Iron Man 2 Review: My Greatest Creation is You

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The sequel to the highly praised Iron Man came out to much anticipation in 2010. Everyone was excited and, with the post-credit scene in Iron Man and the final scene in The Incredible Hulk, people knew there was a goal. That these movies were building to something. This was no longer just your typical movie series, it wasn’t like the other superhero movies either this was something new.  The promise of an interconnected universe was what comic book fans had wanted for a long time. I think in some ways this movie ends up suffering due to trying to cram all that stuff in.

Now don’t get me wrong I love this movie.  I saw it when I was nine and it was a sequel to one of my favourite movies. As a kid, I tended to prefer sequels because I wanted the characters to already be super. I didn’t want to see them get their powers again so I tended to rewatch sequels more frequently.  So when I was nine I probably would have said that I thought Iron Man 2 was better than the first and while I no longer think that, I still think there is a lot to like.

First off, Robert Downey Jr. kills it once again as Tony Stark. He has a different task this time since he has grown as a character but not entirely. He wants to be a hero and is trying, but his narcissism and his lone-wolf mentality mixed with the fact that he is dying makes it all the more interesting.  He is Iron Man and does try and do the right thing, but he will still act very immature in other ways like participating in a race when he has zero experience in that field.

Every single appearance of Tony Stark makes me smile, and I love his continued development of this character. This time around he needs to get humbled. In the first film, he creates this technology that no one can really touch or compare to.  He then gives no military access to the tech. So he is making his own enemies and then the son of a man wronged by Howard Stark shows that the rest of the world with the right tools can catch up to Iron Man. 

This sends Tony spiraling and being self-destructive until he is given the chance to show once again he is the best inventor in the world.  This fall from grace was necessary as after being humbled in the cave Tony’s ego was growing again and he needed a reminder about the path he was trying to follow. Also, my favourite scene in the movie is where Tony is watching the recording of his father telling him that Tony is his greatest creation. 

My favourite new character that we see in this film is definitely Natasha Romanoff who is played fantastically by Scarlett Johansson.  Again, the brilliance of the MCU is shown as, if you know who Black Widow is and you see the red hair and the alias Natalie you might suspect who it is, but for casual audiences this allows them to be introduced to Natasha organically. She integrates herself into Tony’s life and then we get to see her as a S.H.I.E.L.D.  agent as well.

Her interactions with Tony are great especially on subsequent viewing when you know she is playing him. Her relationship with Nick Fury is also great as you can tell she sees him as a mentor.  Her fight in the hallway is my favourite action scene in the movie.

The recasting of Rhodey was due to behind-the-scenes drama as is usually the case with recasting but honestly, I prefer Don Cheadle. It is easy to see that as he has now been the character for over ten years but at the same time I just think he plays off the rest of the cast better. His dry style of humour is great next to Tony’s bravado and I think his version of Rhodey works better with the Avengers down the road. 

Pepper’s role is expanded as well and I like how she doesn’t need Tony after he appoints her CEO. She is so busy that she cannot constantly concentrate on him. When they get together at the end of the film you can tell it’s because they genuinely like each other and have a good back and forth.  I also like that Happy gets some more scenes in the movie as he brings me joy.

On the negative side, Ivan Vanko is not the most interesting villain. I mean he is not awful and he’s got a funny accent but while his whips are cool otherwise, he is pretty standard.  I get why you needed him because while Justin Hammer is hilarious, he is not intimidating at all. As I mentioned this movie does cram in a lot. 

Like there are a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. scenes and learning about that organization, there are references to both Thor and Captain America, and just in general you get the sense that this movie is setting things up for the future. Like even though I love Black Widow, her inclusion here was definitely set up related. Neither Thor nor Captain America the First Avenger had as much time devoted to prepping for The Avengers. 

Overall, I think Iron Man 2 is a solid sequel and while it might not be quite as good as that first film it is just truly awesome to get more Tony Stark.  I loved it as a kid and I still enjoy revisiting this one.  It has tons of fun moments and it will get you excited for what’s to come next!