The Grand Marvel Rewatch: Iron Man 2

Face front, true believers! Welcome to the next astonishing addition to “The Grand Marvel Rewatch,” designed to get us all sufficiently amped up for Captain America: Civil War, which comes out May 6, 2016. Each Wednesday, The Cinema King casts his eye back upon the twelve films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and offers five salient observations about the caliber of the films and the way they might play into Marvel’s latest installment in America’s favorite franchise.

Today’s fantastic feature film takes us to 2010 for Iron Man 2, our first sequel and the only MCU film to feature prominently a cockatoo.

1. Better than its reputation. Iron Man 2 is usually ranked among the MCU’s lowest points (it has the third lowest ranking on Rotten Tomatoes, ahead of The Incredible Hulk and Thor: The Dark World), but there’s still plenty of fun to be had here. As before, Robert Downey, Jr., is the big attraction here, beginning with a giggle-inducing opener in which Tony Stark makes an appropriately dramatic entrance, extols his own virtues, and in a wonderful bit of metacommentary applauds himself and says, “Oh, it’s good to be back!” With RDJ on-screen it certainly is. 
2. On the other hand, however... There is a chunk of Iron Man 2 that is astonishingly boring. You’ll remember this as the moment right near the end of Act Two, when both Tony and Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) are engaged in some high-tech shenanigans in their own montages. Maybe it’s just that I’ve seen these movies a thousand times by now, but there’s a feeling of treading water while there’s so much other interesting stuff going on in the movie. The film recovers in time for the climax, but I had the distinct feeling of not missing much if I had to get up for more popcorn. (You bet your arc reactor I was noshing.) 
3. The cast explodes as the universe expands. It might be to the detriment of the main plot, but Iron Man 2, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes an enormous leap forward with a closer look at SHIELD, a peek into the past of Tony’s father Howard, and the introduction of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). While these are all fascinating additions in hindsight, deployed to much greater effect later in the MCU, here these beats feel a little like intrusions, corporate presences without narrative arcs. The MCU has more successfully navigated that line between franchised product and standalone entertainment than Iron Man 2 might lead one to believe.
4. New Rhodey. I like Terrence Howard as much as the next man, but it’s really hard to imagine anyone other than Don Cheadle as War Machine. The film hangs a delightful lampshade on the casting change with Rhodey’s opening line, “Look, it’s me. I’m here. Deal with it.” But it ends up not being a big deal because Cheadle has fantastic charisma with RDJ, brings the critically palpable enthusiasm for the role, and fits into the suit in a way that is difficult to define. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Rhodes pops up in Captain Marvel (assuming he makes it out of Civil War alive), based on the relationship he has with Carol Danvers in the comics.
5. Continuity detritus. It’s hard to say how much of this stuff is planned out in advance and how much is improvised, but there’s a surprising amount of retrospective continuity that ends up making Iron Man 2 more enjoyable almost by accident. Agent Coulson’s (Clark Gregg) discovery of the Captain America shield prototype makes wonderful sense, given the fanboy devotion we discover in The Avengers. Then there’s Senator Stern (Garry Shandling), whose dogged pursuit of the Iron Man technology squares nicely with the character development we get during his cameo in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. At the same time, however, there’s a question to be answered about Howard Stark – what turns him from the carefree playboy (Dominic Cooper) of Agent Carter into the sobered Disneyesque futurist (John Slattery) we meet in this film? It’s all connected... and tracing out those connections is half the fun.

There’s so much more to be said about Iron Man 2, so be sure to check out my original review. Join me in the Grand Marvel Rewatch over the coming weeks, and hit the comments to share your thoughts about the MCU. And don’t forget to tune in next Wednesday for the next installment, in which we take a closer look at 2011’s Thor. Excelsior!