Iron Man 2: At the Core of It

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.

Audio/Video Quality: Excellent quality, I don't notice any degrading visuals or hiccups in the audio at all.
Visual Editing: Almost perfect. Some scenes like Senate hearing, I can notice the deleted scene added in because of the slight difference in color grading and aspect ratio but It's not going to detract you from the movie.
Audio Editing: Flawless.
Narrative: More focused, enjoyable, and cohesive now. Hammer might be a bit to bland in this cut, but It's either that or dweeb hammer which a lot of people find that annoying. I also like Pepper and Tony relationship in this cut, less bickering between the two and more like a couple who just doesn't have the time to talk and understand each other now.
Enjoyment: Overall, it's a superb cut that really tighten up the film and make it less jarring. Takes a film that's like 5/10 to a really solid 7/10. and I think this is the best that it could have been given how bad the script {which lapis molari can't fix] and the source. Thank you for your fantastic work lapis molari.

I asked Lapis for the link to this back in February last year and I think it was around January I actually sat down to watch the film when I decided to go on a Marvel Binge.

This was a very simple edit, remove the bloat and tighten the narrative, while re-rigging the structure so there's an actual story to tell. Or tell the story that was always there, but make it easier to follow. One thing I like about At the core of it is the way Justin Hammer now mostly comes off as arrogant rather than stupid. He's an inferior Tony and we can still see that, but at least now he feels like less of a caricture. Tonys Declining health actually feels like more of a concern here as well instead of an afterthought.

Good stuff here, sorry I took so long.

Lapis molari cuts the more silly/unnecessary scenes from iron man 2 and adds in some more context with deleted scenes to make the narrative make more sense. I recommend this fanedit highly if you are doing a rewatch of the entire MCU, this pretty much replaces the theatrical cut for me.
I appreciated the more serious approach to Tony's health problems while retaining some of his more charming self, because it really makes a good contrast.
Also, i think Pepper was improved too making her more of an equal to Tony and berating him less. Trimming out Vanko's quirks to make him a more streamlined villain also works better, and I liked that Hammer isn't a complete screwup in this cut. Having them be more serious helps with the tone of the movie and raises the stakes. There are some color grading difference in the inserted deleted scenes, but thats the only complaint I have.
Overall, this movie goes from a 6/10 to an 8/10 in my eyes, and a better follow-up to iron man 1.

Some of the changes were great. For example removing the scene where Tony kicks his driver out so he can race, making it seem as though Whiplash logically would have expected him to be racing, and Pepper kissing his helmet before throwing it (taken from the trailer). Removing "that is not my bird" was also nice since the scene was just a time wasting distraction originally.
I appreciate trimming of unnecessary dialog and overall reduced runtime. With that said, some of the changes seemed strange, including a couple of instances where a setup to a joke is trimmed yet the payoff remains, or vice versa.
The relatively large file size was great as it means the video had a high bitrate therefore higher quality, and the inclusion of a 5.1 surround mix (along with optional subtitles) was greatly appreciated.