Iron Man 2 (2010) ✦ MCU Reaction & Review ✦ Tony's party era... 🍻

[@kaiielle]

Thank you for watching everyone! Make sure to keep your comments spoiler-free about story, characters, cast changes, and free of expectation setting! Super excited for the upcoming movies and want my experience to be as free of knowledge as possible. Appreciate you all very much and thanks for being here! KL 💛 Socials, info, and more: kaiielle.com/links

[@LuminairPrime]

I love how firm you are about the spoiler warnings! I think people are fundamentally altruistic, but in a selfish and autopilot sort of way. Surely the goal of a reaction channel is to capture the reaction on *VIDEO* rather than losing it forever while reading comments. The worst is when people say to skip movies when the entire point of the channel is to watch movies lol. Anyway, keep up the good work!

[@kaiielle]

Thanks for understanding! I appreciate it.

[@bankbarcomo806]

I think I will enjoy your analysis of all the films.

[@AutomationDnD]

@@kaiielle Did someone already mention to you that Robert Downey was much shorter than Gweneth? & how he either had to stand on a box or she had to stand in a hole whenever they were close to each other? Such was their difference in height, ....such as with the Kiss at the end here?

[@David-du2jk]

There may be movies in the future that are spoiled by their covers/cast list, so watch out for those.

[@joshw6521]

I personally love the actor switch to Don Cheadle. I feel like he just owns the role so much better. Also the Iron man suit up in the car race was perfection ⭐

[@FutureBoy85]

"Middle of the road but leaning more towards the fun middle of the road" is a perfect way to describe this movie. The first Iron Man is still one of the best movies in the MCU I think.

[@naruhina1009]

Well, he wasn’t being egotistical. He was dying. So he was living like he only had a few days to live. That’s why he asked her “If this was your last birthday, what would you do?” Or however he worded it. So wanted to go balls-to-the-wall and get drunk. So he was basically like “Fuck it.” And fun facts about James Rhodes. His suit name is “War Machine,” and Ivan’s is “Whiplash.”

[@danharris5999]

Tony actually named Rhodey's suit alter ego during their scuffle. To paraphrase, "You want to be war machine, take your shot!"

[@KthulhuXxx]

In fairness being egotistical is a fundamental part of his character. He didn't BECPOME egotistical in this movie, he's always been that way.

[@swordmonkey6635]

I agree with your assessment. I'll just add that Tony (upon knowing he was dying) was becoming self destructive (what a lot of ego-driven personalities will do when they come face to face with their own death= ego annihilation. His battle in his house with Rhodey was Tony lashing out in frustration and anger at his own lack of control over his death. This issue runs throughout his arch in the movies= his fear of death, loss and having no control.

[@Dudeman23rd]

Wow, it is so _rare_ to have someone so out of the loop on Marvel imagery; I love how refreshing this is! Your uncertainty on the shield that Coulson fished out of Tony's garage fills me with so much excitement to watch you experience the rest of this saga with absolutely _no_ preconceived notions going into it. And great reaction as always!

[@bakingpaper45]

bro, she asked for 0 context

[@themiIes]

I appreciate it so much that you actually tell people to not spoil things and that expectations or "bring tissues" are spoilers too. I absolutely hate when people tell reactors "you gonna cry your eyes out" bc it takes so much away

[@Roi55]

i think something some people don't realize is that they shouldn't consider the villain a "bad guy" as they are 9.5 times out of 10 going to be thinking they are doing the right thing, or are what society as made them. that doesn't mean that they are evil or bad.

[@elliniamusic]

I'm not one to follow specific actors usually but Don Cheadle is such a gem in literally anything he's ever in, great watch!

[@kaiielle]

Thanks! Don Cheadle is great. I'll also throw Tim Meadows in there too as I get those two mixed up constantly. 😂

[@fullmoonprepping4024]

I freaking LOVE your PSA! More reactors need to do this and I respect you so much for being serious about having an unspoiled experience. I feel the same about new movies I watch. I'm a writer and people just don't think about how, what they believe is an innocuous comment, might give clues to an experience. Kudos!

[@kaiielle]

Thanks! People have told me to just stop looking at my comments on my MCU videos and I'm sorry, but no. That feels so mean and that's not what I'm about. I'd much rather ask people to avoid commenting certain things instead of ignoring all of my viewers who take the time to leave a comment.

