My fears we for naught. This movie was significantly better than the first. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the first movie. This movie was successful on all fronts. The writing was solid. The acting was top notch. The special effects were off the hook awesome. One could tell that it was tightly directed, and cleanly edited.
It was clearly an action / adventure movie of the highest order. In that vein it did not fall prey to the many tired tropes out there in this genre of film save one, but it did not distract from the broader story which was good.
The only part of the film that fell short for me was the hulk / black widow romance element. It seemed to come out of left field without any real groundwork having been put down. By that I mean there was not a hint of anything between the two of them in the first film, and this film seems to start with something there between them. This was the only element that I did not enjoy in the film.
We saw it in 3D and I felt comfortable having paid full price for it. This is usually my gauge for how good the movie was.