the stuff with his father comes in so late it almost feels like an afterthought. If the movie had done a better job building up this relationship, it might have paid off by the end, but as it is, it's just an unfocused story, and though the original also jumped around a lot, it managed to disguise it better and keep all the story elements interlinked and interesting on their own. It sadly just doesn't work here, which is a real shame, since the general idea of Tony Stark dying and just living how he wants for a bit is an interesting story, but the fact that the direction it takes almost has him unlearning some of the lessons he learnt in Iron Man 1 is a little depressing. Also, I never wanted to see Tony Stark take a piss in the Iron Man suit. I want that on the record. I never wanted to see that, and neither should you.
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| Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark |
It also doesn't help that the action has a similar problem that the original did, in that it peaked far too early. The best set piece in the movie by far is the one that closes the first act: Whiplash attacking Stark on the racetrack. Not only is it a unique encounter but similar enough to give the fight somewhat personal stakes, but it's also just something we haven't seen yet, which makes it all the more disappointing when the final big action scenes basically pit Iron Man suits against Iron Man suits. The scenes with War Machine going after Iron Man are engaging, and parts of the final fight are cool, but there's little else besides that, apart from Stark and Rhodes teaming up in the end, but it's easy to see that coming. I don't know, part of me wanted to see the raw Whiplash suit come back, instead of basically another Iron Monger from the first film. It also makes it feel sort of disconnected that, for the bulk of the second act, Justin Hammer is treated as the main villain. It's a weird pacing, and I'll get to my personal feelings on Hammer later, but Vanko really should have been given more of a focus. It's almost like the writer got sidetracked halfway through and started writing more and more funny stuff for Sam Rockwell to say before realising that Vanko should have been the bigger focus. Regarding the action, I will say this: the way this movie introduces Black Widow to the MCU is great. She gets her own set-piece all to herself to show what she can do, and she kicks all the ass in such an entertaining way. They also gave Romanoff enough presence in the movie that it feels entirely earned when this side of the character comes out.
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| Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow |
On that note, Scarlett Johansson does a great job here. It's a weirdly nuanced performance, in that were you to go into this movie with no idea that Johansson was playing an important character in the MCU, you wouldn't really see the twist coming, yet when you know the secret, you can see it easily on the screen. A big part of that comes down to how Johannson plays it, in that it's brutally obvious on repeat viewings who she really is, but you don't really think about it on your first time through. This film also gives us our first big look at Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and he proves why he was the obvious choice for the role. Any scene he's in, he knows exactly what he's doing, and he nails the character of Fury to a tee. This movie also gives us Don Cheadle, who I prefer over Terrence Howard in the role of Rhodes. Cheadle just plays it that little bit more relatably, and he's just a little more likeable here. Paltrow returns as Pepper Potts, and I'm not going to lie when I say that the way Potts and Stark end up getting together in this film is a little odd, especially given the direction their arc went in the first one. Downey Jr. and Paltrow's chemistry is ultimately what saves it, and makes it much more believable for me, but there is something about how fast it happens given Stark's actions throughout this film that is a little off-putting for me.
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| Mickey Rourke as Whiplash |
Now, let's talk about our villains. I've already mentioned that I really love the story they were telling with Vanko, and the parallels he shares with Stark makes him a great matchup in this movie. It also helps that Mickey Rourke absolutely kills it in this role. It's understated in some moments, and overplayed in others, but it never feels off or out of character. I'm not sure what it is, but Rourke plays it off really well, and it makes me wish all the more that he'd been given more screentime and just a little more development overall. Sadly, for a bulk of the film, he's given a backseat to Justin Hammer, who I just don't find that compelling as a villain. When you consider that he's there to draw parallels to Stark from a business level, it's a little better, but he's just not as interesting or unique as Vanko. I also really didn't want to see another 'rich guy in a suit' villain from Iron Man. I get that Tony's a businessman and it's natural that he'd have these kinds of villains, but we've seen it already with Stane. Give us something new. Vanko was something new. Just give us Vanko. The saving grace with Hammer is that Sam Rockwell absolutely crushes it. Rockwell is far and away the most entertaining thing about this film, which is weird to say given all I've said about his character. It's just the way he plays the character that really elevates it for me. He was the one I enjoyed watching the most, he was the one making me laugh the most, he was the one where every time he came on, I perked up a little in my seat. In many ways, Hammer works far better as comedy relief than as a villain, which is why the sudden focus shift to make him more of a villain in act 2 was so strange. With a few tweaks, you could have kept Rockwell as more of a comedy relief / secondary villain and give Vanko more focus as a main villain without compromising the great back-and-forth that the two have throughout that second act. You can see how conflicted I am with this one, right? I want to love this movie; it has so many great elements in it, but they just don't blend with each other to make the best overall package.
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| Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer |
Iron Man 2 (2010) is unfortunately less than the sum of its parts, which is a real shame given how great some of those parts are. I'm not sure if at this point I can confidently say this is my least favourite MCU film or not, but it's definitely my least favourite Iron Man film. I can still watch it and have a good time, but as a critic, I can't say it's all that great. 6/10.
Next: it's Thor.
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