- 9
...may not pack the same surprise as the first one, but with a half-dozen major characters and subplots, this sequel feels like an actual Marvel comic set in a superheroic universe.
—Luke Y. Thompson E!
- 8
Fun, meet the movie audience. Movie audience, fun.
—Alynda Wheat People
- 8
As much as Iron Man 2 succeeds as a standalone sequel, it's also a vital thread in the tapestry Marvel hopes to create with the upcoming Captain America and Thor films.
—Sean O'Connell filmcritic.com
- 7
Like the original, Iron Man 2 is a good time from start to finish.
—Nick Starkey Premiere
- 7
...a polished, high-ozone sequel, not as good as the original but building once again on a quirky performance by Robert Downey Jr.
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 7
...it's the promiscuously talented Downey who adds the grace notes that make Iron Man 2 something to remember.
—Peter Travers Rolling Stone
- 7
...much like its predecessor, it?s a clean, efficient, somewhat generic piece of storytelling and most of the additions are not subtractions. This passes for success in the summer movie season.
—Scott Tobias Onion AV Club
- 6
A movie like this can handle a large character roster, but it helps if the story retains clean lines and a sense of propulsion. Iron Man 2 sags and wanders in its midsection.
—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune
- 6
...strains under the weight of an excessively crammed story. Heroes and villains are shoehorned in. Some of the subplots seem extraneous, a few come off like trailers for upcoming films, and others are just murky.
—Claudia Puig USA Today
- 6
...Downey's head and heart are in the right place, but the movie is more in pieces than whole, and more about iron than about men.
—Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly
- 5
...fulfills the basic requirements of the genre, which can be summed up as more of the same, with emphasis on more.
—A. O. Scott New York Times
- 5
Devoid of an emotional or moral center, it's a clunky tank of a summer spectacle with too many chinks in its armor.
—Nick Schager Slant Magazine
- 5
...it's only fitfully entertaining as an all-star indie team led again by director Jon Favreau, who gets swallowed up by the same sort of overproduced overkill as Spider Man 3.
—Lou Lumenick New York Post
- 5
The screenplay, by Justin Theroux, trusts that More Is More. There's techie lifestyle porn, hot cars, hot guns, establishing shots jetting from Moscow to Malibu to Monaco ..., and three dozen comic books' worth of exposition girdled into two straining hours.
—Nick Pinkerton Village Voice
- 5
All told, Iron Man 2 suffers the same fate as many a sequel. Where the first film felt buoyant and occasionally inspired in helpfully demonstrating that, done right, there's considerable treasure to be culled even from second-tier occupants of the Marvel universe, the new pic feels more duty-bound and industrial.
—Brian Lowry Variety
- 5
As sequels go, this one is acceptable, nothing more, nothing less.
—Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times
- 3
Well, that didn't take long. Everything fun and terrific about Iron Man, a mere two years ago, has vanished with its sequel. In its place, Iron Man 2 has substituted noise, confusion, multiple villains, irrelevant stunts and misguided story lines.
—Kirk Honeycutt Hollywood Reporter