MCU Rewind #3 - Iron Man 2 - Review
Release Date: May 7th, 2010
Directed By: Jon Favreau
Rating: PG-13
Directed By: Jon Favreau
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gweneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Jon Favreau, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansseon
MCU REWIND REVIEW EXPLANATION: In these reviews, I will be going back to all the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films that have been released to date, reviewing each one in a retrospective manner. Expectations and background will detail how I felt about the film before the repeat viewing. This review will contain spoilers for these movies. You have been warned.
Previous Rating: 6.0/10
MCU REWIND REVIEW EXPLANATION: In these reviews, I will be going back to all the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films that have been released to date, reviewing each one in a retrospective manner. Expectations and background will detail how I felt about the film before the repeat viewing. This review will contain spoilers for these movies. You have been warned.
Previous Rating: 6.0/10
Expectations/Background: Again, like The Incredible Hulk, I didn't remember too much about this movie before rewatching it. I did go in with the thought that I was going to have a good time because of Robert Downey Jr. Let's be honest, Robert Downey Jr. can carry anything that he's in. But I knew that this film was widely hated by even MCU pundits, so I figured I wasn't going to like it that much, but I just didn't know how much.
The Movie: First of all - this film is NOT BORING!! Congratulations! That beings said, I can say with confidence - this is the worst QUALITY MCU film. No, this is not my least favorite MCU movie. Personal preference dictates that another film is my least favorite. But I can say that on a pure analytical level, from a narrative, storytelling standpoint, this is EASILY the worst MCU movie. Where The Incredible Hulk "shined" in terms of having a consistent storyline, this film has NO Idea what it wants to be.
Positives: Apologies for the continued comparisons to The Incredible Hulk, but I do feel there are comparisons to be made. These two films are both bad - but for completely different reasons. Hulk was bad because it was nothing memorable, but it was still consistent through and through. Iron Man 2 is bad because of the storyline and writing. THAT BEING SAID - the performances boost this film up. If it weren't the amazing performances and characters that this movie has, this film would sink to the bottom.
Robert Downey Jr. couldn't save this movie, but he darn well tried. This movie is his, and regardless of whether or not he should have, he owned the role as he always does. We see a different Tony Stark, dealing with different issues than he did in Iron Man, and Downey does what he can with a limited role.
His chemistry with Pepper Potts (Gweneth Paltrow) is also off the charts, as per usual. They work very well off of each other and are the heart and soul of this movie. I will say that the visual effects from this film are impressive. It has one of the best Iron Man suit up sequences out of the entire MCU (Mark V, suitcase armor). Jon Favreau had the CGI down at this point, and that was incredibly impressive.
Sam Rockwell was hilarious. Whether or not he was supposed to be (I don't think he was) is a different story. That's all I'm going to say about that.
Negatives: There are so many things wrong with this movie.
What did it want to be? Did it want to be a story about the Arc Reactor poisoning? Was it about Tony's alcoholism? I mean I suppose they tried to correlate the two factors, but not in a good way, because you go from scenes of Tony dealing with his arc reactor to scenes of him peeing in his suit. I have no idea what this movie wanted to be.
On top of that, they were hell-bent on introducing so many different elements. They tried introducing Nick Fury, Black Widow, as well as the Avengers, along with storylines about Tony's dad hating him or loving him ON TOP of the alcoholism and arc reactor problems.I have no idea what they were going for.
And this film has one of the WORST MCU villains to date (more on that later).
I mean, there aren't things you can list off that are really bad about this movie. But it all hinges on the story - every good movie does. And the fact that story falls apart at every single seam is disappointing and it causes the movie to crumble from the inside.
Positives: Apologies for the continued comparisons to The Incredible Hulk, but I do feel there are comparisons to be made. These two films are both bad - but for completely different reasons. Hulk was bad because it was nothing memorable, but it was still consistent through and through. Iron Man 2 is bad because of the storyline and writing. THAT BEING SAID - the performances boost this film up. If it weren't the amazing performances and characters that this movie has, this film would sink to the bottom.
Robert Downey Jr. couldn't save this movie, but he darn well tried. This movie is his, and regardless of whether or not he should have, he owned the role as he always does. We see a different Tony Stark, dealing with different issues than he did in Iron Man, and Downey does what he can with a limited role.
