Better than 2, about the same as 1

Rating: 7/10 (3 May 2013)

I have never really been a big Iron Man fan, and I thought the first movie was just fine, and the second was very hit-and- miss, with more misses than hits. This movie was overall better than 2. Robert Downey Jr. once again returns as Tony Stark with even more cool gadgets for his iron man suits. This movie takes place after the Avengers and there are a few flashbacks referencing it from Tony's PTSD.
The villain this time is the Mandarin, a violent world-threatening terrorist, played by Ben Kinglsey. Without giving too much away, he targets Tony and makes his life miserable. I actually though the Mandarin was a weak villain though. Some people may not like what they end up doing with him either.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle return as Pepper Potts and James Rhodes. War Machine returns and is also now called Iron Patriot. I liked both characters more in this movie than the other 2 and they have more important roles here. Pepper is in the first act, then disappears for a long time, then returns in the third act and I like what they did with her character.
The movie is the darkest in tone of the trilogy, because of how Tony's world falls apart around him, but there is still a lot of funny dialogue and banter between characters, like in the other 2. A lot of this movie concerns Tony Stark only, not Iron Man. But the good thing is that Tony is not a total jerk like in the previous movie, he actually has a heart and tries to connect with people and help save the day.
A few complaints I have are that the movie lags a bit in the middle, but not to a crawling pace. War Machine/Iron Patriot makes a few appearances but barely does anything. There are several plot twists in this movie, some I liked, some I didn't, like what they did with the Mandarin. The weapons that the Mandarin creates are completely unrealistic to me and seem like they belong in an entirely different movie. Also, he 3d was just OK, but not quite as good as I expected.
Overall the movie works. It's a good summer film (taking place at Christmas) and mostly delivers what it promises. If you liked the second one then you'll definitely like this one.