Disappointing, but still entertaining.

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2013)

A quick way to sum up this movie is this: a disappointing final act of a groundbreaking trilogy that is still entertaining enough to warrant multiple viewings. Shane Black's entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a fun and exciting ride that never really builds up to the promises it makes. However, it does do a good job in using the rest of the MCU, especially The Avengers, in creating the emotional storyline that Tony Stark follows throughout the film.
The story that writers Drew Pearce and Shane Black go with is interesting one that weaves the Extremis storyline with the angle of Tony's emotional breakdown after the events in The Avengers. Having that essential Tony Stark humor and wit is part of the saving grace of this film. Anyways, the central story ranges from Tony's anxiety to the true concept of terrorism and finally, scientific ethics (started becoming a bit preachy) and it works pretty well. Another problem with it comes from actual Iron Man screen time. Tony spends most of the time out of the suit or controlling it remotely. This is what many critics will relate with The Dark Knight Rises syndrome, with the title hero not being in costume a lot. Although, like TDKR, this was much more of a emotional journey for our hero. But the main thing that holds the storytelling back, and the thing that will annoy anyone who is familiar with the Iron Man lore, is the big reveal about the Mandarin, which I will get to later. Overall, besides that last part, the story is a good one in relation to other comic book movies with what I thought was a great final battle scene.
Shane Black introduces his unique direction style into this movie and for the most part it works (see Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang). Like his other movies, this one is best suited when it's movie at a quick pace, from scene to scene and not drawing out one joke for a punchline 10 minutes later. One setback Black lets happen in the movie is the dehumanizing moments in the final battle that would have made for great scenes if he had just let the stop and let the moment sink in. Instead, right back to fighting they go. Opposite of scenes earlier in the movie, where the action was much more invested in the emotional aspects of the characters.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The usual band of brothers in these movies are back and as good as ever. Robert Downey, Jr. is once again the epitome of what Tony Stark should be. Gwyneth Paltrow is absolutely fantastic as Pepper Potts in a much more involved and riveting role. Don Cheadle as Rhodey is another excellent performance as the right hand man to Tony who Tony actually starts to trust more. Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau reprises his role as Happy Hogan and also has more to do and is integral to the story. Newcomers Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall give very good performances as Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen respectively. Both who play their characters' turns and twists quite beautifully and were wonderfully cast. Now comes to my issue with the film, Sir Ben Kingsley's Mandarin. As the movie began I was very excited about Iron Man's greatest villain, but as the movie went along, I began to notice something was...off. Then comes the reveal that the Mandarin that we were introduced to was nothing more than an actor playing a role. Give credit to Kingsley though, who portrays both the terrorist and coked up actor splendidly, but sadly was not what anyone was expecting. Instead, the writers chose to morph the characters of Killian and Mandarin together, much to the dismay of many in the theater I was in, including me. The build up through the marketing was that we were finally going to see Tony Stark square off with his biggest enemy. But, we were robbed of what otherwise would have been a fantastic battle between the two, like the comics the story was taken from. Other than that, the Extremis soldiers were actually a refreshing and different take in the Iron Man movies, having villains actually fight Tony in another without being in another suit of Tony's design.
Other aspects of the movie were average to good in their own ways. The editing and sound were on par with the previous Marvel Studios film in that they were effective in making the film look and sound like the previous films. The cinematography and visual effects were outstanding in this one though. The practical effects blended in with the CGI beautifully, especially in the suiting up and Air Force One rescue scenes. Visually, this was a beautiful work of art with great effects and fantastic locations.
This definitely isn't best product to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a definite improvement over the second installment. But I give credit to Marvel and Shane Black to trying to go a different direction than its predecessors, and put out an effective follow-up to The Avengers. In the end, Iron Man 3 is an exciting and fun ride that doesn't quite live up to the hype of an worthy trilogy finale, but still shines through an interesting story and fantastic performances. One thing is for sure after this movie, Robert Downey, Jr. is and always will be, Iron Man.
Story: 7/10 Direction: 8/10 Performances: 9/10 Characters: 6/10 Editing: 7/10 Cinematography: 8/10 Sound: 8/10 FX: 9/10 Entertainment: 7/10 Effectiveness: 8/10
Total Score: 77/100 or 7.7/10