Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to my next post in my ongoing series covering the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This time, the movie that is going to be covered is the first of many sequels in the MCU: “Iron Man 2”. This movie is directed once again by Jon Favreau (who plays Happy Hogan in the MCU). Robert Downey, Jr is back as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Gwyneth Paltrow is back as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as Colonel James Rhodes, Scarlett Johansson makes her first appearance in the MCU as Natasha Romanov/Black Widow, and Samuel L. Jackson makes another appearance as Nick Fury. This movie introduces Justin Hammer, a business enemy to Tony Stark that is played by Sam Rockwell, and it also has Whiplash, who has electric whipping powers and is played by Mickey Rourke. It has been a bit since I have seen this movie. Let’s see how it goes down.
During the Paramount and Marvel Studios logos, we hear a flashback to the end of the first Iron Man movie where Tony Stark revealed to the world that he is Iron Man. After the logos, the movie starts in Moscow where we see a guy sick in bed watch the reveal. After the sick man (his father) dies, we see Ivan Vanko come up with something that can rival Tony’s Arc Reactor. After the title reveal, we cut to 6 months later where Iron Man flies down from a plane and evading fireworks to a stage that is filled with dancing girls. It turns out that he made it to the Stark Expo to the tune of AC/DC’s “Shoot to Thrill”. Tony gets out of the suit and talks to the crowd wearing a tuxedo. He says that he hasn’t come across anyone who went toe to toe with him on his best day. He also talks about legacy and bringing together the brightest minds to the Stark Expo before introducing his father Howard. Howard Stark (played by John Slattery) welcomes everyone to the Stark Expo in a “Wonderful World of Disney”-like video. After the speech (and a brief cameo by Stan Lee where he is dressed like Larry King) Tony and Happy Hogan drive to Washington DC to appear in front of a Weapons Committee (who includes Garry Shandling as Senator Stern). During this hearing, Justin Hammer, CEO of Hammer Industries, is introduced. Also, Colonel James Rhodes arrives at the hearing a moment after Hammer’s speech. Rhodes begins to read something before being interrupted by Stern and Stark. A screen shows potential evidence of suits that are used overseas, including an error by Hammer’s metal suit. Tony concludes by saying that he represents peace. Meanwhile, we see Ivan still working on his project in Moscow. He succeeded in using electric whips. We then see Stark at his home in Malibu talking with Jarvis about his health level. It turns out that the element Palladium (and the Arc Reactor itself) is slowly killing Tony and he needs to figure out a way to cure himself. Pepper then nags Tony about a whole bunch of stuff, including the Expo. Tony then tells Pepper (after some back and forth bickering) that she is now CEO of Stark Industries (champagne is drank in celebration).
We then see Ivan in snowy Moscow acquire a passport and tickets to the Grand Prix. After that, we cut to Tony and Happy practice boxing before Tony sees Natasha (Natalie Rushman in this scene) for the first time. Tony then exits the ring and Natasha then outwits Happy and pins her to the ground. We then cut to a hotel in Monte Carlo where Tony and Pepper meet up with Justin Hammer. We then see that Tony’s blood toxicity is at 53 percent before he goes racing at the Grand Prix. Pepper is nervous about this and tells “Natalie” to get Happy Hogan and fast. As the race begins, we see cars racing by fast up and down the roads before we see Ivan in disguise about to do some bad stuff. He gets on the road and turns into Whiplash while destroying some cars in the process. Happy then drives to the race track to stop Whiplash. They’re too late to save Tony from getting his car destroyed, but they are just in time to save Tony from getting killed by him. Pepper then gives Tony a suitcase that is actually a new suit for Tony. Whiplash is able to outwit Tony anyway. But then, Tony recovers and wins the fight against Whiplash (for now, anyway). Stark is then led to the jail cell where Ivan is being held. After a little chat with Ivan, he flies back to America where he sees Senator Stern on a TV before he tells Pepper to mute it before talking with her for a bit. After that, we see Ivan escape his jail cell before being put in a truck. He is then led to an airplane hangar where he meets Hammer for a brief meal and talk. Hammer says that he was impressed by what Ivan did to Tony at the Grand Prix. Ivan tells him that he wants the bird that is in Russia.
