Iron Man 2 was the first-ever sequel in 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.
That “larger than life” feeling, however, comes with 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 how many different plot points it has. 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 have only one real conversation when they’re not fighting, with Ivan pointing out that you can’t erase the people the Stark family has hurt with hero costumes, but that’s completely forgotten 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 they had other material written and recorded that expanded 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 I think the movie did justice to was Justin Hammer. Hammer is another antagonist in this movie, working with Vanko after he is arrested for attacking Stark for the first time. As comic relief, Hammer is a lot like how Tony Stark was portrayed before he was taken in Afghanistan in the first Iron Man, and he is the perfect antagonist for him at this moment. He is very selfish, caring only about having the technology Stark has and not caring who he harms to get it, and he 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 changed much from who he was at the beginning of the last film, and that change doesn’t carry through the rest of the movie.
I think the people working on this movie wanted to show Stark’s legacy and his father. The first scene shows Howard Stark deporting 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 it to anyone who hasn’t seen it.
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