[@runningchief]

I will never get tired of Hammer dancing on stage

[@benprewitt4600]

I love the public service announcement. The way you're just straightforward is fucking AWESOME.

[@kaiielle]

Thanks. 😂 I eventually stopped doing it, but it was so important for me at the beginning of this journey to set those expectations. 😄

[@hell1515]

The court room scene where the government tells Tony to turnover the suit and he says in order to turn suit over to the government is to turn himself over and the whole prostitution spill... Love it! 🤣☠️✨ Always great as always! Keep them videos coming! 👍💯

[@modo6901]

I can not picture anyone but Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man. I know you don't look up casting before your reactions so l won't mention any names but the number of top tier actors who have agreed to participate in the MCU is staggering.

[@kaiielle]

I've only seen a handful of images, mostly promotional images for MCU stuff. So I know of some actors coming up, but only for major characters.

[@TheScottSlater]

Andy Warhol once said, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." Pretty sure the MCU version of that quote is "In the future, everyone will eventually make an appearance in an MCU movie."

[@seanmahoney2671]

I felt very similarly about this movie. After watching it several times though, I now see the Tony Stark cockiness as a defense mechanism he is putting on because he knows he is dying. He is struggling with who he is going to leave the company to that he trusts. He is struggling with whom to trust with the Iron Man suit that he trusts. In both cases he wants them to get it without him revealing that he is dying... so he is more of an ass to set up the situations so they happen. Forcing more and more of the running the company on Pepper until she is ready to blow then moving it over. Antagonizing the government and Rhodey until he has to take the suit (and has rewritten the protocols and how it uses power so that Rhodey CAN take the suit). As he says in the very beginning, if he was saying anything at all is, "it's about legacy." I think making us empathize more with his internal struggle with dying would have helped the movie a lot.

[@kaiielle]

Completely agree.

[@Slugbug]

My thoughts as I left the theatre after seeing this the first time is that they referenced a lot of heavy themes in the story but didn't dig too deep on any of them. They also went a little over the top on fluff. I think it could have been better if they scaled back the musical intro and cheerleaders from the Stark Expo by at least half and the need to have every third line be a punchline by about 20%. Then they could make up the difference in run time by giving us more about Tony's drinking or Vanko's background and legacy or even extend the action scene at the end. I enjoyed it, but not as much as IM1, and it had potential to be better with a few small changes.

[@paulieluppino1856]

10:52 ...."Oh, is he in Galaxy Quest?".... Yeap, that's Sam Rockwell, "Guy who dies" itself.... Another movies you can find him are "The Green Mile" (1999), "Charlie's Angels" (2001), "Moon" (2009), and "Jojo Rabbit" (2019)......

[@Epulor1]

I am a huge fan of Sam Rockwell! He inhabits the personality of every character he portrays without being flashy, so many people tend to overlook him. 😎

[@Drudenfusz]

At first I also thought this is only mediocre, but on repeat watching the film grew on me. Probably because I dig films that are heavy on themes, and having multiple characters revolve completely around the idea of legacy worked rather well for me.

[@ieyke]

Yea, this movie holds up a lot better on repeat viewing than some, and there are sooooooo many things setup in this movie that continue to echo through other movies. It's one of the most densely connected of all of the movies that doesn't outright feature a bunch of guest stars, and that helps it to. Like the more times you rewatch it, the more times you go "Oh wait... Ohhhhhh, I see where this went now." It's funny how some movies seem great the first time and then lose steam on rewatches, some movies gain steam with every rewatch, and some never fluctuate. 🤷‍♂

[@nigeldonaldson1647]

agreed, you see a different film the 2nd time around if theres anything with potential there to come out. there is so much going on visually in these kinds of films.

[@MoMoMyPup10]

Love the PSA in the beginning. Every channel should do that. Excited for Thor and beyond!

[@badplay156]

Your reaction to the quality of the movie agrees with the general attitude of viewers. Can't wait for your next review.

[@curtquinlan9870]

Very nice reaction and thoughts! While it is never said outright in the MCU, one of Tony's characteristics in the comics is that he is a functioning alcoholic. His alcoholism is heavily eluded to in this film, and you might have noticed his tendency to have a drink throughout these movies.

