When you grow up on the internet, sometimes you have opinions that aren't entirely yours on films you've only vaguely seen as a kid on TV. Years later, you can properly form more concise opinions, and in the case of Iron Man 2 (2010), you are all wrong.

Way way way too hated on and overlooked, Maybe it's because of how terrible the Phase 4 films are, but this film is much better than I remember and what people think of it. No, it doesn't concern itself with the future of the cinematic universe more than its main story as people argue, things are organically woven into the expansion that a sequel must present. The history of Howard Stark, Nick Fury, Natasha Romanov, and S. H. I. E. L. D., all feel like natural aspects of the greater world Stark has stepped into.

RDJ is still unquestionably the leading force behind these films, he is as charismatic as ever. Don Cheadle is a great recast and much better than Terrance Howard as Rhodey, who didn't possess the chemistry that they needed in this film. Rockwell is underrated as Justin Hammer and needs to come back to the MCU in the Armor Wars show. Rourke is okay as Whiplash, not that interesting but has a cool entrance, the film does shoehorn him a bit too much into the final fight by the end of it with not much necessity.

Although it started off really well, especially with the entire Grand Prix sequence, the pacing does fall a bit short after the second act, and the entire last half of this film and the previous one are both much weaker compared to the first half. The suits are well-designed, the action is good, the CGI is still great and holds up.

Maybe for some, this film doesn't offer anything new, and that's okay. For me, how the themes of fatherhood and legacy are introduced and emphasised in this film adds greatly to Tony's character development throughout the Infinity Saga. I understand the criticisms that the film faces in terms of boring villains and multiple unrelated storylines, but for me I felt like it was still able to build on Tony's arc and simultaneously expand the universe, and an overall great watch.