Why IRON MAN 2 is Marvel Studios' Worst Film

Iron Man 2
Directed by Jon Favreau
Starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Mickey Rourke

3 out of 5 Arnolds

With 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel Studios gave viewers an incredibly strong introduction for what would be referred to as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was sleek, clever, extremely entertaining, and a pleasant surprise. In slight contrast, with Iron Man 2 (2010), Marvel, director Jon Favreau, and screenwriter Justin Theroux mis-stepped, making a follow-up that is clearly bogged down by Marvel’s larger continuity.

Behind the scenes, actor Robert Downey, Jr.’s contract with Marvel stipulates that the star gets to choose what off-camera talent helps mold the Iron Man films. For Iron Man 2, RDJ didn’t go with Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, the original film’s winning screenwriting duo. Instead, he brought on Tropic Thunder’s Justin Theroux to condense an existing script by Favreau and Downey, Jr.

Ironically, Theroux’s script combined with Downey Jr.’s  ad lib-heavy performance, kind of makes the character of Tony Stark seem...well, kind of like a dick.

The film tries to sidestep the comic’s infamous “Demon in a Bottle” storyline (in which Stark’s heavy drinking causes the hero to become a reckless, walking weapon of mass destruction) by substituting booze with Tony’s despondency over his impending death. It’s a sound attempt, but it’s played out in a way that makes the main character seem inconsiderate, dangerous, and childish. Basically, all the character flaws that were circumvented by the first film’s end.

There is no argument that Iron Man 2 was a box office success ($623,933,331 worldwide), but for this reviewer the film is way too impressed with its own cleverness. It's an endless series of overlapping conversations -- as if every character has something so witty to say that they all demand simultaneous screen time. In the first film, this improvisational feel was particularly refreshing. Here, it seems to be an attempt to mask an overly-crowded and hurried project.

To be fair, during the overall production of Iron Man 2, Marvel seemed a bit unprepared to play Hollywood’s version of musical chairs. Outside of a not-so-quiet actor swap that saw Terrence Howard replaced by Don Cheadle, Emily Blunt quietly replaced by Scarlett Johansson, and rumors about salary disputes from several peevish parties, the studio would soon find itself under the wing of the Walt Disney Company. I can only speculate that these factors, in addition to the demands of tying Iron Man 2 to 2012’s Avengers film forced Marvel to multitask ineffectively. The end result cost Iron Man 2 creatively.