[@Corndog642]

I really enjoyed this movie. I enjoyed the humor and the characters. Hammer was perfectly slimy and Vanko was a formidable opponent for Tony. Comic book villains don’t really need an in-depth background nor a complicated motive. Hammer’s was greed and Vanko’s was revenge for his father. Easy enough for kids to get. That said I’ll agree that Tony was bringing the cringe at his party and being unlikeable but that was the point. He was dying and drunk and that can lead anyone down a dark path. Ultimately this is character growth for Tony as well as Pepper and Rhoady. Yes, this was also a fantastic intro for Natasha. Looking forward to the next flick!

[@kaiielle]

Def don't disagree on the character growth. Excited for the next Iron Man and to see how I feel about it.

[@ccricers]

It is not the best Iron Man but is a pretty good movie in building up the MCU and integrating more characters into the world. On the Musk cameo, he did it as a return favor for having the film crew in his SpaceX headquarters (that's Hammer's building in the movie).

[@williamcapp448]

This movie had much for me, being a comic book fan. I remembered Tony's alcoholic episodes and Rhodes taking over for him during that time. So this delivered a taste of those days, although the story was different from the comics.

[@kaiielle]

Maybe one day I will dive into the comics. No interest to do so right now, so I'll enjoy the ride with the films!

[@kaenopi]

So, the Elon Musk cameo is because Hammer Industries scenes were filmed in Tesla warehouses, so they put him in the movie

[@Kasino80]

For me, I love IM2. This is the phase 1 movie I go back to most besides Avengers. There's something about Tony going through all that in basically one week. And we've all had weeks like that where EVERYTHING just piles on top of each other.

[@vicjr74]

Great reaction. I loved your public service announcement. Don't blame you for doing one. Too funny. 😂

[@zatornagirroc7175]

Don't worry about your "newbness" in this universe. A high percentage of people who saw these even in the theatre didn't know much about either. Before the movies, the Iron Man character was really kind of a sub character. In fact, many of the characters are sub characters - the X-Men were probably more well known than the characters you will see in this. So dont worry. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. :) Good reaction.

[@zuni_chief]

What I do enjoy about Iron Man 2 is Tony's development, from getting poisoned by the Palladium, finding out how much his father actually cared for him than he thought, which led to him finding a new element to power his chest reactor. I definitely didn't care about Ivan and Justin Hammer as villains either, but it's still an enjoyable film.

[@JakeH2987]

That PSA was brilliant. Now let's see if people actually listen!

[@kaiielle]

🤞🤞🤞🤞

[@AkaiAkuma_]

@@kaiielle A lot of people didn’t perceive this particular Iron Man movie very well, but me personally i greatly enjoyed it when i first saw it. Though will say it could have been better than what it was cause i’m sure u picked up on it at some point that this movie didn’t focus on any particular story element over another, i still enjoyed it very much but it could’ve been better. Also during the 1 person view of the movie yes that was Stan Lee.

[@danielficarra2557]

Doubt it there’s always something that wants to rant about something. I’m good at keeping things secret. If ppl wanna know I drop hints discreetly. I don’t out right say something that’d give the a movie a way

[@kaiielle]

​@@mikelarsen5836 I wasn't intending to replicate anything in particular. I talked monotone and with no emotions in the face for a bit of a laugh. It's okay if you don't like the bit of fun I was having within the very serious ask.

[@emmanuelmakoba6085]

Brilliant PSA

[@nigeldonaldson1647]

Vanko didnt NEED to go from good to bad. that would have meant repeating the first film plot, its made clear from the out set that his motivation was revenge for his father. plus it was also clear that he was warped as well

[@godzillalover2]

There was a long involved story line in the comics that had call backs over several years that addressed Stark being an alcoholic and the self-destructiveness of the addiction, It was a nice touch highlighting that flaw in him.

[@Henry-fn1zw]

the first iron man CLEARS😂😂

[@karl-70]

You can't watch a film for the first time more than once sadly, but! I can watch you watch them for the first time and sort of get that buzz via your reactions. That's why I enjoy film reactors. Doubly why I am absolutely behind your no spoilers rule. It just heightens the enjoyment for everyone. P.s. If you haven't seen the matrix would add it to your list? A great reactor film for sure!

[@kaiielle]

The Matrix is marked as a "hopefully soon on the channel" reaction!

[@karl-70]

@@kaiielle yayy! 😁🍿

[@tylerfoster6267]

@@kaiielle I'm going to get in here early as someone who hopes you not only watch The Matrix, but also the sequels, which I think are essential to the story being told.

