The sequel Iron Man should have had

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2016)

In the third instalment from the Iron Man films Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) finds his world torn apart and demons from his past come back to haunt him. In a time before the Iron Man tech Tony's ego forces him to stand-up some advancing, if not amateur, scientists who are making advances in their own fields, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) and Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall). Who would have thought that in years to come they would end up working together to try and bring Stark and the world to it's knees. Of course Tony doesn't know this until the later parts of the film, initially his attention is on bringing down the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), a terrorist leader who is hell bent on destruction and revenge. Working with the Iron Patriot (the painted re-branded War machine) (Don Cheadle) he attempts to bring the Mandarin down and serve justice. While all this is going on Tony is fighting new demons and anxieties which are a result of the incidents of the Avengers movie, it seems going through a worm hole in space has left him changed slightly. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is now running Stark industries and a reformed Killian (when he tried meeting Stark in the flashback at the start of the film, he was suffering a disability) meets with her to try and get Stark Industry backing for his Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) project "Extremis" which harnesses the brains power to alter DNA. Meanwhile Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) is seriously injured in a blast, its up to Tony to investigate this, which is a good idea as the investigation will help to uncover Killian's plot and also who the Mandarin really is and what his intentions are.
This is a really good film, I prefer this over the second Iron Man. There is a good pace to the film and it isn't all about action but there is some mystery and suspense thrown in too. There are times when Stark has to rely on his own ability away from the Iron Man suit which is an interesting story because he has to overcome his demons at the same time. The action that is in the film crescendo's at the climax and is a beautiful spectacle, almost operatic as all the suits that Stark has been building all meet in one location. It's like a opera or classical score building and building till everything goes off at the end. The action is tasteful and the CGI isn't off-putting at all. The cast are all strong in this, they are believable throughout. If I were to single one weak link out it would be Kingsley as the Mandarin. His performance is good of course, but the Mandarin character isn't written well and is nothing like the maniacal mastermind of the comic's. While the character isn't done well here I have read various forums to suggest that the real Mandarin will be in future Iron Man films and this showing is a divertive introduction.
This is the sequel that Iron Man should have had, it's much better than the 2nd film and brings together all the chemistry that a great cast give and mixes it with a good story, actions, thrills, spills, mystery and suspense. This is a darker film than the second, and the first for that matter, with Stark having to deal with demons he thought were in the past which affect his current life and happiness. This works both as a standalone movie and also as part of the Iron Man series of films, it also adds more substance to the 2nd Avengers film. Billed as a summer blockbuster this film lived up to the hype and then some. 8 out of 10 from this reviewer.