Now that Tony Stark has revealed to the world that he is Iron Man, the entire world is now eager to get their hands on his hot technology – whether it’s the United States government, weapons contractors, or someone else. That someone else happens to be Ivan Vanko – the son of now deceased Anton Vanko, Howard Stark’s former partner. Stark had Vanko banished to Russia for conspiring to commit treason against the US, and now Ivan wants revenge against Tony – and he’s willing to get it at any cost. But after being humiliated in front of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, rival weapons contractor Justin Hammer sees Ivan as the key to upping his status against Stark Enterprises after an attack on the Monaco 500. But an ailing Tony has to figure out a way to save himself, get Vanko, and get Hammer before the government shows up and takes his beloved suits away. And can he figure out what a mysterious figure named Nick Fury wants with him? 1
Iron Man 2 was the first-ever sequel of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I honestly really enjoyed it. It felt much bigger than the first Iron Man, with a wider variety of sets and a higher budget, making it a really fun movie to watch. With this higher budget, we get to see more of Tony’s technology and a wider range of his suit models, making the movie and its action scenes more engaging than ever.
With that “larger than life” feeling, however, come some downsides. Iron Man 2, while much more anticipated than the original, did not quite hit the mark the way the original Iron Man did. The main issue with this movie is just how many different plot points there are. They start with the theme of legacy, with the son of Howard Stark’s old business partner returning to attack Tony and Tony questioning his father’s principles, but they drop that plot as quickly as they introduced it. Stark and Vanko only have one real conversation when they’re not fighting, with Ivan pointing out how you can’t erase the people that the Stark family has hurt with hero costumes, but that’s completely forgotten about for the rest of the film.
Instead of screwed-over scientists taking revenge on the people who hurt them, Ivan Vanko and his father are made out to be no more than just angry stereotypical Russian bad guys. I’ve heard that they had other material written and recorded expanding on Vanko’s character, but it was never used. Many people working on this movie, including many of the producers and actors, wanted Vanko to be a more morally grey character and not just a murderous bad guy, but somewhere along the way in editing and post-production, any sense of complexity in his character was gone by the time the movie was released.
On the other hand, one character that I do think was given justice in this movie was Justin Hammer. Hammer is another antagonist in this movie, working with Vanko after he is arrested for the first time after attacking Stark. Working as the comic relief, Hammer is a lot like how Tony Stark was portrayed before he was taken in Afghanistan in the first Iron Man, and therefore is the perfect antagonist for him at this moment. He is very selfish, only caring about having the technology Stark has and not caring who he harms to get it, and pairs that with the comedic tone he uses throughout the movie. It’s a lot like a “new Tony vs old Tony” type thing, which is really interesting.
Something I was a little disappointed about in this movie is the lack of character development with the main character, Tony Stark. Tony ended the original Iron Man humble and using his suit to save others for no recognition, but we begin this movie with him flaunting his suits and weaponry once again, the only difference being he “keeps the world at peace” by himself rather than selling the weapons. It feels like he hasn’t really changed that much from who he was at the beginning of the last film, and that change isn’t carried through the rest of the film.
Something I believe the people working on this movie wanted to show was the story of Stark’s legacy and his father. The first scene of the movie shows us how Howard Stark deported his old business partner, and Ivan Vanko repeatedly brings up how bad a person he was, but Tony never really thinks too deeply about it, and the movie ends without a solid conclusion on that front.
Another thing this movie tries to do is to introduce the audience to more characters in this universe; Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow, under the alias Natalie Rushman, is hired by Stark as an assistant to Pepper while she assumes the role of CEO of Stark Industries, sent by Nick Fury to watch Tony and see if he’s a good contender for the Avengers. I think this was a good way to introduce Natasha into the MCU, although I do think they were trying to cram a little too much into this sequel.
Overall, Iron Man 2 is a really fun watch and a good bridge into the wider Marvel universe, introducing larger aspects of the MCU while keeping it an isolated storyline. I would definitely add this to my list of movies to rewatch in this series, and I recommend that anyone who hasn’t seen it go ahead and do so.
- halo1k, imdb.com
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