Continuity mistake: At the end of the first Iron Man, Tony puts his blue card down and instantly says he is Iron Man. But when the exact same scene is seen on the TV at the beginning of this movie, Tony doesn't put down a blue card before saying he is Iron Man. (00:01:20)
Continuity mistake: In the opening senate scene, the Senator's jug of water keeps turning around and moving closer/away from the nameplate between shots. (00:11:35)
Continuity mistake: In the scene before Tony proposes to Pepper, she has on black high stiletto heels. As they walk through his workshop, while Tony is carrying the modern art picture as they're walking, when Pepper tells him that Stark is in complete disarray, we can see at the bottom of the screen that Pepper is wearing flats. (00:19:15 - 00:20:30)
Revealing mistake: When Tony goes to the bathroom and scans his blood toxicity, the Tony who faces the camera is supposed to be his reflection in the mirror, but the problem is the reflection is not reversed because it's not a mirror image, note Tony's clothing. Also, note how he scanned his right hand's finger, but then in the "mirror" he's sucking on his left hand's pricked finger. (00:28:30)
Continuity mistake: After the core is removed from Whiplash during the race scene, a stream of blood visibly trails from the corner of his mouth. The shot changes to him spitting and the blood is gone. The shot changes again and it reappears. (00:37:05)
Continuity mistake: When Mickey Rourke puts the explosive onto the wall, he slaps it down and it spreads out a bit. We cut to a quick closer shot, and it's suddenly more compacted. (00:43:25)
Continuity mistake: When Ivan is first brought to meet Hammer, Hammer is eating a dessert with a cherry on it. The cherry disappears and then reappears. The spoon also keeps swapping between being inside the food and by the saucer. (00:45:45)
Continuity mistake: When Ivan climbs the ladder to inspect the Hammer prototype, his hair changes repeatedly from underneath the frames of his glasses to outside the frames. (00:51:00)
Continuity mistake: When Hammer brings the parrot, the handle above the cage is leaning to the left. A couple shots later it's leaning to the right side, with no one having touched it. (01:04:35)
Other mistake: When Stark was making the new Triangle core, where the Laser beam melts everything on its path, you will notice that the wall, locker, shelves are cut into pieces, but when the powerful laser beam reaches the core, all three wires were left unscaved/not scorched. (01:23:00)
Continuity mistake: While Ivan is being scolded by Hammer, a thick, long, white streak of hair appears and disappears randomly on the left side of his head. (01:25:10 - 01:26:15)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Whiplash is talking on the phone with Tony, you can see fresh blood running down his hand, but when it goes to the close up of him, the blood is wiped off and there is only a stain. (01:31:00)
Visible crew/equipment: When Natalie and Pepper arrive at the Expo and open the car's door a huge lighting screen gets reflected on the door. (01:32:30)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie just after Senator Stern pins medals on James Rhodes and Tony Stark, we see a shot where Tony puts his arm around the Senator. All three men are arm in arm. The camera angle changes to the back of the men, and Tony's arm is at his side. Then when the camera angle goes back to the front of the three men, Tony's arm is back around the Senator. (01:56:07 - 01:56:57)
Revealing mistake: In the scene where the Senator is presenting the awards at the end of the movie, one of the microphones (third from the left) on the podium does not have a cable plugged in, which can also be seen in the next shot. In the proceeding close up shot, the mistake cannot be seen. In the very final shot before the credits roll, the same mistake can be seen. (01:56:10 - 01:57:00)
Continuity mistake: In the final scene when Stark, Rhodes and the senator have a picture taken, Tony's jacket is first buttoned, then unbuttoned from the same viewing angle. (01:56:50)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie where Stark, Rhody and the Senator are taking a photo, Stark's hand is supposed to be behind the senator but when the scene switches to the zoomed out view, his hands are by his side and when it switches back again, his hands are behind the senator.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Mickey Rourke is in the laboratory discussing how long it will take him to reproduce the robots, his glasses change position from him wearing them to not wearing them throughout the conversation.
Continuity mistake: Rhodey falls on the brook far from the cascade. When he stands up he is now standing much closer to the cascade.
Continuity mistake: While Rhodey and Stark are fighting, right before the house explodes, all the guests run away. Half a second later an aerial view shows the house being blown to pieces, but not a single person or car is seen on the premises.
Chosen answer: Hammer is impatient. he did not want to waste time and money to go find Vanko's bird. he just wanted Vanko to get the work done.
MasterOfAll