Dividing opinions all over the board, my personal view on it was positive.

Rating: 9/10 (4 May 2013)

Shane Black (director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and screenwriter of Lethal Weapon) replaces Jon Favreau at the helm of the third film in the Iron Man series. He also co-writes it with Drew Pearce. Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau and Paul Bettany return as Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, James Rhodes, Happy Hogan and the voice of JARVIS. The direct sequel to 2008's Iron Man and 2010's Iron Man 2, but also to The Avengers (2012.) It is the first in "Phase 2" of Marvel's Cinematic Universe. As "Phase 1" was the Iron Man films, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor and The Avengers, "Phase 2" consists of this, Thor: The Dark World in November, Captain America: The Winter Soldier in April 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy in August of the same year and capped off with The Avengers 2 in May 2015.
In Iron Man 3, Tony has made Mark XLII (42) armour - to put this in perspective his suit last seen in The Avengers was Mark VII (7.) After a new threat, terrorist The Mandarin, plunges Stark's life into ruin, he must rebuild himself and face retribution as the stress attacks and nightmares which have haunted him since his experiences in New York (The Avengers) get worse and the question which has eternally bugged him is discovered - does the man make the suit or the suit the man?
As a huge fan of superhero films (DC over Marvel, Justice League not as good as The Avengers, The Dark Knight Trilogy over Iron Man Trilogy, Superman not as good as Iron Man, etc) i have been anticipating Iron Man 3 for months. Ever since the first tears I experienced when Tony's suits exploded in the first trailer, I have hoped it would be amazing. And I wasn't disappointed. While not reaching the standards of the first Iron Man, it is better than the 2010 sequel (although I don't hate Iron Man 2 like many others seem to.) So, the acting. As always, Robert Downey Jr utterly knocks it out of the park. Even as Iron Man 3 is more thoughtful and also deeper than the previous instalments, the witty, well-written script gives him plenty of room to be funny. Gwyneth Paltrow is, as always, a pretty terrible actor and annoying while Don Cheadle was hideously underused. Guy Pearce was interesting and I liked him, as were James Badge Dale and even Jon Favreau in their smaller roles. Oh, and of course Ben Kingsley is wonderful, but also underused in my opinion. Rebecca Hall wasn't brilliant; she seemed a bit useless and irritating. However, if child actors annoy you then you can still watch this as the annoying child (Ty Simpkins) was only annoying for the purpose of the film and is absolutely fine in his role. The script was, as I mentioned before, on the same level as The Avengers it was so great, while the action left me with a dreamy expression as a moment near the end was so ridiculously awesome that I had a broad grin. The score was good as well. There is a twist in the film which is the main reason for the split in opinions, however as I am not an avid reader of the comics I didn't mind the change in lore. I won't reveal this twist as I'd prefer to keep this review spoiler-free. So overall, I would say that it has many strong aspects and is a thoroughly enjoyable ride. But it isn't a 10 because I found it to drag and meander a bit in the second act and, as mentioned previously, some characters were underused and some actors weren't great. Also, the ending seems a bit rushed. Finally, I would just like to praise the film one more time. Without giving away too much, there is a good theme about the face of terrorism and the real people behind things. If you like good films, watch this but it isn't really the sort of film you just watch without really focusing properly - you need to be in an "Iron Man 3 mood" to be able to watch it!