A Quintessential Smart-Aleck Summer Action Blockbuster

Rating: 7/10 (3 May 2013)

Iron Man 3 (2:11, PG-13, Imax, 3-D) — fantasy: comics & pulps, biggie, sequel
OK, I'd like to write a full review of Iron Man 3, but there are lots of plot twists in it, and I couldn't get very far into a plot description before having to shut up about them. This story complexity enhances the overall experience for me, but it's still just a glorious action-packed comic-book romp at heart, and so it's kind of hard to take it ALL that seriously. Screenwriters Drew Pearce and Shane Black (who also directed) certainly don't do anything to discourage that attitude, either.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), depicted as unaccustomedly angst-ridden over Earth's near- miss in last summer's The Avengers, bookends the film with motormouth talk therapy about his inability to sleep and anxiety attacks. These beset him at plot-convenient points in the movie but otherwise are far from crippling when it really matters, certainly not interfering with snappy sarcastic lines at every opportunity.
The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is a suitably menacing bad guy in the Evil Emperor of the Universe mold, but he's not everything he appears to be. His main attributes are the ability to take control of all TV channels in America at once (something Rupert Murdoch would pay gigabux to acquire), a combination Burning Hands and Cure Serious Wounds spell, utter ruthlessness, and a flair for hammy theatrics. Again, not to be taken seriously.
In addition to his loyal and super-competent aides, the human Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and the AI Jarvis (voice of Paul Bettany), Tony Stark may (or may not) be able to count on 2 figures from his past, who pitched innovative ideas at him during his devil-may-care playboy days when he was partying like it was 1999 (because it was): biological researcher Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) and fellow inventor/entrepreneur Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). They went on to succeed in their respective fields without the aid of Stark Industries, but they seem kind of taken with the idea of teaming up to save the world from malicious evildoers, since it got such good press in 2012.
If you follow pro football at all, you know that there's been a lot of concern over player concussions, even despite helmets. These happen either when a fast-moving player is stopped suddenly and the brain bangs into the inside of the skull, or when a relatively stationary skull takes a hard smack and whacks into the brain. Either way, even if the hard outer shell remains intact and unscathed, the vulnerable squishy parts inside take the damage and pay the price. This fundamental fact of physical biology is utterly, utterly ignored in Iron Man 3. As are many other laws of science. As if anyone really cares.
Did I mention Project Extremis? The White House plot? Iron Patriot? The many cameo appearances? The Exxon Valdez manque? The self-propelled armor elements? Harley, the cute little boy from Rose Hill, Tennessee, with the instincts of a future Tony Stark? Miss Elk Ridge? The rocket attack on not-at-all stately Stark Mansion? The chain-skydiving aerial rescue? Yeah, they managed to cram all that into the 2:11 running time, too. Man, you can see where they spent the money, and you sure get your OWN money's worth.
Imax totally worth it; 3-D (conversion) not, but you get the 3-D if you go with the Imax, so there you are.