Well worth seeing twice

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2013)

Given that the top review here is one that whines and groans and moans about how "bad" this movie is compared to Avengers --- I'm gonna tell you up front that Yes, Avengers was impressive. But I'll floor you by saying that Iron Man 3 held it's own and was the best of the lot.
In Iron Man 1 & 2 we saw the ego of Tony Stark, playboy billionaire who felt he had nothing to loose, so why not build a toy only he could play with. Both movies were about ego. Nothing more, nothing less. And as the comics showed us --- Tony Stark really is all ego.
But here in the real world we have things that we love that we are always fearful of losing. This movie brings that back home and shows us that for all his boisterous noise and grandiose ideas ---- Tony Stark really is a guy like the rest of us who cares about SOMETHING in this world other than himself. Consider for a moment the fact that in IM1 & 2 most of the "save the world" good deeds were really just something for Mr Stark to do to bolster his self-image in the media. Here --- we have a hero who actually realizes it's not always about himself. Sometimes you need to step back and let others help you along if you're really gonna progress.
All that said --- Guy Pearce's role was pitch perfect. Ben Kingsley's character was eerie, creepy and stunning to the end... I love that the man can give you a surprise you don't see coming --- and keep a straight face about himself. The villains were impressive and the Iron Man Suit upgrades even more so --- but the heart of this story really is Tony Stark finding out that the world isn't always about himself. Ego is a prison that makes it hard to love anyone other than yourself... and without love, what is life anyway?