Iron man comes down with a thump

Rating: 5/10 (31 December 2013)

Guess it was going to be inevitable but after two great solo movies and then the also excellent Avengers film, 'Iron Man' was bound to hit a rut. Sadly, that's this film.
Robert Downey Jr is ever watchable as always: witty, sharp and devilishly charming. However, the story lends little to help him and I just could not find much to enjoy in it. Maybe there were too many characters this time, plus what was the point of the addition of the wee boy sidekick? It's a faux pas alongside the little guy in Temple of Doom.
Guy Pearce is a fine actor but didn't seem to have much real airtime as the villain and then little developed. The story wasn't helping, it was uninteresting, and actually seemed to be little Iron Man but too much Tony Stark. That isn't necessarily bad, but the writers seemed to not know what to do with Tony Stark.
Okay, the effects are on par with the previous films and the action is good, but by the time it all kicked off for the finale, I just wasn't into it by this point. I don't want to give much away, but some of it was too clichéd.
Disappointed with this but I know Iron Man will be back on track in some time, and I hope it's the next Avengers movie, plus I hope Downey Jr does reprise his role for more sole Iron Man movies. Despite this film, he has more than proved that he deserves that honour.