Iron Man 2: At the Core of It

I quite enjoyed the original cut at the time, but this edit strengthens the narrative, diminishing the nagging from Pepper and the more obnoxious Hammer moments. The deleted scenes and audio mixing are very well integrated...some scenes transition through weird Star Wars-like wipes which feel out of place in an MCU film (it's weird the editor chose not to run these other moments by the suppor in his project's main thread, when they had been instrumental in getting him to sort out another transition, dropping the wipe altogether for that one scene), there was nothing visually or audibly wrong here regardless, but it is a bit funky. There are ways in which to transition spotlessly without resorting to wipes, but I'll let it slide if he had no alternative.

Massive improvement over the original! Keeping the focus on the main issue of Tony and his heart really helps this movie. I really dislike the abundant marvel-humor and this cuts it down just right. The deleted scenes could use some color correction as it was pretty easy to spot, but n0t a huge deal. This was a great experience that absolutely replaces the original.

The fanedit succeeds at being what it sets out to be: a more agreeable, less grating version of Iron Man 2. 'Nuff said, right? Well, there's a few gripes I had with the edit, as well as some particular praises:

- Lapis said that "Vanko is a determined but minor villain who never rises to Stark's level," so it feels a little weird to keep the entirety of Vanko's introduction. The primary threat of the movie is Tony's heart condition, but the Vanko stuff overshadows it, seeing as it's much longer than the Stark scene. Maybe cut to Stark after Vanko pulls out the blueprints that say "Howard Stark - Anton Vanko," so both the internal and external threats feel equal.

- Nitpick: it feels weird for Tony to be asking Happy if Kate Mara "comes with the car" if he's supposed to be more dedicated to Pepper in this edit. Ditto for when Tony is oogling "Natalie," feels a little gratuitous, imo.

- At the Senate Hearing, Justin Hammer saying that Howard Stark was "Really a father to the millitary - industrial age" sounds spliced together from two different lines.

- Love the deleted scenes (Coulson at the Senate Hearing, the Nanoball, Tony letting the lady fly in the Iron Man hands) but they need color correction (I can live with the unfinished CGI in the Nanoball scene).

- Tony is cut off when he tells Senator Stern that "America is secure." Wish the rest of the "you can't have it" line was kept, it's Tony's "sometimes, shit happens, and who ya gonna call?" moment and cutting it feels unnatural.

- I agree hard with masirimso17, it's very disappointing that "If you can make God bleed" was cut. It's a big trailer moment, just like Pepper kissing the Iron Man helmet before throwing it out the jet (which was a great inclusion, btw).

- Tony and Pepper in the Jet back to the states works very well, though that may be it's its own scene rather than an add-on to an existing scene with different lighting, lol. Nevertheless, well done!

- Thanks for cutting out the "Iron Man pees in the suit" gag. Upon reflection, it did not age well.

- I can't remember if the music was so dire when blowing up drinking glasses with repulsor blasts, but it was a great choice. Made me believe that someone would've been killed if Rhodey didn't step in.

- When Tony and Rhodey are fighting, there's a weird editing choice. It goes "Tony gets knocked up into his bedroom -- Tony falls on the bedroom floor -- Tony and Rhodey fall AGAIN immediately into the house lobby?" I'd either cut less, or cut it so that it's "Tony gets knocked into the bedroom, then right befor he lands on the floor, cut to him and Rhodey landing in the hallway."

- Nitpick: I miss Howard saying "I'm Howard Stark, and I'd like to show you...my ass." I thought it was funny, as a bit of in-universe corpsing.

- Really appreciate that Hamer got Vanko HIS "burd," as well as cutting out the used car salesman pitch to Rhodey and the millitary.

- It's weird that we cut from Tony inventing his new element, to an establishing shot of his house (where we already know that's where he's been), then cut to...a few moments later, with Tony cleaing up and in a robe? It feels that, after Coulson leaves, we see Tony inventing the new element, then cut to Hammer with the millitary and Vanko, then cut to Tony in his robe, since it flows from "Vanko being watched by Hammer's men" to "Vanko immediately killed Hammer's men" quite smoothly.

- Nitpick: I know it's personal preference, and the edits are really seamless and good, but it's wrong to not see Justin Hammer dancing on stage, as well as him naming which division of the millitary each drone is in ("Army! Navy! Marines!").

- I'm a broken record at this point, but it feels wrong we don't see Pepper learns that Tony almost died of radiation poisoning, since the rest of the edit has been building up to Tony telling her so. I know it's full of the grating improv, but it makes sense for her to be grating and angry, since she's still mad at him for what he pulled at his birthday party.

- Everyone else has said this, but Tony and Pepper on the rooftop goes WAY too fast. Plus I miss Rhodey's comments about how them kissing looks like "two gorillas fighting over a grapefruit," or whatever the line was.

- "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to Thor's Hammer" as a mid-credit scene? Nice!!!

All in all, this was a great edit, with room for improvement. Excellent for MCU completionists. I'm holding out for a version 2! :-)

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.