Fun joyride

Rating: 7/10 (15 April 2019)

In the sequel to IRON MAN and prequel to THE INCREDIBLE HULK, we follow Tony Stark facing court due to the usage of Stark company weapons, and at the same time fight the film's two villains, Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) and Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). The film also introduces Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to the MCU, who has the best fight scene in the whole movie.
To be honest, this film is more forgettable than THE INCREDIBLE HULK. IRON MAN 2 lacks so much of the charm and fun that made the first film great, and tries really hard to capture that same magic, but to me the first IRON MAN film just feels like a lightning in a bottle, and the kind of story it tells and the WAY it tells, and plays off is so much more grounded and compelling than the sequel. For a lot of its runtime it feels IRON MAN 2 is drifting off from character to character that are building up to the climax, but I don't know if I missed something or not, because I never felt like the movie was actually building to anything.
On to the things I approve of in the movie, Johansson is a fantastic addition, and though she doesn't do A LOT in the movie, her fight scene near the end is kickass, and as for Robert Downey Jr., he is great as usual, but to me the stand outs of the film are Rourke and Rockwell. Rourke is pretty menacing in the role, and Rockwell is a comedic, Saul Goodman-type character, and a joy to watch.
Despite not having a very compelling plot, IRON MAN 2 is still a fun joyride that is elevated by good performances, and a badass main character.