Robert Downey Jnr. returns as the man in the can Tony Stark AKA Iron Man. The fact is, out of all the superheroes that have ever graced a comic’s cover, Iron Man is an odd choice to turn into a franchise . There’s no denying Downey’s charm, but once inside the suit there’s something all too soulless and clinical about the iron one, as proved by his first outing. So what can this metallurgic sequel offer in the way of something new?

During a press conference Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, decides to tell the watching world that he is in fact Iron Man. Watching in Russia is one Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke); not only is he having to deal with the death of his father, but blames Stark for his recent loss. It transpires that Vanko’s dad worked alongside Tony’s back in the day, but had a bit of a falling out. So Vanko decides that Tony should pay, so goes about designing weapons to defeat Iron Man.

Unbeknownst to this new threat on the horizon, Tony has the fact that he’s dying himself to contend with. The power source to his suit is killing him, and he’s at a loss to a solution. He reaches a point in his life where he’s not sure what will kill him first, his suit or his enemies.

His future takes a curious turn however when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) pops up again, with some interesting material from his father’s past. But just as a ray of hope is cast upon Iron Man, his adversaries make themselves known – but does Tony Stark have enough left in the tank to defeat them?

I've gotta say I think these new constraints to stop me drinking and doing drugs is a little harsh. Could someone get me a straw?

As is usually the case with these comic heroes’ celluloid adventures, the second in the series always works better than the first. The originals more often than not get heavily bogged down in the creation of the superhero character; we all know that Spiderman gets bitten by a radioactive spider, so do we really need two hours of screen time to tell that story?

This sequel then certainly has less baggage. But despite Downey’s efforts to inject a large dose of personality into Stark, his metallic alter ego just has no spark. And as there’s the same amount of emotive intensity from the suit as a stick carrying a gun, Downey does go overboard in his attempt to make Stark more human; problem is, he goes just that bit too far making him both arrogant and smug.

Also Director Jon Favreau has to resort to a whole lot of shots of Downey inside his helmet, because obviously two hours of looking at a metal helmet with no moving parts or any way of expressing itself facially would be a little on the dull side. But it’s just not enough. The result is something akin to a Transformers flick, with battle after battle of bot-on-bot action.

The relationship between Stark and his not so personal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is supposed to provide a well-needed human touch to proceedings, but alas there’s more chemistry between Alex Reid and Katie Price than this pair.

Favreau also finds himself with a bit too much on his plate at times; not only does he have to progress Iron Man’s story, but he also has to manage crossover references to both S.H.I.E.L.D and The Avengers (who have their own film coming out in 2012). With all these other bits to contend with, the main story feels somewhat watered down to the point where Mickey Rourke’s screen time virtually amounts to nothing more than a cameo appearance.

Although it is busy a lot of the time, there’s still a lot to enjoy. Favreau gives the film as much energy as he possibly can, with the battle scenes in particular proving to be visually impressive. And the inclusion of Scarlet Johansson as the Black Widow is certainly a welcome one. And what’s not to like about seeing any superhero when their tipsy?

As franchises go however, it’s just not one that musters up a great deal of excitement or enthusiasm, unlike Kenneth Branagh’s forthcoming take on Marvel’s Thor which is to make its mark some time next year. Iron Man 2 is solid enough, but probably just too solid for its own good.