The main criticism levelled at Iron Man 2 is that it plays out like a trailer for The Avengers. You've got Nick Fury, Black Widow, more allusions to the Initiative, Thor's hammer, Cap's shield... it's chock-a-block. The film is so concerned with building a universe and bridging the gap between the rest of Phase One that Tony's story just becomes kind of incidental somewhere in the shuffle. Even with a hefty runtime of 2 hours and 4 minutes (of which only 23 minutes are action, by the way), the entire film just feels like expensive padding, passing the time until the arrival of the big show. There's something to be said about a need to introduce Black Widow - at least her appearance here felt a little more natural than Hawkeye's in Thor - but if I were Marvel, I'd be looking back at Iron Man 2 thinking it could have been an opportunity for an all-time great Iron Man story first, and an Avengers building block second.
Cinephile since 1993, aged 4, when he saw his very first film in the cinema - Jurassic Park - which is also evidence of damn fine parenting. World champion at Six Degrees of Separation. Lender of DVDs to cheap mates. Connoisseur of Marvel Comics and its Cinematic Universe.
