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.
Andrew Garfield, Mahershala Ali, Ruth Negga, and five others received their first-ever acting nominations for 2017. While these actors are new to the Academy Awards, you may recognize them from their earlier work.
The powerful but arrogant god Thor is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.
Director:
Kenneth Branagh
Stars:
Chris Hemsworth,
Anthony Hopkins,
Natalie Portman
Steve Rogers, a rejected military soldier transforms into Captain America after taking a dose of a "Super-Soldier serum". But being Captain America comes at a price as he attempts to take down a war monger and a terrorist organization.
Director:
Joe Johnston
Stars:
Chris Evans,
Hugo Weaving,
Samuel L. Jackson
When Dr. Jane Foster gets cursed with a powerful entity known as the Aether, Thor is heralded of the cosmic event known as the Convergence and the genocidal Dark Elves.
Director:
Alan Taylor
Stars:
Chris Hemsworth,
Natalie Portman,
Tom Hiddleston
Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.
Director:
Joss Whedon
Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.,
Chris Evans,
Scarlett Johansson
As Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, he teams up with a fellow Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Black Widow, to battle a new threat from history: an assassin known as the Winter Soldier.
Directors:
Anthony Russo,
Joe Russo
Stars:
Chris Evans,
Samuel L. Jackson,
Scarlett Johansson
When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it's up to Earth's Mightiest Heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.
Director:
Joss Whedon
Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.,
Chris Evans,
Mark Ruffalo
Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy, and awkward high school student gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family.
In 1962, the United States government enlists the help of Mutants with superhuman abilities to stop a malicious dictator who is determined to start World War III.
Director:
Matthew Vaughn
Stars:
James McAvoy,
Michael Fassbender,
Jennifer Lawrence
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. Written by
Anonymous
Hammer's factory is really Elon Musk's SpaceX facility. The people walking in the background are actual employees, even though filming took place at night. See more »
Goofs
Before Stark uses the particle accelerator to power the new core, we see it cut through the wall and various objects. However, none of the cables attached to the core are severed, even though they were in the path of the beam. See more »
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 ...
[...] See more »
Crazy Credits
The theatrical end credits incorrectly list current AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson as a co-songwriter for AC/DC's "Highway to Hell", when it should have been the late Bon Scott. See more »
Robert Downey Jr was the best reason to watch the first Iron Man film since he seemed to slide into the role of Tony Stark so flawlessly and effortlessly. RDJ is just as amusing and fun to watch in Iron Man 2. If there were any doubts left over from RDJ's portrayal of Tony Stark from the first film, they're inevitably washed away with his convincing performance in the sequel. Newcomers Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, and Scarlett Johansson are just as impressive. Rourke has been on an incredible streak since The Wrestler and puts in another solid performance here. His Russian accent is pretty spot on and he shows a wider range of emotion than you may not be expecting. Rockwell has been on my "actors to keep an eye on" radar since Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. I thoroughly enjoyed his smarmy performance as Hammer, who has all of the tools at his disposal to make as big of an impact on the world as Tony Stark has only to wind up falling short in the long run. The flirting between Tony and Johansson's Natalie Rushman is pretty captivating, but her crowning achievement is her fight scene in the latter half of the film that practically steals the show. Don Cheadle does have a few humorous one-liners and is great as War Machine, but doesn't really add anything that Terrence Howard already established with the role in the first film. It's slightly disappointing since Cheadle is known for his strong acting roles, but may be a result of the way the Capt. James Rhodes character was written for both films.
While the film is a worthy sequel, it does contain a few small flaws. What is it with Hollywood films lately having the climactic battle during the finale last five minutes or less? Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Clash of the Titans, and Iron Man 2 all share this trait. It doesn't take away from the fact that the conclusion to Iron Man 2 is still pretty satisfying, but my mindset seems dead set on thinking it's more satisfying when the antagonist has the advantage. He or she gains the upper hand and there's that moment where you think they may bring their evil plan to fruition before the protagonist outsmarts the antagonist for the win. When that last battle seems short, it makes it seem like the villain was all talk. Speaking of the action sequences though, they're spectacular and twice as big as the action in the original film. The problem is that the action seemed to get blurry during several of the more hefty action scenes. I'm not sure if it's because it's the way it was shot or what, but it made it seem like there was too much going on in the film to fully process in post-production or something.
Iron Man 2 is an extremely satisfying sequel on all accounts. While the original film is probably slightly better, the sequel does everything right and doubles up on everything in comparison; action, strong characters, teases for upcoming Marvel films, etc. Despite some of its early negative criticism, Iron Man 2 delivers a worthwhile sequel with a fantastic cast and spectacular action.
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Robert Downey Jr was the best reason to watch the first Iron Man film since he seemed to slide into the role of Tony Stark so flawlessly and effortlessly. RDJ is just as amusing and fun to watch in Iron Man 2. If there were any doubts left over from RDJ's portrayal of Tony Stark from the first film, they're inevitably washed away with his convincing performance in the sequel. Newcomers Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, and Scarlett Johansson are just as impressive. Rourke has been on an incredible streak since The Wrestler and puts in another solid performance here. His Russian accent is pretty spot on and he shows a wider range of emotion than you may not be expecting. Rockwell has been on my "actors to keep an eye on" radar since Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. I thoroughly enjoyed his smarmy performance as Hammer, who has all of the tools at his disposal to make as big of an impact on the world as Tony Stark has only to wind up falling short in the long run. The flirting between Tony and Johansson's Natalie Rushman is pretty captivating, but her crowning achievement is her fight scene in the latter half of the film that practically steals the show. Don Cheadle does have a few humorous one-liners and is great as War Machine, but doesn't really add anything that Terrence Howard already established with the role in the first film. It's slightly disappointing since Cheadle is known for his strong acting roles, but may be a result of the way the Capt. James Rhodes character was written for both films.
While the film is a worthy sequel, it does contain a few small flaws. What is it with Hollywood films lately having the climactic battle during the finale last five minutes or less? Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Clash of the Titans, and Iron Man 2 all share this trait. It doesn't take away from the fact that the conclusion to Iron Man 2 is still pretty satisfying, but my mindset seems dead set on thinking it's more satisfying when the antagonist has the advantage. He or she gains the upper hand and there's that moment where you think they may bring their evil plan to fruition before the protagonist outsmarts the antagonist for the win. When that last battle seems short, it makes it seem like the villain was all talk. Speaking of the action sequences though, they're spectacular and twice as big as the action in the original film. The problem is that the action seemed to get blurry during several of the more hefty action scenes. I'm not sure if it's because it's the way it was shot or what, but it made it seem like there was too much going on in the film to fully process in post-production or something.
Iron Man 2 is an extremely satisfying sequel on all accounts. While the original film is probably slightly better, the sequel does everything right and doubles up on everything in comparison; action, strong characters, teases for upcoming Marvel films, etc. Despite some of its early negative criticism, Iron Man 2 delivers a worthwhile sequel with a fantastic cast and spectacular action.