A Perfectly Serviceable Second Sequel

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2013)

I had to write, there are so many terrible reviews of this film - but most seem to be written by Marvel fans devoted to the character "The Mandarin".
If you know who this character is going in, you may well be disappointed. I didn't. So I wasn't.
Instead, what I got what a film that sees Tony Stark laid low and spending most of the film out of his iron suit and trying to rebuild from a tool shed with the help of a young boy. It's Tony Stark's "Rocky 3" if you like and for that reason, I enjoyed it.
There are some plot holes but they are relatively minor ones. They could easily have been explained by a couple of clunky lines of exposition which the screenwriters wisely decided not to bother with - you can fill in the blanks yourself if you like. I think the real reason for the virulent backlash to this film are the fact that it doesn't fit with the characters as previously defined in the comics.
But if you don't give a hoot about "canon" and "mythos" and the "Marvel Universe" and all that, then you'll be fine.