Iron Man 2 (2010)

With the world now aware of his identity as Iron Man, Tony Stark must contend with both his declining health and a vengeful mad man with ties to his father's legacy.

Directors:

Jon Favreau, Kenneth Branagh (uncredited)

Writers:

Justin Theroux (screenplay), Stan Lee (Marvel comic book),

Stars:

Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 37 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Tony Stark
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Pepper Potts
Don Cheadle	...	Lt. Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes
Scarlett Johansson	...	Natalie Rushman / Natasha Romanoff
Sam Rockwell	...	Justin Hammer
Mickey Rourke	...	Ivan Vanko
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Nick Fury
Clark Gregg	...	Agent Coulson
John Slattery	...	Howard Stark
Garry Shandling	...	Senator Stern
Paul Bettany	...	Jarvis (voice)
Kate Mara	...	U.S. Marshal
Leslie Bibb	...	Christine Everhart
Jon Favreau	...	Happy Hogan
Christiane Amanpour	...	Christiane Amanpour

Storyline

With the world now aware of his dual life as the armored superhero Iron Man, billionaire inventor Tony Stark faces pressure from the government, the press, and the public to share his technology with the military. Unwilling to let go of his invention, Stark, along with Pepper Potts, and James "Rhodey" Rhodes at his side, must forge new alliances - and confront powerful enemies.

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Plot Keywords:

hammer | military | revenge | monaco | billionaire | 

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Taglines:

It's not the armor that makes the hero, but the man inside.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Marvel [Australia] Marvel [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Russian

Release Date:

7 May 2010 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Homem de Ferro 2

Filming Locations:

D.C. Stages, 1360 East 6th Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$128,122,480 (USA) (7 May 2010)

Gross:

$312,057,433 (USA) (13 August 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Al Pacino was considered for the role of Justin Hammer.

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Goofs

When Hammer is showing Rhodes an array of weapons for sale, in addition to incorrectly calling an M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System an M24 shotgun, he also states that it is a pump-action, when it is actually a straight-pull bolt-action.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[In Moscow, an old man watches a broadcast on TV]
Tony Stark: [on TV] There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop...
Christine Everhart: [on TV] I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that...
Tony Stark: [on TV] I know that it's confusing. It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

After the credits have rolled, an allusion to the discovery of the Marvel superhero Thor is shown, with the camera panning onto an image of Thor's hammer, thus setting up the Thor movie in 2011.

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Connections

Referenced in The Mechanical Man (2011)

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Soundtracks

Thunderstruck
Written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Brian Johnson
Performed by AC/DC

User Reviews

Great beginning and end, not so great in the middle

At its high points - the first act and the climax - Iron Man 2 is actually better than the first film. Everything up to and including the action scene in Monaco is just great fun to watch: the action, the character interactions, and of course Robert Downey Jr's wonderful portrayal of Tony Stark. And the action scene at the end is pretty epic.

The problem is, the film just stops being so much fun in-between. In a large proportion of this time, it's either going too slowly with little happening that's exciting or even particularly interesting, or it's providing some silly moments like Iron Man lounging on a giant display donut. To be fair, there's no problem with the many subplots this movie has: they all blend together quite smoothly.

The acting in this film deserves credit: almost everybody does a great job. Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow are just as entertaining as they were in the first film, Jon Favreau gets more to do as Stark's chauffeur, Don Cheadle is actually a little better than Terrence Howard as Rhodie (again, maybe because he has a bigger role), Mickey Rourke portrays a decent but overall ordinary villain, and once Scarlett Johansson is allowed to do something substantial with her own action sequence, she's well worth watching. The only weak link is Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, who gets quite annoying after a while.

Overall, Iron Man 2's slow middle section prevents it from being better than the first film as a whole, which is a shame considering how brilliant the beginning and end segments are.