We then cut to the house in Malibu where Stark learns about Anton Vanko, Ivan’s father. Rhodes tells Tony that someone else has used Tony’s tech. We see another example of the Arc Reactor slowly killing him and Tony putting another replacement part in. Meanwhile, we cut to Queens, New York at Hammer Industries where we see some metal suits made by them. Ivan figures out the passcodes for the data and takes a close look at one of the suits. He accidentally beheads that suit. After that scene, we cut to Tony at his house talking with “Natalie” before his big birthday party. During the party, he jams to some music while wearing his Iron Man suit and being a drunk idiot. Pepper tries to end the party, but she is unsuccessful. Chaos ensues, which causes Rhodes to suit up and order everyone out. Tony and Rhodes fight each other while destroying the house in the process. The fight ends with both Rhodes and Stark fire their repulsion beams at each other to create a big explosion. Stark is out cold while Rhodes flies off into the night. Meanwhile, at the Air Force Base in Mojave, California, we see Rhodes fly to the base in his new suit. Elsewhere, at Randy’s Donuts, we see Stark eat a donut on the big donut statue itself before talking with Nick Fury inside the place. During this scene, Stark sees “Natalie” as Natasha for the first time. Stark tells him that he has been trying every possible way of replacing Palladium before Fury tells him that he hasn’t. Meanwhile, we cut to Hammer Industries where Hammer is mad about a metal suit alteration that he does not agree with. Hammer wants a helmet that can fit a person in. We then cut to the Air Force base where Rhodes reveals the suit. Rhodes is told by his boss to weaponize it. We then cut to Fury and Stark talking about Ivan’s father and also how to fix the Arc Reactor problem. Stark then says that his father never told him that he loved him. Agent Coulson (played by Clark Gregg) tells Tony that he needs to stay home and figure his stuff out. After a brief scene with Rhodes and Hammer about the weaponized suit and other weapons (including a super bullet called the Ex-Wife), we see Tony at his basement watching a video of his father while figuring out his problem. Later in the video, Howard delivers a message that he built the Expo miniature for Tony. Howard also says that Tony will always be his greatest creation. After the video, we see Tony in his car buying some strawberries for Pepper. Tony gets into Pepper’s office and talks with her about how short life before he gets interrupted by her. Pepper tells him that she is allergic to strawberries. Stark then leaves the office and takes the Expo model home with him. While studying the model, he figures out a way to get a healthier Arc Reactor that doesn’t require Palladium. Jarvis says that the element is impossible to synthesize, but Tony finds a way to do that. Coulson then enters the room and finds something that Tony needs (it kinda looks like Captain America’s Shield). Coulson then leaves for New Mexico. After some destruction, he finally completes the new element for the Arc Reactor, which heals him from his issue.
Meanwhile, we see Ivan create something that Hammer is mad about. Hammer then meets with Ivan and steals his bird and his shoes. Hammer then gives him a hard talk about their agreement and how Ivan messed it up. We then see Ivan call Tony before Tony mutes the call. After the call, the new Arc Reactor test is successful. We then cut to the Stark Expo where Hammer introduces his weaponized suits, representing each branch of the US Military (except for Coast Guard). The biggest reveal is Rhodes in the War Machine suit. After the reveal, we see Tony Stark in his suit interrupt the festivities. Tony then asks Hammer where Ivan Vanko is before all of the metal suits shoot the glass and fly up. Rhodes is forcefully locked to shooting Tony. Natasha then forcefully asks Hammer where Vanko is. After hearing that Vanko is at the Hammer facility, she goes there with the help of Happy Hogan. Meanwhile, Tony is being shot at by every suit. A little kid with an Iron Man mask is saved from one of the robots. Tony then flies while still being shot at by Rhodes. Natasha and Happy (mostly Natasha) take care of the guards at the facility. Vanko is nowhere to be seen while, elsewhere, Stark and Rhodes fight briefly before the War Machine suit is rebooted by Natasha. Rhodes wakes up and fights alongside Stark against the rest of the robots. They make easy work of the robots. Meanwhile, Hammer is arrested by the police officers at the Expo. One more robot appears for Tony and Rhodes to fight. It turns out to be Vanko. The Ex-Wife weapon fails In hilarious fashion and both Tony and Rhodes struggle with the new Iron Whiplash. They defeat him be doing the same repulsion beam explosion from earlier in the movie before escaping (with Pepper) from the self-destructive robots that blow up in spectacular fashion. After they escape, Tony and Pepper kiss for the first time. Rhodes tells Tony that he is keeping the suit. In a brief scene with Nick Fury, Fury tells Tony that he will be used only as a consultant for the Avengers Initiative. Stark and Rhodes are given medals by Senator Stern while “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC plays before the credits roll. During the credits, and earlier in the movie, a song Sherman titled "Make Way for Tomorrow Today" plays. The post-credits scene shows Coulson in New Mexico finding Thor’s hammer, which is named Mjolnir.
Once again, Robert Downey, Jr plays Tony Stark very well with plenty of funny quips, while Paltrow’s Pepper is more of an annoying character in this one. Don Cheadle was solid as James Rhodes/War Machine. Both Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke were not too memorable for me. Scarlett Johansson plays Natasha well in this one. We get to see her beat up some guys expertly as Black Widow. Samuel L. Jackson is great as Nick Fury once again, as is Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson. The fight scenes at the Grand Prix and at the Stark Expo were entertaining as heck to watch. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the party scene at all where Stark is a drunk mess. The non-fighting scene that I liked the most was when Tony was watching his father in the video saying that the greatest creation was him. Even though Howard didn’t love Tony a lot, he knew deep down that he will figure things out.
Overall, this film felt like a setup to the big Avengers movie that will be covered in a couple of posts. There was a Captain America reference and, obviously, the post credits scene with Mjolnir in New Mexico. By itself, I think that Iron Man 2 is a solid movie, even though it is the weakest of the trilogy (and Jon Favreau’s last directing credit for Marvel Studios before just playing his character Happy Hogan). Some scenes are awkward, but the movie is still an enjoyable watch. Next up in this series is the first Thor movie from 2011. Have a great day, everyone.
(Here is the video from How It Should Have Ended on "Iron Man 2". Full credit to them.)
(In addition, here is another recap cartoon from Cas van de Pol's Youtube channel. Full credit to all involved with this cartoon.)
Komen