In my prep for Black Widow hopefully coming out in May I decided to watch all of The MCU films and this is one of the most important as Iron Man 2 is the debut for the character and here is my review for the film. The premise of the film sees Tony Stark have to deal with declining health while a man from his fathers past comes for revenge.

Main Character Robert Downey Jnr is back as Tony Stark and what can you really say of course he is great, this was the character he was born to play and he continues his great work here. You can tell he is allowed to ab-lib a lot of his lines and he is so charismatic and I like how despite him now being more of a heroic figure he is still a bit of an egotistical narcissist but it fits his character. He goes through plenty of drama in this film and he does a good job with it and you feel sorry for him as he goes through some pretty bad times in the film.

Supporting Characters Gwyneth Paltrow is back as Pepper Potts and she is once again very good here, the dynamic between her and Downey Jnr is one of the best in The MCU and it really develops nicely and it feels very different from the previous film and like a worthy progression for the characters. Sam Rockwell plays Justin Hammer and for me alongside Downey Jnr is the highlight of the film and just looks like he is having so much fun in the role. His character is a good parallel to Stark and I liked that he was included here and felt that he was a nice change of pace from usual comic book bad guys. Don Cheadle takes the place of Terrence Howard as Rhodey and he is a good addition to the cast with his own character and arc here, I just kind of wish he was given a bit more screen time to shine here. Mickey Rourke plays the big villain and wow he is terrible here, it is well documented that he hated making this film and only did it for the money and it clearly shows. His character is paper thin and the ridiculous accent doesn't help and it is a shame that they couldn't get an actor who wanted to be there. So Scarlett Johansson plays Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow for the first time and honestly I don't think she is great here and I don't really think it is her fault. For the most part her character is just someone that Tony Stark can ogle at and it isn't till the end of the film where she gets a bit of time to shine but by then it's too late, luckily she is given much better in the future.

Story There is a personal element to this film and I think in some cases it does work and looks at Tony Stark's legacy and how he will be remembered, it seems to affect him on a more personal level then the first film and that is done effectively. But this films story is let down mainly because of the fact that there is way too much going on, the first film's plot is very effective because it is streamlined and allowed to hit the emotion but this film does the opposite. The film has lots of characters to balance and it spends too much of its time setting up to future franchises that it hurts the overall quality of the film.

Script The script has some good humour in that will make you laugh, I do question how much of it is ab-libbed by the actors but nonetheless I laughed quite a bit in the film. I did compliment the story if the characters but I thought the drama is lacking here, and it doesn't hit the level needed to really make you buy into the emotion. Also having to balance all the different story arcs can't have helped them when having to right this film.

Style The film has some good action scenes that definitely raises the stakes in terms of the scale and allows the film to show Iron Man's more capability. But the pacing of the film is all over the place, the film feels way longer then it needs to and it makes the film at times feel like a drag which a film like this really shouldn't.

Overall Overall, this is a decent comic book film. But after the success of Iron Man it is a big step down and a big example to how bigger doesn't always mean better. It is a necessary watch for fans of Marvel films but if you didn't like the first film then this probably won't convert you.

Rating - 6/10.