Interesting subtext and a rounded Iron outing

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2013)

Haunted by the events of Avengers Assemble, Iron Man has to get himself together to thwart terrorist The Mandarin who is aided by an old acquaintance.
A faster paced instalment to the series, Shane Black effortlessly takes over the directing reigns, it has the right dose of action, humour and emotion. Even though the few surprises and twists are heavy handed- namely the The Mandarin and Pepper Potts thread Robert Downey Jr. gets to portray Tony Stark once again and develop the character a little further.
Although Guy Pearce is given an unconvincing make up and hair introduction once he returns clean cut he excels and steals the show as bad guy Aldrich Killian. Rebecca Hall is form in a smaller role and Ben Kingsley is entertaining with his Captain Jack-like swagger as The Mandarin. A few of the Iron Man's series previous characters show up and never out stay their welcome.
Black impressively handles the big budget spectacles and action scene sequences with precision, the special effects are outstanding. However, Stark losing his suit so often become a tad tiresome. Like its predecessor this has an interesting subtext with regards to terrorists, the Middle East and Starks relationship with the suit. There's also a novel brave closure ending, nevertheless it's a good outing with a humorous post credit sequence.
Debatably Iron Man's most rounded outing for the masses.