Iron Man vs his ego

Rating: 5/10 (19 June 2016)

I have to admit that this instalment was a little disappointing, despite the fact that I have seen it before. I guess I was simply caught up with that scene where Whiplash walks out onto the racetrack and starts slicing up cars, which I have to admit was quiet unbelievable, in the sense that even though this is a superhero movie there still has to be some logic for people's actions, and this particular scene actually defied all logic. However I will get to that in a minute because that wasn't the only scene that sort of defied logic because most of the film was actually quite boring, though it did pick up a bit at the end (though there really was very little of Whiplash actually being Whiplash, with the exception of the Grand Prix scene and the scene at the end).
The film begins six months after the end of Iron Man and basically Tony Stark is running around playing up the fact that he is a super hero and is responsible, single-handedly, for keeping the United States at peace. However the government has a problem, and that is that they don't like the idea of such a powerful weapon being in the hands of an individual, but Tony Stark really doesn't want to give up his little toy. There is another problem, and that is that Tony's arc-reactor is slowly poisoning him, and also starting to turn him slighty mad (which his alcoholism doesn't help all that much). In fact much of the movie involves Tony Stark trying to remain on top of things while Whiplash is working for his rival in the background.
While Whiplash is the main villain, one could argue that the actual villain in the film is Tony Stark himself. The problem is that he has one gigantic ego, and this ego is actually starting to come back and haunt him. The fact that he is slowly dying due to the toxic power core in the arc reactor is case in point, but while it is slowly driving him mad, the fact that he is trying to keep it hidden really doesn't help one bit.
We are also beginning to see the Avengers start to come together here with the introduction of Natasha Romanov, who is actually keeping an eye on Tony Stark on behalf of Nick Fury (who has other problems that Tony's behaviour is not helping to solve). There are also a few hints being dropped with regards to the arrival of Thor in the scene, with reference to some events going on in the South West. It is also suggested that the events in the Hulk are also going on at the same time, which is a little odd because while the Abomination is smashing up Harlem, Whiplash and his army of robots are flying around smashing up Queens (and you'd think that their paths might cross).
Now, as for that racing car scene – Tony decides that since he owns the car he might as well take it for a spin, on the track, during the race. While this does play up to Stark's ego, the fact that he is coming second really doesn't make sense (and I'm not entirely sure if you can simply jump the fence and start driving if you, the driver, haven't qualified for the race). Then there is Whiplash – if Tony Stark, at the spur of the moment, decided to start driving the car, how is it that Whiplash knew that Stark would be in the race. Personally it really makes little sense, but then again it is a superhero movie, and does work to show that Stark's ego is his own worse enemy.