By Peter Covino

Entertainment Editor

After a promising start — a super-villain Iron Man clone, Iron Man himself, and the Grand Prix at Monaco all in one screaming IMAX theater — Iron Man 2 settles down a bit and after awhile becomes pretty much predictable.

I remember the first Iron Man being more enjoyable. Maybe it was Robert Downey Jr. in a brand new role or the snappy dialogue, but Iron Man really worked as an action-hero-turned-super movie guy.

Not so much, this time around.

The key elements are all there, most importantly, the return of ego-driven Tony Stark, but this second Iron Man ends up being an unsatisfying experience.

Stark has way too much going on in his life in Iron Man deux. Firstly, he is not feeling all too well. (Does Robert Downey Jr. ever feel well in a film?) That mechanical heart of his, is also slowly killing him, and it is hard for an Iron Man to get a heart transplant. On the battle front, he has to deal with Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a crazed Russian genius who wants to take revenge on our hero for the death of his father, another scientist, who was once partnered with Stark’s dad. Vanko turns up full of energy, super-charged with electrical whips for arms at the Grand Prix. It’s a good action scene, but the bad guy is quickly whipped into submission — at least until later on in the film.

In the corporate world, Stark has to deal with a rival corporate billionaire and weapons contractor Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). Almost no one does quirky better than Rockwell, but this is not his best outing. He is just a colossal super nerd.

Even Stark’s buddy from the first film, Lt. Colonel Jim Rhodes (Don Cheadle) turns against him, as the government wants the Iron Man suit under government control.

And his love life is complicated as well. Pretty, pouty and perky assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is back, and Paltrow carries the perky/pouty thing to the extreme until it becomes almost annoying. And there is yet another woman in his life, that new employee Natalie (Scarlett Johannson), who has lots of hidden talents. Surprise, she is a super-spy with great martial arts talents.

Finally, Samuel L. Jackson is here as well, showing up with an eye patch, playing Nick Fury, the leading agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., a group of elite spies.

That’s a lot of stuff going on for one movie, and director Jon Favreau (who also directed the first film, and appears in a few scenes) just doesn’t make all of this flow together.

Screenwriter Justin Theroux’s story falls flat at times, and the really big battle scene at the film’s climax, is just another CGI Transformers-like slugfest, lacking imagination and creativity. Much of Iron Man actually sets up the premise for the third Iron Man film, which will feature more of “The Avengers.” Fans, stick around for the closing credits for a brief taste of what is too come.

There is little doubt Iron Man 2 is going to rack it up at the box office. It opened last week in some 53 foreign locations, and had already grossed $121.2 million (Box Office Mojo) in just about a week. About 200 people were turned away at the advance free screening at the AMC Universal IMAX theater earlier this week. FYI: an evening ticket for an IMAX screening at the CityWalk theater will cost you $18. It’s $12 to see Iron Man 2 at a regular screening.