REVIEW: Iron Man 2 (Road To Infinity War)
Alright, let us continue The Papi Chulo RADIO Road to Infinity War (RTIW for short) review event with the third movie in the lineup, Iron Man 2.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKtcmiifycU[/embedyt]
The sequel to the successful start of the MCU. Does it still hold up after 8 years or does this suit need to be left behind?
[WPGP gif_id=”9021″ width=”600″]
Before we get into it, it should be said that there will be spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet (Although since it’s 8 years old, you should have seen it already).
The story takes place after Iron Man in Russia where we are introduced to the main villain of the movie Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), and we see his father is about to pass away. Right before he does, he lets Vanko have the plans to his fathers work and Vanko creates his own Arc Reactor. On the other side of the world, we see Tony Stark (Robert Downey JR.), kicking off the year-long Stark Expo event in New York. Shortly afterwards, he is forced to appear in court to debate control over the Iron Man Suit. He wins the case and continues his playboy lifestyle when Vanko shows up at the Grand Prix that Tony is participating in and attacks him. After Vanko is caught and sent to jail, he is then set free in order to work for Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), to recreate the Iron Man Suit. After a house party gone wrong, James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), steals an Iron Man Suit and takes it to the military to be modified. After the fight, Tony gets the attention of SHIELD and they give him his fathers secrets in order to make a new type of ARC reactor so Tony can prevent his Death. After Vanko makes new Iron Man drones, Hammer goes to the Stark Expo to present them, when Vanko takes control and everything goes wrong. Tony and Rhodes put on their suits to fight the drones and Vanko to save the day.
The acting in Iron Man 2 on par with the first Iron Man. Robert Downey JR. continues to show why he is the only Iron Man we need and why he is Iron Man. Don Cheadle and Sam Rockwell are also worth mentioning because they bring the comedy and action to the movie and serve as perfect balances and counterparts to RDJ. I should also mention that this is the first time we see Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff and she kills it. Mrs Romanoff is both gorgeous and can also kick butt all in one.
The CGI is also on par with the first Iron Man (Are you starting to see a pattern here?). The War Machine and Iron Man suits look awesome and can really put in some work. The suits may not be real but you will want one for yourself after watching this. I should also mention that Vanko’s whiplash suit also looks awesome. The prototype one looks cool but the final suit at the end of the movie looks really cool as well.
One bad thing I will say about Iron Man 2 is that it doesn’t try to top the first movie. Most movie sequels try and outshine their first outing but, Iron Man 2 doesn’t try to do this. The movie instead goes for showing more and introducing more characters. However, it also tries to play it safe as well but trying to follow the formula of the first movie. That is a choice that harms the film in the end because instead of going bigger and better, it goes bigger but skips the better which is a shame. Iron Man 2 shows it had potential but instead just only gives the minimum effort.
The Verdict:
While it isn’t as bad as Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 also isn’t better than Iron Man. Iron Man 2 tries to emulate the formula of the first one but, also try to play things safe. Sequels are supposed to be bigger and better than the first. Iron Man 2 puts in the effort to be a good movie, just not a great sequel to Iron Man.
7/10
Next up on the list, we take a trip to Asgard to see what our favourite Norse God is up too in Thor.