[@tomasbeha1645]

Hammer is played by Sam Rockwell, who you may also know from The Green Mile. I hope that you'd also add Moon (2009) to your list, brilliant performance by Rockwell, and a complete lack of reactions on that one - a favorite of mine.

[@kaiielle]

I haven't seen The Green Mile yet. A reaction I've marked for the channel to do some time soon.

[@chadjenkins4876]

Sam Rockwell is one of those who blends in really well and is in a bunch of movies

[@eqgilethan]

@@kaiielle The Green Mile is a MUST see. Sam Rockwell is a favorite of mine and though he was good in this, it is to me one of his weakest roles. Beyond The Green Mile, Seven Psychopaths is another great film and another great performance from Rockwell, but you should also check out Moon as Tomas Beha mentioned. It is my opinion Rockwell's masterpiece!

[@johnmcclure40]

The thing about Hammer is that he could have been incredibly successful, if he hadn't tried to be Tony Stark. If you think about it, all of the weapons that Rhodey had worked just fine except for the 'ex-wife'. Basically, he made good standard armaments, it was only when he tried to be a great innovator that he failed.

[@TheScottSlater]

Great reaction as always! Not my favorite MCU movie either but I still enjoy it and I feel like what it DOES do well is show that Tony's journey from who he was to who he has the potential to become will definitely take a while. I feel like it's actually a pretty real portrayal of human nature. What I mean is that I've seen people (myself included) make the conscious decision to make a change and become a better person, but when the challenges and the obstacles show up for the first time, all of the old toxic traits resurface until that person finds a way to be a better person WHEN the shit hits the fan, not just before. If that makes sense.

[@kaiielle]

Completely agree with you! And also experienced that before too.

[@Murrlin27]

I LOVE the Exit the donut! line!!! >3

[@RJB2688]

Sam Rockwell was also in Three Billboards, absolutely brilliant actor

[@andreshernandez1180]

I commented in the first one that RDJ met with Elon to mold Tony after him, this time he finally makes a cameo appearance, Justin Hammer's hangar is actually Space X

[@dennytaylor1005]

I like the balanced way you review thing - what you didn't quite like, but also letting us know what you did like.

[@radicaladz]

Fun fact: the Iron Man and War Machine vs the Hammer Drones sequences were storyboarded by Genndy Tartakovsky, creator Dexter's Lab, Samurai Jack, Hotel Transylvania and Primal.

[@modo6901]

Yay! That was fun. I can't wait for more MCU.

[@Paxtin]

I can get why people don't like Iron man 2 as much as the first one, but I feel like at the same time people are a bit too harsh on it. No, it's not as good, but I honestly don't think it's a bad film personally. For me, it's the follow up to the events of the first film. In the first one Stark has a wake up call and decides to take responsibility for what he puts out in the world. The second movie is him growing up, in a sense, and having to face that responsibility. I do agree though, the villain didn't have enough of an impression on the story. That over all to me is the biggest flaw of the film.

[@jjkehrley]

I LOVE your BB-8 mug!

[@AutomationDnD]

GOOD To See you here I know IronMan2 was -NOT. a Fav' amongst movie analysts but... it Was indeed part of the Stark story

[@CaptainFrost32]

06:34 In the comics, Tony Stark had many inventions shelved as not ready for development and kept as Top-Secret designs. He used the Iron Man suit as a testbed for many refinements. When he exposed his true identity as Iron Man, the Pentagon liaison used that as a break in the dam to unload the shelves by demonstrating from archives that Tony violated the agreement. Many of the devices were farmed out to Milspec companies and Stark could not prevent his tech from going into production, warts and all. When the tech failed, he took the blame, but he was not permitted to engineer a correction as a consultant. In order to get the leverage, he actually went before Congress to be approved as Secretary of Defense.

[@JK9C]

great reaction, War Machine is one of my favorite Marvel characters

[@benjamindas0440]

I love Ironman movies ❤️ your reactions are awesome too

[@rustybroomhandle]

A film I recommend you watch is Chef, directed by John Favreau. It's a metaphor for the creative struggles he had with the studio during the making of this film.

