Iron Man 2: At the Core of It

I loved this! I never minded Iron Man 2, but this is a much better version. As others mentioned, the deleted scenes are slightly noticeable, but it doesn't diminish the enjoyment. And I really love the focus on Tony's heart condition. What a great edit!

Finally, Iron Man 2, but good. Flawless edit, perfect audio, wise trimming and nice additions. My only nitpick is that we can tell where it's a deleted scene or not, but it's barely noticeable. Otherwise, great edit. I recommend it highly.

Iron Man 2 is a strange beast. It was important for setting up the MCU, but not particularly well-remembered. It meandered too much and never really got around to having a point. While there are still plenty of problems with the film, beyond the scope of what editing can fix, this is the version I recommend watching. The villains aren't just jokes, the story is trimmed down a bit, and overall it just feels more focused. I think the Senate scene for me was the best overall, and it was greatly improved by the edits in this cut. Also, as a comic nerd, I appreciate the DVD art made for this edit which absolutely must be checked out.

This is a valiant effort. There are structural flaws to Iron Man 2 that no editing can fix, but what CAN be done is to smooth out all the weird crap and make what IS there enjoyable. Lapis has done this.

*** SPOILERS ***
Problems that can't be solved:
-Rhodey just flying away with a suit, to say nothing of getting in and out of it later. O_O
-The recipe for a new element -coincidentally, the one Tony needs for his chest battery- hidden in the miniature layout for a science expo from decades ago? What? I mean, really. WHAT?!! And that's what resolves the MAIN problem of this film. Deus Ex Dopey.

Also, I was about to complain about Tony's drunk party and how it reminded me of Raimi's Spiderman 3, but I think in this case it's appropriate. He did believe he was dying, AND is canonically an alcoholic. ;)

The good news is that what Lapis has done with his edit here is take the emotional story of Tony's attempt to find a solution to his Palladium Problem, set against The Revenge of Whip Guy™ and make it very watchable. He focused on those themes and removed any superfluous nonsense that would have distracted from them, and has made a much stronger film by doing so.

Some say Iron Man 2 is one of the worst MCU films. To me, the theatrical IM2 isn't as great as the rest of this particular cinematic universe but it isn't as terrible as people complain it to be. Iron Man's sequel did though have its flaws as any other film does whether small nor big. Personally I do agree that IM2 may be one of MCU's least best, but it isn't that horrible in the end. Believe me, there are way worse films that exist. Ishtar anyone???

Now we get to the core of it. (Get the pun? lol)

This edit is much more desirable than it's theatrical counterpart. More focus on the actual story and less corniness. We now care even more for the characters, as they are fleshed out further. Especially Black Widow's first ever appearance in the MCU stands out better than before.

I do not wanna spoil anything for the ones who haven't viewed this edit yet, but the deleted scenes back in and the new end credits are a fantastic touch. I am very pleased with this fan edit.

Thanks for the great work and hopefully more MCU edits to come.