Iron Man 2
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: May 7, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
19
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Iron Man 2 sets gold standard for sequels thanks to Robert Downey Jr.'s Stark performance. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Favreau supplies the go-go-go that makes the movie stratospherically entertaining, even without 3-D. But it's the promiscuously talented Downey who adds the grace notes that make Iron Man 2 something to remember. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger Moore
A movie franchise can only take us by surprise once, and by that measure, Iron Man 2 is a preordained letdown. But so much of what gave the first film its gas — is still here. Read full review
75
ObserverSara Vilkomerson
It is all very-very-very entertaining. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It's difficult to say whether the main problem with Iron Man 2 is that it suffers from too much plot or too little. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A polished, high-ozone sequel, not as good as the original but building once again on a quirky performance by Robert Downey Jr. Read full review
75
PremiereNick Starkey
Like the original, Iron Man 2 is a good time from start to finish. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
At its best, it's shaggily enjoyable and enjoyably shaggy. It's like steroids on steroids with Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, disarming arms industrialist, tossing off one-liners like comic grenades. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The primary challenge for all blockbuster franchises is to be big yet fleet. Iron Man is as good as model as any, thanks largely to Robert Downey Jr.’s flamboyantly narcissistic Tony Stark and filmmakers that valued pacing and character as much as superhero hardware. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazinePete Hammond
Fans of the first will not be bored. This Iron Man may not be the Godfather II of comic book movie sequels critics hope for but it is a complete blast anyway. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
It doesn’t come close to the emotional heft of those two rare 2s that outclassed their ones: Superman 2 and Spider-Man 2. But Iron Man 2 hums along quite nicely. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
To find a comic-book hero who doesn’t agonize over his supergifts, and would defend his constitutional right to get a kick out of them, is frankly a relief. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
Bigger, louder and dumber than its predecessor, Iron Man 2 is still a lot of fun. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve Persall
It's as slick and fun as summertime entertainment should be. Downey is still an arresting presence, glib to the nth degree and supremely confident that he's smarter than anyone else. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Aside from these two actors (Downey/Rourke), Iron Man 2 isn’t much of a whoop-de-do. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Only a shadow -- if an agreeable and harmless one -- of its predecessor film. Read full review
65
MovielineStephanie Zacharek
The big problem with Iron Man 2, maybe, is that it so dutifully gives the people what they want, instead of giving them what they didn’t know they wanted. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
A movie like this can handle a large character roster, but it helps if the story retains clean lines and a sense of propulsion. Iron Man 2 sags and wanders in its midsection Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The action sequences are fun, though not as exhilarating as in the 2008 original, and the dialogue can be zingy. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Robert Downey Jr. looks as hung over in Iron Man 2 as he seemed drunk in “Iron Man.’’ He does his share of drinking this time, too. And the sequel makes more out of his insobriety. It has an early stretch where it fizzes and slurs, with the stars stepping on each other’s lines and feet. The movie feels drunk, too. Read full review
60
EmpireNick de Semlyen
Rourke and Rockwell make satisfying, complementary villains, while Downey Jr. delivers again. Shame this sequel feels inessential, over-busy and a little, well, mechanical. Nothing they can’t put right for Iron Man 3. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian Lowry
Isn't as much fun as its predecessor, but by the time the smoke clears, it'll do. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Downey's head and heart are in the right place, but the movie is more in pieces than whole, and more about iron than about men. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
It’s only fitfully entertaining as an all-star indie team led again by director Jon Favreau, who gets swallowed up by the same sort of overproduced overkill as “Spider Man 3.” Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Despite its high tech sheen and overstuffed cast of characters, played by some of the best actors in the land, this mega-mecha melee manages to give short shrift to both the airborne action set-pieces that define Iron Man's zoomy panache and incoming supervillain Whiplash, aka Ivan Vanko (Rourke). Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The first third is terrific...After that the movie settles into a series of ho-hum conflicts and complications, and the requisite slam-bang ending is perfunctory at best. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
As sequels go, this one is acceptable, nothing more, nothing less. Read full review
50
SlateDana Stevens
It's beyond absurd that the makers of superhero movies haven't grasped this yet: When an actor's body and face aren't visible beneath a costume, it could be anyone under there. Casting the likes of Downey and Rourke and then imprisoning them in jointed refrigerators is resource-squandering of the highest order. Read full review
50
TimeRichard Corliss
He (Tony) could be a self-destructive hero out of a Dostoyevsky or Mailer novel. That portrait gives Iron Man 2 its fascination. The rest is a cluttered, clattering toy story. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Yes, yes, yes, Downey is blasé, intelligent and hilarious as Tony Stark -- what do you expect me to say? -- but I'm convinced that sticking with this character much longer won't be good for him. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy Biancolli
A better-than-average follow-up, but Tony doesn't suit up enough. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
Although it's stuffed with subplots, gadgets and bad guys, this tinny contraption is half-hearted. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
With seemingly twice as much action, a whole new complex of villainy, competing Iron Man suits, robots and love interests, Iron Man 2 sequel cashes in hard on the unexpected success of the first Iron Man from 2007 and somehow loses much of its soul in the process. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
"Everything is achievable through technology," a character says more than once in Iron Man 2. Not so. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
You’re left wanting more, but not quite the “more” Iron Man 2 works so hard to supply. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The main problem with Iron Man 2 lies in the script. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Intimacy has vanished from the relationship between Tony and Pepper, and grace has been stricken from the movie as a whole. Read full review
40
Village VoiceNick Pinkerton
The elements that made the first Iron Man a rather likable blockbuster have not entirely evaporated. Favreau brings together interesting American movie stars and lets them actually play through scenes. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
With this depressingly bland sequel (scripted by snark specialist Justin Theroux), he’s (Robert Downey Jr.) stranded in lightweight arrogance. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Well, that didn't take long. Everything fun and terrific about "Iron Man," a mere two years ago, has vanished with its sequel. In its place, Iron Man 2 has substituted noise, confusion, multiple villains, irrelevant stunts and misguided story lines. Read full review
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