Iron Man 2: At the Core of It

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.

First of all, a disclaimer: I am a fan of Iron Man 2. It's my second favourite Iron Man, and my 11th favourite MCU film. I understand the flaws people have with it, but I am still a fan of it's 'goofy/wacky' nature and love every second of it. With that said, I do strongly believe the narrative is all over the place in these films.

This edit fully changes those 'problems', however. If you had any issues with the narrative structure of Iron Man 2, I assure you they will be gone when you watch this edit. It puts a clear focus on the main plotline of this film, and really gets to THE CORE OF IT.

Besides a few unfortunate A/V moments, just due to lack of available footage, I assume, this edit is probably the best way to watch this film. Especially if you noticed the scattered plot of the original.

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.

Really, all of the previous comments have nailed down any weak points of critiques of what is, unquestionably, a vastly improved version of Iron Man 2.
Yes, some editing issues etc., but this was a much more entertaining and denser film - I was so happy about the improved pace, a result of carefully cutting down the bulk of the film's showboating, and I loved how much extra the re-added deleted scenes gave it, too.

A great example of the real value of a fanedit. Excellent work.

Iron Man 2 has long been one of those films of the MCU(along with The Incredible Hulk) that I desperately wanted to like but simply couldn't because of the overall product.Now thanks to the Tomahawk editon of IH and for IM 2,At the core of it,I can really keep revisiting these films without pulling myself through the theatrical releases themselves.

The narrative here is much more substantial than the one the theatrical release tried to present.We know straight off even before the titles that Tony is suffering from Palladium posioing and that it is the main "villain" of the film,not Hammer and not Whiplash.The 10 mins cut too add a significant feeling of "Lightness" to the film as you don't feel like the film is going on endlessly.The transitions(while apparent at times) are for the most part not abrupt and don't hinder one's viewing experience of the film(except the one that comes immediately after the aftermarth of the battle at stark expo).Justin Hammer also seems more imposing as a threat instead of a silly goofball who you wondered established a weapons industry(I still enjoy his comedic quips that were there in the theatrical release but they take away from the immersion in the movie).Last but not the least,the post-titles scene has got to be the best thing in this edit,I mean when I first saw the deleted scene just as itself it seemed hopeless wanting to see it incorporated into the film as i believed it would take too much time and effort for someone to do it,but lapis molari manges this too and gives us the opening we were looking forward to from the trailers nearly 10 years ago.
Also the movie benefits immensly from the removal several of Tony-Pepper scenes,I believe that was one of the several aspects that ultimately ended up ruining Iron Man 2 for me and I'm glad it's been kept to a minimum here.
The only deleted scene I found not worthy of inclusion(but included here) was the "Nanoball" scene,The CGI is very very apparent(and unfinished) and I am sure that there was no way for it to be masked but completely removing it would have been better,In my opinion of course.

All in all,A great Fanedit(Very Grateful for the subtitles,makes it feel more "Official") and a worthy replacement of my Blu-Ray Disc of my MCU Collection.

P.S:Loved the Inclusion of "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer",it works perfectly as a mid-credits scene.