MCU Retrospective: Iron Man and Iron Man 2
Given the current climate of the world and the inability to do anything better with my life at the moment, I decided that now would be the perfect time to go back and watch through the Infinity Saga chapter of the MCU. And since I was spending my time going through the movies again, I figured hey why not just jot down some thoughts on the films given my modern-day hindsight on where these characters ultimately end up.
Now just a disclaimer, these retrospective write-ups will only cover the movies that are available currently on Disney+, which unfortunately means that The Incredible Hulk and the two Spider-Man movies will not be covered. I have also decided that I will re-watch the movies in release order so that is the order in which these retrospectives will be released as well.
First up are the first two Iron Man movies. I’m lumping these two together because I honestly don’t have a lot to say about either one individually and it would be a waste to just write a single paragraph for each movie and post them. Plus, at time of writing, I have just finished Thor so I’m a little late in these write-ups so it’s a time-saving measure as well.
Iron Man is the one where it all began, whether Marvel Studios intended it to blow up the way it has or not. Even 12 years after release this movie is just as brilliant as the day it was released. Re-watching this movie made me realize how much I wanted to see another solo Iron Man movie and simultaneously sad that that’s not something we’re going to be able to get anymore. There’s not much to say about this movie beyond just how much fun it is still and how there’s this sense of importance that the movie now holds knowing what it spawned over the coming decade.
I remember seeing Iron Man 2 in theaters when it first came out. I absolutely loved the first movie and I couldn’t wait to see it. I walked out of the theater thinking that it was the best thing ever and I absolutely loved every minute of it. I had re-watched it several times since with my last viewing being probably a solid 7 or 8 years ago by this point. Every single time I watched it I fell in love with it again and again.
That rose-tinted nostalgia being said, after re-watching the movie knowing what the coming 10 years of the MCU would bring afterwards, the movie certainly had problems. The biggest issue with the movie was definitely the villains. Justin Hammer was such a blundering idiot throughout that it’s a wonder how the writers ever expected us to ever consider him a credible threat. Ivan Vanko aka Whiplash had the potential to be an actual threat to Tony, but instead his character just fell flat. For some reason Mickey Rourke’s portrayal of the villain just left me feeling uncomfortable at times and not in a good way. Despite the writing flaws here and there, I still thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Not sure if I would still rank it in my top 10 MCU movies, but it would certainly be close.