[@antoineporche-rideaux4841]

the actor who played hammer was in the 1st charlie's angels movie and him and the actress who played the reporter tony slept with have been together since before they both were in ironman 2

[@Shinnizle]

I just got around to watching the wrap-up, and I pretty much agree with everything you've said. The movie was entertaining/enjoyable, but nothing special. Sam Rockwell was amazing (as he always is, to be honest 😍) and ScarJo is a very welcome addition to the MCU! 🔥 Don Cheadle makes a wonderful War Machine as well. And, as much it pains me to say it, since I'm a big Iron Man fan... I don't particularly disagree with that last Letterboxd "review" 😂 Looking forward to your reaction for Thor! ❤

[@franknsteiner2575]

Iron Man II was rushed into production, which created the blah reception. Micky Rourke (Vanko) had much of his story cut from the movie. Had due diligence been done to his character, it would have been a different movie. Sam Rockwell's dancing was the most commented upon aspect of the movie, minus the appearance of Scarlett Johansson.

[@kaiielle]

Oh damn, yeah I would have loved to see more on Vanko!

[@markcainyourfriendinthecar3387]

Sam Rockwell is so good at playing people you just want to hate

[@danielficarra2557]

There’s actually a fun fact I’ll mention later

[@azb-comics]

Iron Man is my Fav. And I think this movie was a lot of fun. Mean not the best, but definitely not the worth it's definitely a fun rewacht, Ebel movie.

[@Tinychristmastreechipmunk]

I wasn't the biggest fan of this movie, in my opinion it wasn't on the same level as the past iron man movie. It was good but not great. Also I love your reactions to everything! You seem like such a fun person! 💛

[@CrazeeAdam]

I would say, there are really, no "bad" MCU movies at all. Some may just be "average" compared to others, but there are no out right just, like, horrible movies in this franchise. I think we get spoiled sometimes by like top of the line, amazing movies, and then others just seem to fall flat comparatively, but IMO that doesn't necessarily mean they are bad.

[@kaiielle]

I'm cool with average movies! I can even find good things to say about movies that I would rate 2 stars.

[@CrazeeAdam]

@@kaiielle mmhmm. Like movies don't get like much "worse" than these past 2 i would say. And there are those that are considered A LOT better than Iron Man even. So you got plenty to look forward too.

[@geraldmcboingboing7401]

Great reaction, as always!!!!

[@kaiielle]

Thank you!

[@geraldmcboingboing7401]

​@@kaiielle I received a comment from someone telling me that I had won the contest and to contact you through "Telegram."

[@kaiielle]

@@geraldmcboingboing7401 That is a spam account, they are everywhere on KZbin trying to trick people by impersonating creators. Please ignore!

[@geraldmcboingboing7401]

@@kaiielle Thank you, thank you, thank you for the heads up!!! Fore-warned is fore-armed. Well, actually this is after-warned, after-armed, but it'll be "fore" the next time. Have a great day!!!

[@geraldmcboingboing7401]

I see that the spam comment has now been deleted, but I'm not going to delete my comments, in case this might help someone else, who gets the bogus comment.

[@LightsCameraJake]

This movie is the one that changes stark for the better. He found out his dad really did love him and tony for the majority of his life thought he has been rejected by his own dad. This changes Tony's thoughts a perspectives on his own life going forward and you can see that when tony not only hears his dad say he hes the best creation hes ever had, but also when discovered the new element. sorry RE discovered. The movie is average at best in the MCU BUT its the one with the most character development for Tony early on. Think about it, Tony's version of the arc reactor in his chest was killing him, his dad saved his life even in death. Btw dont worry about not knowing the comics at all. The MCU is its own self contained thing. They pull characters from the comics and use them as a sort of a guied but you have to remember all these comics have different versions of the same hero and many different stories depending on when they were written. The MCU hardly follows any of the comics as they were written.

[@tomr5577]

Excellent! I am going to second what so many people have said, it's great to watch someone coming into this without a lot of preconceived notions, without a lot of background info, so when we see you watching these, it's like the way we saw them when they came out in theaters! and now that I think about it, complicated movies with lots of intricacies, like this, and like iron Man, sre something that sometimes you have to see multiple times. and I know my opinion of several of the marvel movies has changed over time. come to think of it, by the time you're done getting just one reaction posted, you've already seen the movie at least twice! once live, and once through editing. I'd be curious to know if your opinion changes on movies as you go through that process? looking forward to your next MCU reaction and review! I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping you enjoy them the way we all have!

[@kaiielle]

If my opinion does change, or I feel like I missed saying something in recording, I add in "editor's notes" into the reactions. I've done this on quite a few in the past. My reaction to The Last Jedi, for example, features a very heavy editor's note within my thoughts and review.

