I have found it hard to explain what is exactly wrong with this film.

The script is a bit lazy and its obvious the studio stayed firmly in the comfort zone when they made this film, but its far from a terrible story or indeed a weak one. It is however fairly predictable for the most part, but with this genre that isn't unique either. It has its moments where it is almost fresh in its approach but then lets itself down by cute coincidences or amazing convenience to help the storyline along. The dialogue in the film is great, and at times it's a credit to the film that some of the best scenes come from non combative periods where Tony is simply interacting in a very human way with one of the other characters.

The characters within the film are solid enough, and all acted anywhere between competently and brilliantly. Specific merit must be handed to Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer, the Tony Stark wannabe who is always looking out foe his own interests. Rourke does well with what is essentially a weakly comprised character in whiplash, a character who seemingly is a brilliant scientist but also an immoral muscular killer (the writer having his cake and eating it by the looks of it). Robert Downey Jr is always excellent when slapping us with a witty one liner, but for some reason the makers of the film felt that Stark needed to be filled with daddy issues and have him moping around in self pity rather than being a little bit more close to the bone in areas such as his drinking problem and realisation of mortality (both attempted at but neither really let off the leash in any way).

The action sequences are best described as 'efficient'. They have moments of unique ideas, but the strange abruptness of them and a seeming lack of any kind of flow to them makes them almost forgettable as a set piece, only leaving you with a memory of a specific use of a weapon or a one liner Stark might have reeled off during. This interspersed with lulls in the films general flow (on too many occasions unnecessarily to allow us to endure Stark's self pity again) really ends up frustrating since they highlight the dip in the film between the several genuinely great scenes it contains.

The nods to avengers related references was great as a fan of the marvel universe, but also served as a reminder that this film had been tainted by the need to promote the franchise it was a part of rather than simply letting the film breathe on its own. And the sense this might have been rushed a little to meet a set timetable for films leading up to the crown jewel avengers film at the end of it all cannot be dismissed lightly.

In summary, the characters and dialogue carry what is otherwise an inessential sequel, and although a little jerky throughout and ultimately leaving you a little let down, it's still better than a lot of the more average efforts marvel have recently produced. To try and determine where it exactly went wrong is not easy, as all the parts are there but yet something still feels missing, and that could simply be a bit of a soul. The safe zone marvel and the studio bosses hide inside may have left the film a little sterile ultimately.