Iron Man 2 is not The Dark Knight. And it shouldn't be.

For my money, I can't think of a movie that better embodies the term "popcorn flick." Like its predecessor, this one is all about fun. There are rock 'em sock 'em explosions aplenty, as well as some slickly filmed fight sequences that are quite memorable (but, honestly, aren't earth-shattering when compared to any number of other uber-energetic comic book films of the last decade). Don't be fooled, though; this sequel to the 2008 hit actually builds on the mythos of Tony Stark in some welcome ways.

Front and center in this particular feature is "the past"—that is, it's very much focused on Howard Stark (Tony's father) and his vision of a futuristic society that thrives on the energy derived from his Arc Reactor. There are also some other juicy tidbits we learn about Stark Sr., not the smallest of which has a little something to do with rewriting the periodic table. Also thrown into the mix is a physicist who worked with Howard back in the day. He's a disgruntled Russian who feels he's been slighted because—among other things—of Tony's success. He's got a son of his own named Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), and he's determined to avenge his father's legacy at all costs. Yes, the plot is driven by a stereotypical variation on the revenge story we're all familiar with, but, given the already superficial nature of the film (which, let's be honest, we all expected), it works well.

Iron Man 2, quite simply, does everything a competent sequel should. In this case, it further highlights the flaws of its protagonist, and it builds on the comedy/action pairing that made the original film so successful. It even ties in new characters—such as Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff—who are fairly interesting in their own right while settting itself up for a third film that will (hopefully) continue the trend.

Despite all its upward momentum, Iron Man 2 does falter from time to time. As is the case with many-a-movie, our hero solves seemingly impossible "puzzles" in record time (here, we're talking about scientific enigmas that can only be deciphered with the use of improvised proton accelerators). This directly correlates with a looming sense of danger—developed by a specific plot element that I won't ruin here—that's established early in the film, and, because of this ridiculously absurd "quick fix," said surprisingly tangible sense of dread is undercut in an extraordinarily premature manner.

But, again, what did you expect? This is Iron Man 2, not the philosophical diatribe of a makeup wearing psychopath. As tired as I am of this clichéd phrase, it still applies: "It is what it is." Because of that, there should be zero complaints.