Terrible sequel, don't waste your time

Rating: 3/10 (2 October 2010)

Having absolutely loved the first Iron Man film (gave it an 8/10) I went into this with relatively high expectations. Unfortunately, it was a mess. There is no story here, just a heap of awkward scenes, characters that just seem to be kind of ''there'', and lots of boring angst-filled conversations. Why does Tony Stark still insist talking at the same time as the people he has a conversation with? Who the hell is the villain here, the crazy-annoying Hammer guy or the bird-obsessed Russian? These are not compelling or scary villains, they are just smug, annoying failed comedy elements.
By the way, let's make something clear: I don't give a goddamn about Captain America, SHIELD, or all that other fake comic book garbage. It's nice that they found another franchise to milk, but I don't want them do devote any time to hype up ANOTHER MOVIE while I'm in the process of watching THIS movie. I get the bad feeling this whole movie is like a giant advertisement for the upcoming Avenger movie, and that's just sad.
But the absolute low point for me, in this movie, was Scarlett Suckhanson's character. The minute I saw her face, I wanted to have her die screaming. I still can't put my finger on what annoyed me so much about her, but it probably has something to do with her gobbling up more time that could be spent on some worthwhile plot thread. She also has an air of smugness that most characters are already overloading the movie with, so that doesn't help. She's just in the movie as eyecandy, nothing more.
Anyway, this is turning into a rant, and I've spent way too much time thinking about this already. So, to summarize: poor sequel, poor plot, smug characters, they blew their money on CGI and big-name actors, and the result is a terrible mess. Good afternoon.