Identity crisis.

If one thing really worked in Iron Man's favour, it was that, during the summer of 2008,  it provided a bright and breezy anti-thesis to the brooding intensity of The Dark Knight. Sure, it fell apart in the third act, but for the most part everything else neatly hung off Robert Downey Jr's sublime performance.

At first glance, it seems Iron Man 2 has taken heed of the scant criticisms leveled at its predecessor - the CGI suit looks more convincing; there are ample characters for Tony Stark to verbally spar with; and we've even got what seems to be a far more menacing villain in the shape of Mickey Rourke. Collective hands are swiftly rubbed together - this is shaping up nicely indeed. Let's light the touchpaper and stand well back.

And then... nothing. For at least twenty minutes, until we get a set-piece already trailered to shit and, annoyingly, overridden by Gwyneth Paltrow's shrieking. It's a problem that only swells as the movie progresses - to the point where the second act becomes turgid to sit through, due to the sheer lack of excitement. Director Jon Faverau and screenwriter Justin Theroux clearly want to have their Batman theme cake and eat it, as Stark mopes around under the onus that the world is just about to turn on him and his narcissism-fueled grasp is slipping away. There's a well-worn theory in screenwriting circles that act two is where the real fun and games kick off, but Iron Man 2 seems to have skipped that class all together. Instead, the mid-section of the movie is crushingly dull.

There was a fear that, by throwing more villains into the mix, the movie would wander into Spider-man 3 territory. It's an empty concern, as both Rourke (as Whiplash) and Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer are given so little to do that they barely register as an irritation, let alone severe global threat. While there's a real danger presented to Stark early on in the film, its dealt with far too easily to give any serious cause for concern. And when Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury finally shows up, his only purpose seems to be to provide a little exposition and plug the upcoming Avengers movie.

Faverau almost seems to be channeling Robert Altman (minus the smarts) in his handling of his cast, as they snark and bicker over the top of each other at increasing volume. From Downey Jr's smart-ass mouth it sounds fine, but the others struggle to keep up - and that's sympomatic of the film's overall problem. Stark is far too interesting a character to sit back and let others take over for prolonged periods, and when they do - and they do - the film languishes as we wait for him to reappear.

And to add further insult to injury, the climax feels somewhat rushed, giving Rourke and Rockwell no room to really breathe as the bad guys. There's no real poignancy or emotional depth to anything presented on-screen, leaving things feeling essentially at a status quo - which begs the question: what exactly was the point?