One of MCU's lower tier movies. I guess they were still trying to find their footing.

The great things about the first one still carries on, Tony Stark can't be a more perfect casting. The Senate sequence is a great piece of introduction but the movie goes downhill as we progress.

The villain Whiplash isn't that great but Sam Rockwell shines is some scenes with his charisma. A great introduction to Black Widow but she is done much better in Winter Soldier.

Jon Favreau lacked a lot compare to the first one, mostly because of rushed productions for Avengers( everything pays off). The climatic scenes are better than first one but still forgettable action-sequence.

I liked the small world building parts of Caps shield prototype, Coulson going to New Mexico and Nick Fury's Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division.

It felt cramped between both a sequel to Iron Man 1 ( consequences of past actions) and prequel to Avengers.