4: iron man 2

“Sir! I’m gonna have to ask you to exit the donut.” 

— Nick Fury.

Main takeaways:

• Aly: This movie wasn’t bad. It definitely wasn’t one of my favorites, but I’d watch it again for sure. The plot was solid, and I really enjoyed the deeper character development of Roadie, but I thought the idea wasn’t great. Though the storyline made sense, it seemed somewhat shallow. Main takeaway – Iron Man 2 is good, but not that good. 
• Ally: I like this movie a lot. I’ve seen it a bunch, mostly because this is the first movie with Natasha and I love Scarlett Johansson to death. Tony Stark is the heart and soul of the MCU, so any movie where he’s the main character is bound to be exciting. I like Justin Hammer as the villain, and the scene early on at the press conference is one of my favorites. This movie builds directly off of Iron Man, and it also sets up Avengers with the introduction of Nat and more interaction between Fury and Tony. Additionally, Don Cheadle has taken the reins from Terrence Howard, so that’s a definite plus. Rhodey had a bigger role in this film, which is important for Civil War (among other films). 

Favorite scene:

• Aly: My favorite scene would have to be when Tony and Pepper kissed!!!!!! WOOOO HOOOOOOOO !! It was the perfect end to the romantic tension that had been building for the past two movies. Since I’ve seen the recent movies, I know that they end up staying together, but it was still an exciting shock nonetheless. I love Pepper and I love that she took on more responsibility for the company, and I’m so happy that we get to see more of her in the movies to come.
• Ally: I have two favorite scenes, because I’ve seen this movie so frequently and these are the two moments that stick out in my mind. I love when Tony makes Pepper CEO at the beginning of the movie, because it’s an important part of their relationship and cements her as a fixture in his life for the foreseeable future, ensuring that she’ll be in the rest of the movies. My other favorite scene is when Natasha takes down the security guards when she and Happy are infiltrating Hammer’s office. She’s my all time favorite character, and this is her first appearance, and this scene is the first time she shows off her intense Russian spy capabilities. 

Favorite / least favorite character:

• Aly: My favorite character – COULSON. ALWAYS. He is just so sweet and pure and he will always be the best character. My favorite scene with him was when he had to stay and watch the suits at Tony’s house. My least favorite character would have to be Justin Hammer. Sam Rockwell was a great actor – so much so that I hated his character. He just seemed to always want to be better than Tony, and it bugged me.
• Ally: I feel like Justin Hammer should be my least favorite character, because he’s the villain, but I thought he was funny so I usually enjoyed his scenes. In fact, Tony was the most annoying character to me in this movie, at least when he was being immature and reckless. He was dying, so I suppose I understand, but it made Pepper’s job harder. He does have a nice arc in this film where he comes to term with his relationship with his father, so I was back to being his fan by the end. My favorite character has been and always will be Nat, anytime she appears in any movie, so she gets my vote. I think I’ve seen this movie six times solely for the purpose of watching her first appear in the MCU.

Ranking (out of 10):

• Aly: 7/10.  This movie was a solid C, I’d say. I thought that it was more of a filler storyline than anything else, and it seemed kind of forced. Because it’s a Marvel movie, it was great, of course, but it seemed like it was just a means to get to the next movie.
• Ally: 9/10. Maybe that’s a high rating, but I have a bit of nostalgia for this movie because I’ve seen it so many times. I like the plot, and it builds relationships with Tony and Pepper, as well as with Rhodey. Also, Coulson is in it, so it automatically earns an A.