Entertaining only at parts (spoilers ahead!!!)

Rating: 6/10 (30 April 2013)

Just to begin, I'm a fan of Iron Man (IM), so I've grown with the character over the years, and after "The Avengers", when Marvel announced a third part for IM, I was excited, because who doesn't love Robert Downey Jr. and his superb portrayal of Tony Stark/IM?
Now back to the film. Ever since I heard the inclusion of the The Mandarin, I was elated because this villain is known to be one of Iron Man's most difficult opponent according to Marvel Comics. And plus, with The Mandarin, comes his 10 magical rings, each with unique powers. So I was pretty happy as they finally decided to put him into the film franchise, and considering the magical powers, you'd imagine a pretty solid film shaping up.
Now unfortunately, that wasn't the case as The Mandarin ended up just being portrayed as a British actor (pretending to be a terrorist) working for Aldrich Killian. I was rather disappointed at this so-called 'twist'.
Another problem was 30 minutes into the film, with the so-called death of Tony Stark, the screenplay crumbles, and the film gets draggy. Now you may think I'm being harsh here, but please, being a superhero film, you'd expect more action, wit and humour (and speaking of humour, there are loads of one-liners which get pretty irritating at times, due to their bad placement throughout the film).
Also, not seeing Tony Stark in his suit throughout most parts of the film will disappoint viewers.
Now to the technical parts of the film.
ACTING/CAST: Most of the cast acted their roles out effectively, though Robert Downey Jr. appeared as if he was forcing himself to act at certain parts. My problems would be Rebecca Hall (Maya Hansen) who looked like she didn't know what she was doing at times. And of course Ben Kingsley (The Mandarin) who was terribly underused due to how his character was portrayed as. The rest of the cast was fine.
STORY: The plot shows how Tony Stark has devoted an extensive amount of time into building as many suits as possible, ever since the "The Avengers" in the events of another attack. During all this, his past comes back to bite him, in the form of Aldrich Killian, who with the help of The Mandarin (first perceived as a terrorist, which proves otherwise later in the film) cause destruction, to a certain level.
DIRECTION: Shane Black helmed IM3 this time and took over what Jon Favreau did for the first 2 films. Well, judging from how the film turned out, the overall tone and flow seemed very much different, as compared to the first 2. I feel that Shane should have done a much better job with the film's execution.
SCREENPLAY: Well, considering that they adapted the 'Extremis' plot from the Marvel Comics, it was a decent attempt, though it seemed misguided and kind of lost it's path in between. It could have flowed much better and in-depth. Sadly as mentioned, the plot gets slightly draggy when Tony travels to Tennessee after the attack at his residence. But looking at it as a whole package, I guess it's close to acceptable.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Certain scenic shots look good. But I expected more, such as shots of China, had they stuck to the original Mandarin character.
SPECIAL EFFECTS: I watched this film in IMAX 3D, because I love to involve myself with a film, and I'm a fan of 3D as well. For the effects though, you can actually tell that there was an extensive usage of CGI, especially on Tony Stark in his Mark 42 suit, which I'm sad to say, looked obviously fake and ended up looking awkward. As for the hyped up climax featuring the Iron Legion, I wasn't too impressed as I felt not all the suits got proper screen time. It also felt a little messed up. Though, I still recommend watching this film in 3D/IMAX 3D.
MUSIC: The background music (BGM) for the film didn't have much of an impact on me, and I thought it was slightly above average. Of course, I'm not expecting music on par with Hans Zimmer work with "Inception" or "The Dark Knight Rises", but at least something to really match the superhero theme. Furthermore, I think certain scenes could have used some BGM, but unfortunately they were left bleak and empty.
Please don't think I hate the film. I love IM and how Robert Downey Jr. has literally lived and breathed the role. But you'd expect slightly more from the third standalone film. But no matter what, if there ever is an Iron Man 4, or his guest appearance in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" (August 2014), I'd still watch it, due to the fact that Tony Stark is such an interesting character.
IM3 may not really live up to your expectations, or to those hardcore Marvel Comic fans, due to a major change (*coughs* The Mandarin). But it definitely is worth the watch, for Tony Stark's antics and how he re- invents himself through the film. The Iron Legion in the final battle scene may just impress some, but only to a certain level. Just beware, you are likely to feel bored halfway through the film.
Setbacks aside, I still enjoyed watching IM3 for the charming Robert Downey Jr. and well, there's a good dose of action here and there. I advise you to see this film as an entertainer in parts with a couple of loose-ends.
(P.S: Hopefully the changes the film made won't affect the majority of viewers)