Iron Man 2

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In many ways the quintessential sequel, Iron Man 2 ups the scale and number of characters from the hugely enjoyable first film, with director Jon Favreau now also displaying an extremely assured hand with the action sequences. But the real masterstroke on Marvel's part was allowing Favreau cast a former has-been as Tony Stark three years ago; Downey Jr. now inhabits Stark with a singular blistering conviction that only stems from being the proprietor of god given charisma.

Just about on par with the first film, this follow up too has its fair share of flaws. For one, Rourke, although given ample screentime, is a cardboard cut-out of a character, just looking for vengeance. He may be smart, but save him wearing glasses and cowering over some robots, you never buy him as a viable villain for Iron Man. The concluding action sequence is still extremely well put together though, and is unlikely to be topped in terms of fist-pumping, crowd pleasing action this blockbuster season - unless The A-Team knocks it out of the park.

Six months after announcing to the world that he was Iron Man, Tony Stark and his suit are now global sensations. But the responsibility he carries on his shoulders to protect America and continue an unprecedented run of world peace is wearing him down. The Government want to take his suit, while a competitor in the form of Sam Rockwell's idiosyncratic arms dealer is out to seemingly immolate and destroy Stark. Throw in some health issues and a self-admittance of borderline narcissism and Tony has his plate full. But his always-reliable mate Rhodey (Don Cheadle replacing Terrance Howard), once more has his back.

After somewhat of a purposefully muddled opening where overlapping dialogue is rampant as Tony argues with Paltrow's Pepper Potts, and Garry Shandling's smug senator, things really kick into gear when our hero hits a Monaco racing track. His brazen attitude lands him in the cockpit of a formula one race car, before Rourke's angry Russian turns up with a whip that looks like it needs a plug. Tony barely survives, and the scene sets off a chain of events that will see Rockwell's Justin Hammer go into cohorts with Rourke.

If there's one thing here that's noticeably improved on from the original it's the action - it's rarely repetitive and constantly explosive. One hand-to-hand combat scene with Scarlett Johansson is surprisingly slick. Favreau now officially has the action smarts to back up his stellar character work. Speaking of which, although there are many characters, every one of them has a practical function in the movie - even the director's fun cameo as Tony's driver, Happy.

If I could give you one reason to go see Iron Man 2, despite all of the above, its Robert Downey Jr. Whatever is going on on screen you can't take your eyes off him; he's funny, likeable, cocky and, crucially, you buy him as an action star. He now owns this role, and I'm genuinely looking forward to Iron Man 3.