Friend Movie Review: Iron Man 2 (2010)

Ten days away from Infinity War! But today we are talking Iron Man 2. It is a decent superhero movie, but my least favourite of the Phase 1 set.

Again, not sure this is needed, the movie is eight years old, however be advised there could be SPOILERS AHEAD. We will be discussing of scenes, quotes, plot points, and maybe even twists. With that out of the way on with the review...

The Good:
Susi: The effects were fun. It worked well and was entertaining
Stuart: I liked it, definitely liked it. I didn't like the rival/villain Justin Hammer (you're not suppose to) and they did a great job making him unlikable.
Brendan: I love the soundtrack and have owned it for years. I like it more from the first soundtrack even if there is nothing original. I liked the Russian villain, they humanized him; you understood his motivation. Also the villain's suit reveal was great.There was less visual jokes than the first; but what they had was fun. The script leaned on Iron Man's charisma and Dowey steals the show, again. Dowey makes this movie and is the backbone of the MCU.
Me: I found the relationship and social interactions the best part, for me the chemistry Potts and Dowey and equally the friendship between Rhodes and Stark makes the movie. And I agree with Stuart "The Hammer" was well created and played as an unlikable guy. I also enjoy the "gift" Howard Stark left for his son and even if the discovery was far-fetched it fun in the moment.

The Less Than Good:
Susi: Near the end it felt like it was just about the special effects, there was limited story.
Stuart: I liked the first one more. The character of Stark is less enjoyable this time around; he was more of a jerk, selfish, and arrogant. It almost feels like they undone his character progress from the first movie so that he could have a character arch in this one. I guess story wise, it is the praise and glory from being Iron Man going to his head. The last negative is the end story is the same as the first movie. It comes down to another man in the suit, it is just a rehashing the same battle.
Brendan: I don't care for revenge only for the sake of revenge as villain arch. They rehashed much of the good bits from first, doesn't make it a bad movie but there is not new themes or story really.
Me: It was a bland movie with all of the flaws my friends mentioned. It was made to start the summer blockbusters. People like familiar with a blend of new; but the leaning so heavily on what was good in the first Iron Man made this one forgettable. So forgettable I had forgotten much of what happened.

This Time Around:
Brendan: Feels more cliche than the other movies.
Me: As I said in the less than good, I found the movie forgettable the first time. I appreciated more of the movie this time around but it feels like a "people will pay to see Iron Man" more than "we have a great story to tell." Positive things I noticed was the details the creative teams have added to make all the MCU connected. Senator Stem who is against Iron Man in this movie is arrested as a Hydra agent in Civil War. Just one of the many "hey, I see what they did there" that I missed the first time watching.

Favourite Scene:
Susi: When Rhodey has just launched the "ex wife" weapon, which bounces off Vanko with no effect. Tony Stark says, "Hammer Tech?" And Rhodes looks down, dejected, "Yeah."
Stuart: Using a pipe wrench to aim a high tech laser in the midst of all the high tech gear options.
Brendan: The suits all dropping down into the garden looked cool
Me: Black Widow's fight scene. She takes all of the security force in the same time it takes Happy to subdue one. My second choice is when a child wearing an Iron Man mask raises his had to attack one of the robots (which is also targeting the kid because of the mask) and Iron Man blasts the robot looks at the kid and says "Nice work Kid"  -fan theories that I have heard are true is the kid was Peter Parker.

Favourite Line:
Susi: "We don't all run on batteries"
Stuart: After Senator Stern jabs Tony with a medal. "Oooh, sorry...funny how annoying a little prick can be, isn't it?"
Brendan: "Sir, I am going to have to ask you to exit the donut" Nick Fury
Me: Agent Coulson: Good luck. We need you.
Tony Stark: More than you know.
Agent Coulson: Not that much.

Rating:
Susi: 3.8 suits out of 5
Stuart: 3.5 eclectic whips out of 5
Brendan: 3.0 needless mini guns out of 5
Me: 2.9 new elements out of 5
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% (that's 3/25 out of 5)

Fun Fact: When Tony Stark asks Natalie Rushman if she actually speaks Latin, she responds with the phrase "Fallaces sunt rerum species", a quote from Lucio Anneo Seneca meaning, "The appearances of things are deceptive".  Thanks again to the IMDb trivia page.

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