Marvel Cinematic Universe: Ranking all 18 movies after Black Panther
By Mike McNulty
Credit: Marvel Studios/Paramount Pictures; poster for Iron Man 2 (2010)
17. Iron Man 2 (2010)
Given the success of Iron Man, and how committed Marvel Studios were towards an Avengers movie, a sequel to Iron Man was not only inevitable but necessary. It would also debut of Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, and involve Tony Stark’s friend, Colonel James “Rhodey: Rhodes becoming the fan favorite War Machine. It also, based on the trailers, adopted elements from “Iron Wars,” a pivotal story arc from the Iron Man comics. Yes, Iron Man 2 looked very promising. It was also an utter mess.
It’s main problem, like most movie sequels, is it tries to do too much at once. Aside from following up on Tony publicly revealing himself as Iron Man, there’s a subplot involving one Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) seeking revenge for what Tony’s father did to his family. Another subplot involves Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) attempting to corner the armored battle suit market. Yet another subplot involves Tony dying from metallic poisoning from his own arc reactor. Another deals with potential love triangle between Pepper Pots (Gwenyth Paltrow) and Black Widow, and another with fracturing friendship with Rhodey…and none of these narratives fully mesh together.
Despite having a shorter running time than the first Iron Man, the movie somehow feels longer due to its sluggish pacing. And even though Robert Downey Jr. is still excellent as Tony, several times it feels as if his character learned nothing from the first movie.
Still, there’s plenty to like about Iron Man 2. Like the first, it can be very funny, especially the scene where Tony testifies before Senate Armed Services Committee. Don Cheadle makes a great replacement for Terrance Howard as Rhodey, and Johansson as Black Widow is another example of great casting. The effects look better, too, particularly the reveal of Tony’s briefcase armor. And when there is action on-screen, it looks terrific. A shame such scenes are few, though.