[@koolme666]

another great reaction, fun fact sam rockwell actually auditioned for the role of tony stark but lost it to RDJ so they brought sam into the role of hammer.

[@kaiielle]

I'm glad they involved him in some way!

[@BeardiusMaximus]

Another fun reaction. Please keep them coming. Good job

[@antoineporche-rideaux4841]

also the actor who played justin hammer is a big fan of the legend james brown so the dance he was doing was a tribute to james brown

[@po5283]

Just in case you were curious, this actually takes place just before the events in The Incredible Hulk, with the events of Iron Man 2, Thor and The Incredible Hulk, all occurring within the same week. Also, if no one has already mentioned it, there are a series of shorts, called Marvel One Shots, that are a quick fun watch and add a little extra context to some of the scenes, the one that immediately follows this movie is called, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer.

[@thegreatarcticfox]

i just found your channel and im enjoying your blind marvel reactions, looking forward to more :D

[@KCATWIL]

I'm so glad you're enjoying the journey! And I'm enjoying you using you're intuition and powers of deduction to see if you can read some of the character motives and seeing potential Easter eggs. I think I enjoyed this movie because it is a little more humorous. I love the introduction to Natascha and her kicking ass. I like that Rhodes takes the suit and his fight with Tony and then their team up. The 'villans' are more antagonists and for me that's OK. Having Fury in the mix giving Tony some of his dad's history and giving him motivation is fantastic. And Coulson, well, I love that man. I do wish you would watch the 'One Shots' in order right after the movies they are related to, they provide some character insights.

[@kaiielle]

Thanks! Gonna save the one-shots for later on.

[@Dbbitch]

“Same though” 😂 Ayo

[@ericstarkey551]

I can't wait to see your reaction the further you delve into the mcu

[@SJ19_998]

I love IM1 and 2 so much

[@antoineporche-rideaux4841]

the guy who happy was fighting at hammer warehouse was played by dwayne the rock johnson cousin who was the rocks stunt double in a lot of his movies

[@RedmoonWHO]

"Cool shot but oh my gosh..." if you re-watch it, you an see the green driver looking at Venko, to make sure he was at the right place for the stunt.

[@michaelconnor1542]

I really like this movie. I think people miss the point. This is exactly how Tony would act, facing a death he couldn't stop. Jokes and recklessness. It's all a deflection. When you watch with that in mind, it becomes a better movie.

[@eolsunder]

i love her starting the movies its so much fun watching from the beginning.

[@KennyYoutubeMakesMeFeelGood]

Hi Kaiielle first I love your hair looks nice and I really love your reaction to Iron Man 2❤❤❤ it's really cool how they bought Scarlett Johansson in this movie. My favorite part of your reaction is when War Machine and Ironman and Whiplash fight each other at the Garden. Can't wait to see her next reaction to Marvel your reactions are the best Kaiielle😊 I'm a big LA fan I also support you on your Instagram and Twitter you may see me on both too.

[@Drake844221]

This one definitely hits softer than a lot of the other movies, in my opinion. I mean, it isn't bad, but it just doesn't pack a punch. It feels more like it was necessary to set a number of things up, rather than just... doing its own thing and happening to also introduce other important things. Could have been better, but it doesn't leave me upset.

[@tylerfoster6267]

This movie was widely criticized when it came out by fans of the first Iron Man as a step down, which I think is fair/accurate regardless, but seeing it again years after the fact, I thought it was interesting because in retrospect, it feels more in keeping with the rest of the MCU, as the films do settle on a consistent tone and feel, especially with the way they're always planting seeds for future movies, and the first one naturally didn't do nearly as much of that because they weren't sure the movie was going to work. In my opinion, sometimes the consistency is good and sometimes it isn't. We'll see what you think as the series progresses -- I won't set any expectations for you, but I will say that some of the next few movies are among the most exciting for me because I personally like them (and the ones Iove may not be the entries that are the most popular with other people). Going to suggest Kiss Kiss Bang Bang again (I believe I put it in the form), the movie that led to Downey being Iron Man. I want to warn that it has some very dark content in it, but there's also a great blend of humor and mystery, and you can see lots of common DNA, not to mention, it is set during Christmas, so it might be fitting for December!

[@neospock5034]

Yes, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a great and very underrated flick!

