Review: Iron Man 2 (12A)***

The film's heady conflation of dazzling special effects, playful performances and sizzling screen chemistry between Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow jet-propelled the film to gargantuan box office takings.

Money talks loudly in Hollywood and so, inevitably, Favreau and most of his cast return for the sequel.

The weight of expectation on Iron Man 2 would test even the strength of the eponymous hero's red and gold armour and, regrettably, the turbo-charged sequel misfires.

Screenwriter Justin Theroux struggles to integrate the new characters and to strike the same rumbustious tone as the first film.

However, he does incorporate several scenes of Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) which lay the groundwork for the forthcoming film of The Avengers featuring Iron Man, Captain America and The Incredible Hulk.

Billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) announces to the world that he is Iron Man. He single-handedly maintains world peace to the chagrin of the US government and private investors, who are keen to acquire his technology for their own needs.

Stark refuses to share his invention, causing a furore at a Senate Armed Services Committee run by Senator Stern (Garry Shandling).

Soon after, Russian physicist Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), whose father helped to pioneer the Iron Man technology, creates a crude replica of the electromagnetic device in the industrialist's chest and transforms himself into the villainous Whiplash.

Iron Man 2 is sluggish, weighed down by the anguish of Downey Jr's inventor, who is being poisoned to death by the technology that keeps him alive.

The rapport with Paltrow's sassy love interest energises several scenes and Rourke's tattooed villain is quietly compelling.

Action scenes are slickly orchestrated but don't get the blood pumping, and the final showdown is a huge anti-climax.