6.6/10

1. Overall Plot - 7/10 I like how this is a good heroes journey story. The way Tony goes from an invincible hero, to being sick, being full of himself, and not caring about much. To having to get back up again. And to honor his father's legacy, and be a hero. I really like the idea of him being sick, and trying everything to find a cure.

Another plot point I really like is the involvement of Shield. It does some really good world building with it.

The main villain being whiplash and Justin Hammer, I just don't really care for. It's just kind of boring

2. Entertainment / Engagement - 7/10 I would put this lower, because the movie is kind of boring throughout. But I do really like the final fight scene, and think it is very entertaining. Watching War Machine and Iron Man fight together is very fun to watch.

3. Emotion / Investment in Story - 6/10 I like how they go more in depth between Stark and his dads relationship. You learn along side with Tony about how they were as father and son.

The villains reason for being the bad guy aren't much to care for, and is hard to get invested into.

4. Theme and Depth of Story - 6/10 I would say the theme for this one is, living up to your legacy. Because it's about Tony trying to make right, and finish what his father started.

I love how they go deeper into Tony Stark's relationships. And how we see more of Stark's problems he deals with.

5. Characters - 7/10 I really like the inclusion of more of Shield, and all those characters. I like the introduction of Black Widow in this movie. And even the teases of future characters.

Rhodey is a lot better in this movie. But that could just be because of the recast.

I don't really care for Whiplash and Justin Hammer being the villains in this. Hammer is just super pretentious and annoying, but he's supposed to be that way so it's fine.

I like Tony's character arc in this movie. He goes through the heroes journey very well. And the struggles he is dealing with are very accurate to the character.

I also really like Rhodey's storyline in this, and how he develops more as a character, and becomes the War Machine.

I don't like the design for Iron Man's suits in this one as much as the first one. They seem more bulky and plasticky, rather then the sleek original.

6. Acting / Writing - 9/10 All the actors are good in their roles. Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko or Whiplash seems pretty dull throughout. He's supposed to be angry and want revenge, but it doesn't seem that way.

Don Cheadle as Rhodey is so much better. I really like how when he first comes on screen he says, "Look, it's me, I'm here, drop it, let's move on". I think that's funny because they are kind of acknowledging the recast.

7. Cinematography - 8/10 Love the camera shots in this. Especially for fight and flying scenes. They are filmed in a way that makes it seem significantly more realistic. The only thing I don't like is how, because it looks more realistic, sometimes the camera shakes a lot more when it's zoomed in. And I hate when cameras shake, because it blurs and hides the finer details of shots.

8. Score - 6/10 Average Iron Man music. Is good but nothing notably crazy good. Definitely not as good as the first Iron Man film.

9. Editing / Pace - 6/10 The editing is done very well, with lots of cool shots during cool scenes.

The pacing in this movie is horrible. It starts out very slow and is that way through most the film. Then right before the climax it mega speeds up, and is fast the rest of the film. That's just not a good way to tell a story.

10. VFX/Practical Effects - 10/10 The effects in this movie are so good. It is basically as good as it is gonna get. Everything looks so good, and there aren't any noticeably bad things.

Any problem I had with CGI in the first Iron Man is fixed in this one.

Average Score: 7.2/10

My Overall Rating and Final Thoughts: 6.6/10 This is an incredibly mediocre movie. The only thing it has going for it is the final fight. It's still pretty enjoyable to watch, and is a must watch if you like the Iron Man character. I really enjoy the addition and introduction of some side characters like Natasha Romanoff. And I love Rhodey in this movie. Making him fight along side Iron Man as War Machine is very cool.