This film actually deserves a seven, but I subtracted an additional two points to cater for my disappointment. This film, in contrast to most other good superhero movies I've seen (such as Watchmen, Dark Knight, Unbreakable) is almost a disaster, saved by good acting and distracting action sequences.

Now, I'm not a fan of the comics or the character in any incarnation whatsoever, but I was pleasantly surprised by the last outing. It broke some rules, had pretty decent character development, was funny in places and had a worthy showdown. I admire Iron Man 2 for picking up exactly where the last film left us, but....

The first issue I have is with the characters. We all know that our main man likes to talk and quip and all that, but in this film, he talks too much, and doesn't have that much to say either. The co-stars inject a presence into the movie - in a bad way. In an effort to stay out of the shadows they have all become larger than life. There is no subtlety in this film at all. The worst culprit of this is the rich bad guy (not going to bother remembering his name) who is constantly plastered on our screen with no meaningful buildup and no real purpose.

I did like the lightning striking meanie. Though I thought he was a bit "too" human. I say this because he blunders at certain points and then switches to a mastermind in others. I don't like that.

The soundtrack is acceptable, the acting is very good and action sequences and CGI are well put together, I suppose. But everything else, the script, character development, humour, chemistry, etc is not very impressive at all.

Not a film I would want to have in my collection and I feel so disappointed that I am contemplating removing the first Iron Man from my collection as I know now that it is not a film that can be give added value by its sequels.