Disappointing. Could have been better.

Rating: 6/10 (2 May 2013)

I love Iron Man series. I love Tony Stark's antiques. And because of that, I am going to be harsh for its review. In my personal view, this movie falls below average for Iron Man series. I know the director is not the same as before, but Jon Favreau is the executive director (and also acted as Happy Hogan). He should not let Shane Black downgrade Iron Man 3 below the standards he set for the previous movie.
Don't get me wrong. The movie is still visually stunning, the music score is still great and RDJ is still awesome as he can be. But the story left something to be desired. I'm not following Iron Man comics, but I know for a fact that The Mandarin is one of Marvel's greatest villain. He is supposed to be Iron Man's living antithesis, like how The Joker is to Batman. But in this movie, The Mandarin was ridiculed so bad it is there in the movie just to become a joke. The Mandarin is a junkie? A theater actor? Please In the comic, he has these ten magical rings he got from a crashed alien space craft! And by the way, Aldrich Killian is NOT The Mandarin.
Speaking of Aldrich Killian, Guy Pearce played his character brilliantly. Whether his portrayal of the crippled Killian in 1999 or his new sinister personality, he did the job convincingly. Although I hate how the movie portrayed Mandarin, Ben Kingsley acting is superb. He literally acted two different characters; one as the terrifying Mandarin, another as the drug addict, stupid, actor of Mandarin. Just look at how he changed his personality, his tone, his body language. Superb. RDJ did his usual best being Tony Stark, although he is more serious this time, following the direction of the movie. Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle get less air time, but that's their role, as supporting actors.
The movie tries to set a darker tone to Iron Man series, and its focus is to show that Tony Stark is still Iron Man even without his armor. It attempts to display that Tony Stark, although weak without his suit, still can save the world. It also wants the audience to see that Stark is a changed man now; more responsible and dependable unlike his previous character (womanizer, irresponsible, immature). Clearly, the events of The Avengers has really traumatized him, that he now suffers panic attack, and obsessed to build so many automated Iron Man to protect his lover Pepper Pots. Do not be disappointed if you don't see much of Iron Man in action. However, the battle scene at the end of the movie is overloaded with Iron Men to make up for that.
Another disappointment is that, the Mk-42 suits is completely useless. I know it is a prototype, but come on, you fight Loki and his aliens in The Avengers using Mk-7! Why Mk-42 so easy to go kaput? Which reminds me, the previous movie was so awesome because it showed Stark upgraded his armor (with the help of JARVIS) using his out of the world technology. In this movie, apart from the armor can break (easily) into parts and attached the Tony Stark's body, the Mk-42 is nothing compared to Mk-7.
Not to mention that he can ACTUALLY remove his reactor on his chest quite easily. I remember though in the previous movie, he could die if he tried to remove the reactor; in fact he said he is cursed by it. Fast forward to Iron Man 3, the reactor is removed in 5 seconds scene. To close the review, this movie should be named Tony Stark, instead of Iron Man. Really, Tony Stark has most of the air time compared to his suit.
Final Verdict: 6/10. Disappointing from Marvel. I won't stop you from watching it. It is still enjoyable to watch. It still has many actions to watch (albeit less from its predecessor). I just felt that this movie could be even better, if the plot is tidier than now. Lastly, do not watch in 3D. Waste of money. Not many scenes really stands out in 3D.