Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 tries to juggle too much while saying too little. The sequel to one of the MCU's strongest origin stories ends up feeling like a bloated reiteration of its predecessor's character beats, offering little growth for Tony Stark outside of a rushed subplot involving a new element. Stark's ego-driven spiral is presented through repetitive party scenes and immature antics, undercutting the emotional maturity gained in the first film. While the seeds of a compelling moral debate about superhero regulation - later explored in Captain America: Civil War - are planted here, they're barely scratched, resulting in thematic range without meaningful depth. It's also hard not to feel that Rhodey's first time in the War Machine suit, used to restrain a drunk Tony, is both narratively underwhelming and unfair to the character. Still, the movie isn't without its redeeming moments. Scarlett Johansson is perfectly cast, and despite limited development, Natasha's hallway fight is a highlight of early MCU stunt work. Don Cheadle brings a more fitting energy to Rhodey than his predecessor, and the Monaco Grand Prix sequence still holds up as a thrilling centerpiece, featuring one of my favorite Iron Man suit-ups. Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer is cartoonish but entertaining, and Ivan Vanko, despite his cliché motivations and odd quirks, offers some striking visual menace. That said, the climax is too dark and chaotic to leave a lasting impact, and the increasing reliance on CGI-heavy green-screen work begins to show. Ultimately, Iron Man 2 feels more like a bridge to bigger MCU plans than a worthy standalone sequel - not without entertainment, but certainly lacking focus. Rating: C+

Sadly, this is really quite a lacklustre sequel that takes formulaic to a whole new level. "Stark" (Robert Downey Jnr.) has now been outed as the eponymous super hero, and just about everyone is after his technology. Aside from Uncle Sam, it appears that the son of his now deceased business partner - "Ivan Vanko" (Mickey Rourke) - is first in the queue. Armed with some pretty impressive laser whips, he is out to avenge his poor dead dad. Meantime, business rival "Hammer" (Sam Rockwell) sees an opportunity to capitalise on this by offering the government a drone army that could do the peace in our time bit, but of course he has a megalomanic ulterior motive... Though the film looks good, and there are plenty of action scenes with pyrotechnics and airborne antics, the scenarios recycle themselves once to often. There is no jeopardy, and both Rockwell and Rourke really just substitute excessive ham for menace. Most of the originality and humour of the first film has been lost, indeed this is just a bit relentless and actually quite dull. Perhaps because so many of the other MCU characters are more interesting than this one? I don't know, but though I enjoyed it on the big screen, I was actually quite bored by it all.

Again an ok movie. Now there's 2 iron man's kind of dumb. I hated that part of the movie but storyline once again is the only good thing.