[@TetsuoVI]

Wow, I think that's the first time I have heard someone's view of this movie was more contingent on how they felt about the villains (which is exactly my critique of another movie in the MCU but I won't talk about here given your PSA 😉). Even though I like this movie a lot I can totally see your perspective, it's somewhere between highest mid tier or lower top tier for me. Nice reaction and analysis. I also thought that this movie was not trying to have the same tone as the first one because where Iron Man was made with the gamble that the MCU would gain traction and thus it put it's best foot forward, however this movie knows it's part of a larger story and thus wants to also tell this episode differently. Just a thought.

[@ieyke]

This is NEVER explained anywhere, so it's not a spoiler. It's not a secret or anything. It just simply never comes up, for some reason, beyond what this movie tells us: "Natalie Rushman" is her cover name and Natasha Romanoff is her "real" name. But she's Russian and "Natasha Romanoff" is NOT a real Russian name that would ever be used in Russia. Rather it's a Westernization of her ACTUAL real name - Natalia Alianovna Romanova. They never use her actual real native Russian name at any point in the movies, for whatever reason, despite that that just IS her name and what everyone calls her in the comics. They thought "Natalia Romanova" was too complicated for American audiences, I guess?

[@mizrolist]

Well, the name Natalia Alianovna Romanoff (not Romanova, true) is mentioned once in one particular movie. Plus she is known in the comics as Natasha Romanoff as well.

[@antoineporche-rideaux4841]

the giant doughnut tony was sitting eating a doughnut in was a real giant doughnut from a famous doughnut shop out here in california and there are at least of them

[@hoodwinkiez]

Aw, you edited out the "Little prick" joke from Garry Sandling (Senator). It was such a good line.

[@kaiielle]

For time, I have to edit out a lot from these videos, including many of my own reactions to statements. Can't remember if I reacted to that line or not but if I did, I didn't feel it was worth keeping in.

[@Jessica_Roth]

Sorry to be late to the party. Loved your reaction. I missed this one in the theaters, since it got mixed reviews and I had no idea they would build such a library of interconnected films. And you're right; it does suffer from "sequel-itis", where once you don't have an origin story to tell, writers tend to just throw a lot of stuff at the screen (multiple antagonists…we have four, more or less, here) and just hope for the best. To be fair, Justin Theroux is more an actor than a screenwriter, and his best screenplays are pure comedies. So perhaps it just wasn't a good fit. But yes, where Tony spent the first film coming to terms with his place in the world and making affirmative decisions, here he mostly just has a physical problem (with a deus-ex-machina solution that falls in his lap) and relationship issues with Pepper. And Tony never suffers any real setbacks, beating Vanko relatively easily both times; his issue is the number of issues he has to deal with, not any major obstacle to overcome. A fun time, but not hugely important, bar getting more context for Tony's relationship with Howard, his father, which only got a passing mention in the first movie. (We get to meet Scarlett Johannson's character and Rhodey's character act moves forward, but the movie isn't called "Rhodey", after all.) A nice shout out to the comics is Happy driving to save Tony at the race course; in the comics, Tony meets Happy when he wrecks his race car and Happy pulls him to safety. OTOH, Theroux tries to telescope a rather long arc (Tony falls prey to alcoholism, eventually giving up the suit temporarily and that's how Rhodey moves from friend to fellow hero) into one night of drunken acting out. It's a little rushed, possibly because Downey didn't want to play Tony as an alcoholic, given his own personal history. I'm also not thrilled with making Justin Hammer a total clown, when in the comics he was a coldly manipulative business rival of Tony's, subcontracting out his illegal activities to various minor villains and paying for their lawyers, etc. Interestingly, in the comics, Whiplash was a mafia enforcer and one of Hammer's stable of employees; Anton Vanko was a Soviet-era foe of Tony (who fought a LOT of Commies back in the 1960s) but of course the Soviets are long gone. So Theroux creates Ivan as a mash-up of Anton and the original Whiplash and brings in Hammer that way. It's actually rather clever structurally, but he just loads it with so many jokes and thus it's a bit off, IMO. Not that I don't LOVE LOVE LOVE Sam Rockwell (in addition to "Galaxy Quest", you should see him in the 1999 "Charlie's Angels" [the Cameron Diaz-Drew Barrymore-Bill Murray version] and in "Moon"), but even so. Looking forward to your review of "Captain America: The First Avenger" tomorrow!

