Ironman 3 - as much fun as the other 2

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2013)

I've read a couple of the reviews of this film and been disappointed. Whats not to like here? Its Ironman back for another movie and that means a lot more fun.
Ironman 3 starts off in the past long before Tony Stark, millionaire weapons maker and playboy ended up with an arc-reactor in his body to deal with his shrapnel problem. It starts in 1999 and the night before 2000 when Stark is attending a conference and has a beautiful, intelligent woman present her idea to him. He also meets and brushes off another man, Aldrich Killian who eventually may prove to have had a good idea.
Cut to the present day and Stark is trying to make a go of his company, his relationship to Virginia 'Pepper" Potts and his life generally. His company is doing fine, his relationship and life not so, partly due to his dealing with anxiety attacks after the New York business referenced in the Avengers Assemble. He has also made friends with another armoured character called Iron Patriate or War Machine, played quite nicely by Don Cheadle.
All this continues onward as Stark has to deal with The Mandarin. The Mandarin appears to be a shadowy terrorist who strikes on American soil, in particular one attack which destroys the Mann's Chinese Theatre. He takes it upon himself to investigate further and finds that the Mandarin and the forces behind him are not all they seem.
Stark goes out on a limb and challenges the Mandarin to bring the fight to him, in an act of rather crazy bravado. The Mandarin reciprocates affording Stark and us the opportunity to see his new designs in action as one of the most complicated action sequences occurs.
After seeing his house destroyed, Stark takes himself out to the wilds and finds more about Killian. Killian is not all he seems. The end of the film is a blaze of action set pieces and loose end tie ups, including Stark's operation to rid himself of the shrapnel trying to kill him.
Whether Tony Stark returns or not is up to the producers. I disagree with many of the reviewers of this film. Ironman 3 is a load of fun. It has a crazy plot and humour, which is so often missing in super hero type movies particularly in the Batman ones. Downey Jnr is such good fun and all the cast do a brilliant job. Ben Kingsley's Mandarin is an especially nice touch, whilst Guy Pearce continues to show us what a fine actor he is.
This only managed an 8 cos I want more films.