A disappointing end to a otherwise impressive trilogy

Rating: 5/10 (11 September 2013)

It may not be the Iron Man were used to but new director Shane Black brings us a more personal story of the man behind the mask as we see a vulnerable Tony Starks trying to come with his own inner battles.
When a terrorist, known as the Mandarin starts to hijack the airwaves to send messages, threatening America with a plan to send countless strikes to the country Tony takes action and gives a live broadcast to avenge all who the Mandarin has harmed and in the process is forced to go on the run after a attempt is made on his life. He starts to question who needs Iron Man more, the public or himself.
Robert Downey Junior gives one of his best performances as the billionaire genius as this latest instalment we a much more vulnerable character, very different to the cocky playboy we have come to know and it does show his talent as he does spend much more time out of the iron suit. The love of Tony's life, Pepper Potts played by Gwyneth Paltrow shows how far she has come since the first film and plays a big role in the first act. The Mandarin who is also Iron Man's arch nemesis is not a particularly accurate adaption from the comics and certainly falls short of expectations.
Iron Man 3 does have it moments with some pretty impressive effects but there are great lengths when very little happens and the narrative suffers in the process. It's still worth a watch but don't expect a repeat of what we were given in the opening film of this trilogy.