His chemistry with Pepper Potts (Gweneth Paltrow) is also off the charts, as per usual. They work very well off of each other and are the heart and soul of this movie. I will say that the visual effects from this film are impressive. It has one of the best Iron Man suit up sequences out of the entire MCU (Mark V, suitcase armor). Jon Favreau had the CGI down at this point, and that was incredibly impressive.
Sam Rockwell was hilarious. Whether or not he was supposed to be (I don't think he was) is a different story. That's all I'm going to say about that.
Negatives: There are so many things wrong with this movie.
What did it want to be? Did it want to be a story about the Arc Reactor poisoning? Was it about Tony's alcoholism? I mean I suppose they tried to correlate the two factors, but not in a good way, because you go from scenes of Tony dealing with his arc reactor to scenes of him peeing in his suit. I have no idea what this movie wanted to be.
On top of that, they were hell-bent on introducing so many different elements. They tried introducing Nick Fury, Black Widow, as well as the Avengers, along with storylines about Tony's dad hating him or loving him ON TOP of the alcoholism and arc reactor problems.I have no idea what they were going for.
And this film has one of the WORST MCU villains to date (more on that later).
I mean, there aren't things you can list off that are really bad about this movie. But it all hinges on the story - every good movie does. And the fact that story falls apart at every single seam is disappointing and it causes the movie to crumble from the inside.
The Villain(s): Again, Justin Hammer (Rockwell) is absolutely hilarious. But Mickey Rourke. What movie was he in. What was he THINKING. "I want my bird." This movie was that close to being one of the worst films of the modern comic book movies, period, disregarding the MCU. They could have done so much better than Whiplash, who took the idea of a "C-level" villain to a whole different depth.
The Verdict: Now again, I will maintain that this is not my least favorite MCU movie. Structurally, this film had no idea what it wanted to be. There was a scene with Tony Stark sitting in a donut it that tells you anything. But this film is so bad at certain points it's laughable and enjoyable. And there are enough scenes with Robert Downey Jr. that it makes it entertaining enough. This film is bad though. No getting around that. Letter Grade (Quality): D+. Number Score (Personal Feeling): 6.3/10
Should I Skip?: Yeah, probably. If you want a "laugh because it's bad" movie, I guess you could watch it, but it's not THAT bad. If you want to see Robert Downey Jr. be Robert Downey Jr., watch Iron Man 3 - an actual decent movie.
TLDR: tony Stark's arc reactor is slowly poisoning him and killing him. Desperate for an alternative, he begins wasting his life away. A new threat, Ivan Vanko/Whiplash, emerges, and just as Tony figures out an alternative to his arc reactor problem, Vanko builds an Iron Man suit, and he and Stark fight. Stark is aided by Colonel James Rhodes, who stole one of Tony's suits and had it upgraded to the War Machine armor. They defeat Vanko and al is well. Nick Fury and Black Widow join the fray, and Nick Fury mentions at the end that they will use Tony only as a consultant but not as Iron Man (which will have absolutely ZERO repercussions in the future).
9-10: Nearly Perfect
Should I Skip?: Yeah, probably. If you want a "laugh because it's bad" movie, I guess you could watch it, but it's not THAT bad. If you want to see Robert Downey Jr. be Robert Downey Jr., watch Iron Man 3 - an actual decent movie.
TLDR: tony Stark's arc reactor is slowly poisoning him and killing him. Desperate for an alternative, he begins wasting his life away. A new threat, Ivan Vanko/Whiplash, emerges, and just as Tony figures out an alternative to his arc reactor problem, Vanko builds an Iron Man suit, and he and Stark fight. Stark is aided by Colonel James Rhodes, who stole one of Tony's suits and had it upgraded to the War Machine armor. They defeat Vanko and al is well. Nick Fury and Black Widow join the fray, and Nick Fury mentions at the end that they will use Tony only as a consultant but not as Iron Man (which will have absolutely ZERO repercussions in the future).
**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.
A- to A+: Amazing
B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed
C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed
D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws
F: A Failure of a Film
8-9: Very Good
7-8: Good
6-7: Okay
5-6: Average/Mediocre
4-5: Apparently Flawed
3-4: Heavily Flawed
2-3: A complete and utter mess
0-2: A Failure of a Film
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