Iron Man 2: At the Core of It

This is a great edit. I watched this edit with my little cousin: I am showing her the MCU before we go to see Endgame. I decided to show her this edit Iron Man 2, and I was not disappointed.

The film becomes much more focused. Lapis molari does his best to restructure and tighten a messy plot, and man does it work better. Deleted scenes are added to emphasize certain things, anything that distracts from the main story is trimmed, and the theme of legacy is allowed to finally shine. I also loved little changes like adding "That was easy" after they beat Vanko.

I do have some issues with it, though. First of all, some deleted scenes don't visually match the normal movie. Color correction was needed here. Maybe there was some made by lapis molari but wasn't enough, but I don't know. Also, the "Nanoball" deleted scene I felt was completely unnecessary and has very bad incomplete CGI. But despite our objection to a certain wipe in the discussion thread, I didn't mind the other wipes in the film at all, save for one at the end where it transitions from Pepper to the SHIELD building.

I also think some cuts are very rough and abrupt, and it really takes you out of the movie. Off the top of my head two examples are: the transition from Tony, Hammer and Christine Everhart to Tony looking at his blood toxicity in front of the mirror. The second one, as I referenced before, was the last scene with Tony and Pepper. Pepper is throwing a temper tantrum but then it cuts to Tony suddenly calming down and saying she deserves better, and Pepper smiling, and suddenly they're kissing... It's clear quite a bit is cut, and it feels extremely rushed and choppy.

Finally, my last issue is a narrative one. It's not a plot-hole or anything, but I really missed the rest of the dialogue between Tony and Ivan in the prison room. "If you can make God bleed, people will cease to believe in him." These lines, and that scene which I firmly believe is the best scene in the movie, are connected to the theme of legacy and explains Ivan Vanko's motivation, adding depth to his revenge plot. Removing it just makes Ivan, who was a Marvel villain with potential to be really great, even lesser in my eyes.

As I side note, I would like to mention that my little cousin thought this film was the weakest of the MCU films because it was slow paced and, in her words, boring, in the first two acts (especially in the slllooow, complicated-for-a-child senate meeting, and overly long dialogue scenes). I agree that the pacing in the first two acts still remains slow, even kind of amplified with the added deleted scenes. However she got much more hooked and excited in the third act, which she thought had great action. Also, she really loved Black Widow!

I apologize that my criticisms are more than my praises, because the edit really triumphs in improving the film and making a focused narrative, something the original film really fell short on. I highly recommend it.

I didn't like the theatrical version at all, but I enjoyed this version. The original film is a pretty choppy piece of work. It was pretty noticeable that there wasn't much of a plot, and that the actors were improvising. For years I had thought of editing Iron Man 2 myself. I tried more than once, just couldn't get anywhere with it. But this edit is great. I so wish there was more footage out there, more deleted scenes, so that the dialogue could be tightened up even more. I don't mean that as a diss, just that there didn't seem to be enough coverage in scenes so make it easier to cut around. But this edit streamlines the narrative so much better. Sooo much better. Having the true enemy be the palladium poisoning was brilliant. I didn't even realize how serious a threat it was until things were reoriented to make that the focal point. Mickey Rourke's escape from prison works so well now, very solid cut. I could never understand in the theatrical version why he would blow up his cell to fake his death, then kill a guy in the hallway. Overall, everything is a vast improvement. The characters have motivation, most of the silliness is taken out, and the plot is as tight as it can be given what was available to work with. This is my go-to version for this film, and am grateful somebody cracked it.

I really liked the original cut of Iron Man 2 but this edit is so much better and that is mainly to the idea of focusing on the palladium poisoning. But sometimes the transition from scenes is not to good. and also some cutting of lines are noticeable.
overall i love this edit.
Highly recommend it
I love the new post credit scene

I was not a fan of the original Iron Man 2. After the incredible first one, this was a let down. I would characterize it as a filler movie at best.

This edit greatly improved it and actually salvaged the movie for me, because it brought to the front the actual "bad guy" of the movie which was Tony Stark's heart condition and all the effects this seemingly unsolvable problem had to Tony's mind. Gone are all the unnecessary stuff and awkward humor and we have the best version of what this sequel could be.

Technical wise it was almost perfect and I also really appreciated that it has English subtitles, but I have one issue. After the final fight with Whiplash where Tony saves Pepper, go to the rooftop and she is delirious because of the stress, there is a cut to remove the two of them kissing and War Machine's scene. This cut from Pepper being delirious to Pepper being completely calm is really abrupt and takes you out of the moment. I don't think it was that important to not have them kiss, to force it with an edit that looks like a jump cut.

Lastly, I think the mid credits scene with Coulson is unnecessary, Thor's hammer is awesome enough by itself as a teaser, but no points reducted for this, it's just personal preference.

I definitely recommend this edit to anyone who found the theatrical movie mediocre. I believe this edit will salvage it for you and make it your go-to version for future MCU marathons. But even if you liked the theatrical, I still think this is a superior version.

Thank you lapis molari for all your hard work and thanks to anyone who read my review!

At the core of it, this edit is an improvement over the theatrical cut. The few deleted scenes that were reinserted are really nice character moments, which is something that Iron Man 2 has always had going for it.
At the time of it's release, the biggest criticisms of IM2 were that it was doing too much "set up" and not focused on telling a compelling story in it's own right. That problem is almost entirely solved by adjusting the focus to Tony and his heart condition.
The best edit is probably the decision to make Tony riding in the F1 race something that was planned. Because as Lapis sated, how would Vanko have known to attack him on the track if it was a last minute change? Flawlessly filled in that plot hole!

The only reason I don't rate my enjoyment higher is because I personally love Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer, and I'm disappointed to see him cut down so much. Again, it's a movie with a lot of character moments, and I think he deserves to have a few more.