All sequels are problematic, IM2 no less than any other.  But although the execution was far from perfect, there was a story there that was interesting to me.  It started by saying "Okay, so now you're a superhero with no secret identity.  Let's look at the dark side of that."  Which is a fun idea, certainly not often seen in superhero movies.

The Hero's Journey construction is about the low rising to a high place because of their strengths.  Tragedy is about the high falling low because of their faults, and the first half of Iron Man 2 hit all the notes.  Some notes were a little off, but close enough for me, and if there's anyone that I'd pick to play a superhero falling from grace, it's RDJr.

While "palladium toxicity" is bogus and magic-bean-y (and harder to say than "flux capacitor"), it's no more so than the Arc reactor or the suit itself.  I rolled with that because it worked thematically.  The very thing that makes the world adore him - and he clearly thrives on that -  is also killing him.   Yeah, kinda on the nose, but at least it was a way to demonstrate his addictive personality beyond just seeing him get drunk ALL the time.    Tony'd rather die than give up being Iron Man, gotcha. 

We get some hints that this comes from never getting validation from his dad... eh, okay.   It's no wonkier than those movies about the guy with the bat fetish, and I'm okay with those, too.

Meanwhile Mickey Rourke is in Russia, resenting Tony's usurping of the fame that should have gone to his own family.   He formulates a plan, not to kill Tony, but to turn the public against him.  Because he too understands that the adoration means more to Tony than his life.   Lookee there - plot, character and theme all lined up.  Somewhere William Goldman is smiling.  Well, except during the jokes about Rourke's "bourrdd".

The congressional hearing made sense because now that the world knows who Iron Man is, it's reasonable to ask if a drunken loose-cannon playboy should have sole control of a superweapon.  (If Lindsay Lohan were to develop nuclear capability, why yes, I WOULD like some Congressional oversight, thank you.)  Tony laughs it off, charms his way out the door, ignores the very real threat of having his toys taken away.  So far so good.  The downward spiral is underway.

I, too, was offended by the Monaco sequence, because it reeked of "Look how big our budget is this time!" And Favreau's limo heroics were doofy, but all movies gotta have their "trailer moments" I guess.  But story-wise, I just would have preferred a sharper demonstration of "making God bleed" than just scorching the paint job on Tony's suit.  Right idea, but not the best execution.

But then things get mostly back on track, in that Tony goes completely off the rails to the point that even his closest allies abandon him. and he ends up in a brawl with his best buddy and destroying his own house.   My main complaint here is that he never REALLY hits rock bottom - I would have preferred he lose his suit completely, not just one of the spares.   And it turns out his house wasn't that badly wrecked after all, it's still intact enough for him to go back to and cobble up another batch of pseudo-science later.  Better if he had had to start all over again from nothing, like in the Afghan cave.

So yeah - not perfect, but at least there's a story there, and a structure that's mostly holding up.   Story-wise, it's time for Tony to realize what he's been doing wrong, pull his shit together, and go save Christmas.

But instead some strangers show up and solve most of Tony's problems over a cup of coffee because they are Just That Awesome.  Scarlett gives him an anti-palladium injection that she happens to have, and then Sam literally sends Tony to his room with orders not to come out until he's learned his lesson.  And just to speed things along, he gives Tony a box full of Instant Daddy-Issue Remover.

This is the very definition of deus ex machina.   Up until this point , Iron Man 2 was certainly not perfect, but at least it was about Iron Man, and it was headed in a certain direction.  Once the Avengers crash the party, it's all about getting this movie over with so Iron Man can go be in their movie. Sam Jackson literally SAYS that there are more important things going on elsewhere.  Nice, guys - way to undercut whatever tension there was in the movie I'm watching.

So Tony makes a new improved flux capacitor (because his dad designed the Expo grounds in the shape of a... the hell with it, it doesn't actually matter), then fights a bunch of robots.  Meanwhile across town Scarlett Johansson does gymnastics and then deus'es another machina, typing heroically for great justice.  Stuff explodes a lot, the end.

And thus Tony's self-destructive tendencies, and the entire issue of what happens when the common folk see God bleed and realize their hero is fallible, are resolved by ignoring the fact that the first half of the movie was about those things.

So yeah - Iron Man 2 was never likely to be as good as the first, but few sequels are.  But The Avengers sure didn't HELP.

Which means you don't have to change your Netflix queue at all!   Priest is all movies in one (including Surrogates).

So now I'm in an argument with people I've never heard of?   Awesome. 

EDIT:  Is the linked article supposed to be presented as a rebuttal?  It says the same things I've been saying.