A solid second sequel if not as good as the first

Rating: 7/10 (13 August 2014)

The first film was great and among the better Marvel films and the second while a step-down did for all the major problems it had did a lot of things right. As unpopular an opinion as this might be, Iron Man 3 was a solid second sequel and a notch better than the second. Yes it is agreed personally that the Mandarin was not very well handled, he could have been better developed and was cheapened by the face-palm inducing plot twist. Don Cheadle and Gwyneth Paltrow are given very little to do to the extent that Cheadle actually is wasted. And Hans Zimmer's score was a disappointment, I like Zimmer but the score was too much of an over-loud drone that was often too in-your-face and there were numerous times when the orchestration didn't fit. Iron Man 3 still does a lot right, it's very expertly made with the best special effects quality of the three films, striking locations and use of gadgets and very stylish cinematography and editing, never showing any signs of drabness, garishness or choppiness. The action sequences have plenty of great spectacle and are very exciting, especially the plane sequence and the explosive climax, that is by far the best climax of the three(the first's was rushed and overblown to me and the second's while an improvement was rather brief and could have started earlier than it did). The script had plenty of breezy black humour, great exuberance and enough surprises that are done smartly and cleverly. You may miss the mix of comic nostalgia and currant relevance that the direction in the previous two films had but the darker, without being overly-serious approach served the grittier-than-usual story here well and Shane Black does show that he is comfortable in action and in the drama and thriller aspects. The story is more involving and far less familiar than that of the second's, the only reservation being the plot-twist for the Mandarin, and doesn't feel cluttered this time round, and emotional impact, tension, fun and coherence are not sacrificed at least. Robert Downey Jnr. mixes brooding intensity and deadpan comic timing adeptly(if not as fresh and powerhouse quality as in the first) and for the villains Ben Kingsley actually plays deceptive quite brilliantly and Guy Pearce is also very effective. The supporting cast are very good on the whole, though the way they're written varies. All in all, not as good as the first Iron Man but a solid second sequel that is not wholly deserving of the dislike/indifference it gets, though the criticisms are valid. 7/10 Bethany Cox