By Jason Woods, News Correspondent

Coming off a successful first entry in a comic film franchise, “Iron Man 2” had high expectations to live up to. So high, perhaps, that the film folds a bit under the pressure. While it delivers a sickly sweet flick reminiscent of the first, the movie fails to leave the same long-lasting impression as its predecessor.

Set six months after the original, the film finds protagonist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) living large in his success and fame generated from his now public Iron Man-persona. Nothing can touch the film’s hero: not the government, not competitors, not even a secret disease slowly eating away at our hero — and no, it’s not that developing alcohol addiction (a plot for the third film?). While this carefree attitude and balls-to-the-wall camp is what made Robert Downey Jr. the star of the original, it’s a tad over-the-top in this film.

But it’s not just Downey Jr. or his portrayal of Stark. All the characters in the film seem to have a little bit of the same attitude. At times, it’s like they’re fighting from laughing at the camera; do they even take half of this movie seriously? The film’s easy-going attitude is almost enjoying its own built-in success… a little early. The camp and in-jokes serve to make the film almost a little too late and farcical.

The film also suffers from typical sequel-problems, like adding too much action and intrigue which in the end only serves to bloat the film. As promotional materials have noted, the film features Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Scarlett Johanson as the Black Widow, with Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke as the villains Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko, respectively. The top-heavy plot has too many things going on.

So many potentially interesting things end up on the back burner, and many of these characters have little purpose other than occasionally looking pretty; they don’t propel the plot in any interesting ways. Some of them are just here to set up sequels and the forthcoming spin-off “Avengers” that limits the film’s ability to stand on its own.

This film feels like a bridge to many other potential films, as Marvel Comics tries to build a film universe. Unfortunately, that added pressure propels the film into interesting waters, but takes away from the larger plot.

Rockwell is also a problem for the film. His character, Justin Hammer, is supposed to be a major rival to Stark, but something about Rockwell’s performance or the way the character was written doesn’t fit. He’s too hammy, and everything he touches in the plot makes less sense and doesn’t work as well as it should. The original film had some interesting and serious corporate warfare plot threads, and the consequences seemed dire to Tony. However, in this sequel, Hammer and his plot seem like a nuisance to Tony, and as the film wears on, to the audience as well.

“Iron Man 2” is a solid film, better than letdown comic sequels like “Spider-Man 3” or “X-Men 3,” but a bumpier script and some questionable performances from its leads leaves this film barely better than a mediocre comic film.