‘Iron Man 2’ is often considered to be one of the weaker entries into the MCU, but how does it fare upon second viewing over a decade later? Photo from ironman.fandom.com.
Over the past decade, my love for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has always remained a constant. This past week, I couldn’t help but go back and revisit one of the MCU’s classics — and let me be the first to remind you that “Iron Man 2” does not let its audiences down.
Serving as a followup from the original “Iron Man” film, director Jon Favreau provides his audience with a comprehensive plot, profound cinematography and incredible attention to each character. This film did its job and more, not only serving as a masterpiece standalone but also setting the stage for future “Iron Man” and MCU films to follow.
In all honesty, I cannot name a time in the film where audiences were left confused. Every scene in this movie provided audiences with the context needed to delve further into the next. Marvel’s attention to detail is precise and poetic, especially during the introduction of the movie.
During this scene, audiences meet Ivan Vanko and his dying father. His father’s last words to him are apologetic because “all [he] can leave [Ivan] is [his] knowledge.” This one-liner from Ivan’s father sets the stage for the antagonist but also foreshadows the protagonist.
Near the end of the film, Tony Stark learns that his father, Howard, also left him the knowledge needed to move forward. In Tony’s case, his father left him the means to find the cure to his decaying health in the form of the new element vibranium. This parallel between the two characters is small but shows how fine-tuned the Marvel team was when planning the movie.
During the bulk of the film, I was blown away by the amount of fan-service and variety of scenes. I mean, who doesn’t love the classic Stan Lee cameos during any Marvel film? Seeing the late comic book legend appear as Larry King hit a soft spot I never even knew I had. Following this touching moment, the driving scenes that featured Happy always forced a smile. I couldn’t help but laugh when Tony “got served” after the Stark Expo and then drove away or when Pepper Potts was with Happy in the car trying to deliver Tony his Iron Man suitcase during the attack in Monaco. And, this last one goes without saying, Happy needs to become less of a distracted driver with Black Widow in his backseat. These small cutscenes were critical to the storyline and provided plenty of fun energy along the way.
On top of the humor throughout the movie, “Iron Man 2” delivered with its action-packed content. I think I speak for everyone when I praise the three-point superhero landings and the intensity of the fight scenes demonstrated in the film. I mean, who doesn’t love to see Tony go toe-to-toe with someone on his best day in his suit? If you don’t, maybe you should have picked a different movie to watch altogether.
Tony Stark as Iron Man and his best friend Rhodey as War Machine is an iconic tag-team duo that I will never get enough of in the MCU. The fight scenes in this movie between Tony and his opponents are what make this movie so great. While these scenes deliver memorable moments for the audience, these scenes also set the stage for Tony Stark for plenty of years, and films, to follow.
Overall, “Iron Man 2” was an incredible standalone film and perfectly cemented Tony Stark into the MCU. It is clear that this film still holds up since its release almost 11 years ago. This film left audiences with few complaints and myself personally excited for what’s yet to come in the MCU films to follow.