5 Reasons Why Iron Man 2 Isn’t As Bad As People Say It Is (& 5 Reasons It Is)

5 Reasons Why Iron Man 2 Isn’t As Bad As People Say It Is (& 5 Reasons It Is)

From characterization to pacing, here’s why the MCU’s Iron Man 2 isn’t as bad as word of mouth says it is (and why its critics might have a point).

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Jon Favreau’s sequel to his MCU-starting hit movie Iron Man was similarly successful when it was first released, though definitely not as emphatic a hit with critics and audiences as the original. It quite quickly developed a reputation as an inferior, or generally hated, entry into the wider genre of superhero and comic book movies even though that isn’t really the case.

Looking at the movie’s themes and, more importantly, their execution, let’s examine exactly why Iron Man 2 isn’t as bad as word of mouth says it is, as well as why the naysayers may have a point.

10 Isn’t: Exploring Tony Stark’s Self-Destructive Lifestyle

Marvel Studios’ MCU movies don’t exactly delve much into serious issues in favor of keeping a lighter and more generally accessible tone. They do, however, enjoy flirting with them.

While Iron Man 2 never really explicitly establishes Tony Stark as an alcoholic, there are visual signs of it throughout the movie that are noticeable for an older audience member while not being so much so for younger ones. The plot thread of Tony’s palladium poisoning throughout the movie becomes tied to a self-destructive attitude that jeopardizes his own life as well as his relationships with the people that care for him. It paints the protagonist as the biggest threat to themselves and gives them something truly meaningful to overcome in the story, which certainly helps with one of the movie’s most fundamental problems…

9 Is: A Lack of a Clear Through Line

Iron Man 2’s main problem isn’t so much that it has too much going on, more that it doesn’t demonstrate much focus on any particular story element over another. Which is definitely a drawback when you’re trying to present a thrilling, linear, action movie.

Neither of the movie’s villains seems like much of a match for the main hero, not just even when they’re working together but especially when they’re working together, and, without them adding urgency to the plot, it starts to meander.

8 Isn’t: A Variety of Action Scenes

One good thing about Iron Man 2 picking every direction as opposed to one direction is that it has the budget and talent to back this decision up. As a result, the movie contains a wide variety of action scenes involving different characters in vastly different settings.

There’s a racing element involved during a superpowered assassination attempt at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, a somewhat-playful fight between best friends in robot suits, Black Widow’s much-loved hand-to-hand hallway fight sequence and a sprawling finale with a flying chase sequence that ends up in a samurai-inspired shootout between human tanks. All in all, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

7 Is: It’s a Franchise Middleman

Perhaps the most damning of Iron Man 2’s numerous plot threads is the material designed to set up the first Avengers movie.

It isn’t unbearable but it strengthens the impression that the movie doesn’t have a reason for existing outside of advertising the brand and keeping it fresh in the minds of audiences.

6 Isn’t: It’s the First True MCU Movie

There are a number of recurring characters from the original Iron Man movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and even the less-successful Incredible Hulk movie with Edward Norton isn’t totally forgotten in the franchise’s continuity. But Iron Man 2 is the moment that the MCU really committed to its form.

Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, and John Slattery were huge, lasting, additions to the overall cast of the MCU, not to mention the movie’s proper introduction of Samuel L. Jackson as something more than a brief cameo. Iron Man 2 tethers itself heavily to the upcoming Thor and Captain America movies as well as even containing a nod to Black Panther eight years prior to its release.

5 Is: Awkward Cameos

Not helping with the overall bloated feeling of the movie is a string of cameos, most of which haven’t aged well for various reasons. The opening of the movie interestingly features two future Marvel movie main characters, with brief appearances from Kate Mara (Fantastic Four) and Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse) which seem wasteful but not particularly egregious. Though Leslie Bibb’s reappearance in the movie as, once again, not much more than the butt of a sex joke doesn’t help accusations of sexism.

The appearances of businessmen Larry Ellison and Elon Musk, however, all but relate them to being actual superheroes which, at the very least, doesn’t gel with the rest of the MCU if not just being full-blown awkward and off-putting.

4 Isn’t: Outstanding Visual Effects

The spectacle of the modern superhero movie is in computer animation and Iron Man 2 does outstandingly well not only for its time period but also in relation to MCU movies in general.

Favreau has always been big on marrying computer effects with practical effects and the detail in Iron Man 2’s sequences and designs helps to blend the two together in a way that comic book movies often fail to do.

3 Is: Mickey Rourke’s Performance

There are a number of criminally underrated villains from the MCU and there’s even one in Iron Man 2. But it’s definitely not Mickey Rourke’s Ivan ‘Whiplash’ Vanko.

Aside from the unintimidating nature of the character (it’s hard to see how a guy who focuses on having electric whips really stands up to a guy who shoots missiles out of his arms), Rourke’s performance is as hammy as his Russian accent. He’s blamed cuts for the way the character turned out but a number of creative choices that have been attributed to him don’t indicate that this is what really went wrong.

2 Isn’t: Don Cheadle’s Performance

The MCU’s first major recasting was one of its best. Don Cheadle stepped into the role vacated by Terrence Howard without missing a beat, carrying over the same demeanor that Howard brought to the role while expanding it into more heavily dramatic scenes.

Cheadle not only births the fan-favorite hero of War Machine onto the big screen for the first time but sells one of the movie’s most integral subplots. Tony Stark’s self-destruction only matters because of how it affects his relationship with the people close to him and Cheadle makes his character’s disappointment and concern for an old friend seem genuine despite being a new addition to the cast.

1 Is: A Sluggish Second Act

Whether Iron Man 2’s more indirect approach to plotting works for you or doesn’t, it’s fairly undeniable that the movie feels longer than it should be.

All of its worst aspects compound in the second act, where thrillers often struggle, and it fails to carry over any engagement with the plot to the finale. The antagonists are off doing their own thing and Tony Stark becomes isolated from his much-needed supporting characters. While the big blowout is satisfying, most audience members tend to be checked out of the movie before it gets there and the hero’s triumph fails to leave an impression as a result.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/reasons-iron-man-2-mcu-movie-good-bad-underrated/

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