19. "Iron Man 2": Flying...Middle of the Road

This review is for Iron Man 2 (2010) which was the third MCU film made. This came out two years after the successful releases of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. While not as good as those two movies, this one does provide for some entertainment. Read why here and spoilers may follow.

In this movie, Iron Man is being poisoned from the only thing keeping him alive. His chest piece is releasing toxins into his bloodstream. This along with new threats to the world is proving more than he can handle.

There are some positive things about this movie. Most notably is Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. This casting choice is still one of the best ever for any movie. Gwyneth Paltrow gives a nice performance again as Pepper Potts while Sam Rockwell's character Justin Hammer is entertaining.

Also, Don Cheadle is a decent replacement as Rhodey, and Scarlett Johansson is first introduced as Black Widow. Oh ya, Samuel L. Jackson is Nick Fury. The cast is pretty impressive. The CGI is adequate along with things like film editing, sound mixing, and cinematography. The storyline is an interesting one too, although Iron Man 3 ruins it (see earlier review for that one). He has to create a new element, and that is pretty cool. The feud with him and War Machine creates some pressure on the top with everything else already going on. The ending fight scene is cool too when the whole army of robots fights them. Seems like Iron Man 3 just copies that part.

There are a few issues with the picture. The villain, Ivan Vanko played by Mickey Rourke, is lackluster. He definitely ranks towards the bottom of MCU villains. While the concept is great, it is at best, executed fair.

Overall, it is worth watching. It does rank towards the bottom, but I still believe it's a pleasant watch. My movie rating is B-.