Excellent film that doesn't deserve hate

Rating: 9/10 (9 February 2015)

What's wrong with Iron Man 3? Is it too action oriented, not enough? Is it too melodramatic? Is it the comedy (or lack thereof)? I think the problem may not be the movie itself, but that a good portion us of are comparing it to The Avengers. Well, why not? It's a sequel, isn't it? Shouldn't it be bigger, funnier or more dramatic? Well, yes and no. What we're forgetting is that it's not so much a sequel as follow-up. It is, in fact, a sequel to Iron Man and Iron Man 2 (which IMHO is a good movie even with its many many flaws). I could go on about the well written characters and great performances, how the whole "Going back to Tony's suit less roots" is brilliant and adds more depth to the character, how the film is actually non cliché, how it took an introspective look into the mind of Tony Stark, it gave us more of what really makes Iron Man the man inside or just the suit or even a combination of the two, it helped to move along the greater universe, while still managing to have great standalone quality, it has plenty of depth to it itself, fantastic action with great effects, the sense of actual threat with the Mandarin's character to the the point you know you don't wanna mess with him when you hear that name (at least until the plot twist/reveal which I enjoyed simply for the risk it took and the guts it had to go outside the comfort zone of movies, the casting of Sir Ben Kingsley and Guy pierce for well written villains, brilliant mixture of humor that isn't the least bit forced with drama we care about, pepper not falling into the stereotypical love interest formula and kicking serious butt in the end, the witty and fast paced dialog, and overall a sense of good comic book fun that everyone can enjoy. But those first few sentences alone defend this movie and why it doesn't deserve any hate or bashing.