[@kaiielle]

Thanks! And I'm taking a break from MCU this week, but Thor is next anyway. Schedule gets shared every Sunday in the community tab!

[@Jessica_Roth]

@@kaiielle And I actually knew Thor is next (indeed, I sometimes give new reactors a longterm order to help out), I just had Cap on the brain, somehow. A bit embarrassing, honestly. My bad.

[@kaiielle]

@@Jessica_Roth All good!

[@danielouellette1258]

I can’t believe your just watching this movie now for the first time

[@roberthodson8645]

If you're a Don Cheadle fan try watching "Don Cheadle as captain planet".

[@lordmortarius538]

Ivan Vanko in the comics is the villain known as Crimson Dynamo, who at the time was a Soviet counter to Iron Man. In this film he's sort of a cross between that and another villain known as Whiplash, and in this film he's known as the latter, mainly because the Soviet Union doesn't exist at this time and no one would get the Crimson Dynamo references :P Also in the comics, Rhodey is one of Iron Man's allies who is known as the War Machine, with ALL the guns :)

[@mikebrown7799]

Hi Kaiielle, your hair is looking nice!🙂Sadly DJ AM Goldstein died before the film was released, from an accidental overdose. Great reactions to the Iron Man sequel, Kaiielle!!!🎬👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 I agree the original is better. I think it is largely due to the strong original story in the first film.

[@paulieluppino1856]

30:20 ....Worse that watching Hammer dancing is to hear his jokes......

[@shainewhite2781]

On this day in 1990, PREDATOR 2 was released in theaters.

[@neillio]

This movie suffered from being a writers strike film, so the screenplay is really a mess and much of it was kind of improvised. That said, I tend to like this movie more on rewatches. I miss lower stakes superhero films.

[@kaiielle]

I honestly have a feeling that I might enjoy it more with rewatches as well, and with the rest of the MCU in my brain. Excited to find out!

[@-zerxvil-5208]

2:21 John (Happy) play the driver for RDJ (Tony) 4:31 Stan Lee 7:55 me too. I like the old KZbin 14:05 It is about that though, hence he said "you loose" as in there's someone that can made in now rather then 10 to 15 years. And also it'll made people like hammer industry see that he exist and he have the technology. 19:03 lol

[@ricardoortiz4870]

27:44 Captain America Foreshadowing

[@bakingpaper45]

she literally asked for 0 info on other films

[@MoogieSRO]

Subbed for the MCU Journey :)

[@nolanrussell6326]

Iron Man 2 and Incredible Hulk are widely regarded as two of the weakest MCU movies. If you enjoyed both, that's a good sign. It only gets better from here

[@sirjohnmara]

Sam Rockwell is a great actor. Great!

[@Pohgrey]

I totally get what you're saying about Tony with his ego cranked up being a turnoff. I would point out tho, that part of the reason he was such a douchebag was because he legitimately thought he was dying and he was acting out. I know it doesn't change the fact that it was a turnoff, but there was a reason for it in this movie.

[@theidealneal]

Humor in Marvel movies is always a hit or miss. It's always either too much or not enough, this movie being in the too much category. However, later down the Marvel road I think they achieve the perfect humor to serious ratio. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on those!

[@joce-in-stitches]

I agree that this movie isn't terrible but isn't great. I think if they had focused more on Venko as the villain and completely removed Justin Hammer, it would have been a better movie.

[@MrDarkwing78]

"A funny thing happened on the way to Thor's Hammer". Just saying. Also saying well done on Black Widow, and its Natasha Romanov, Natalie Rushman was a pseudonym.

[@Black71Eagle]

Here's a philosophical question... making drones take the place of soldiers will help to protect life and the odds of victory, ... but will that also mean a nation might use these drones to attack and take over another nation with only financial cost as a restraint taking human loss out of the equation...and making "soldiers" less connected to their actions and become less concerned about the life being put at risk

[@Roi55]

for me personally this is probably one of my least favorite MCU movies... not because it is bad but just because the others are so good (i hope this isnt considered a spoiler in your eyes, it isnt to me at least)

[@kaiielle]

Nah, this is fine! Thank you for being careful and respectful.

[@LongIslandSoldier]

Looking forward to her getting to Gandalf fighting Optimus Prime on the Deathstar.

[@minnesotajones261]

And don't forget that Pepper is actually Tony's mother... oops - I said too much!