Franchise still flying high

Rating: Null/10 (22 May 2013)

A Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr, brilliant as always) who is having trouble sleeping, experiencing panic attacks, and in therapy? Clearly Ironman found the battle in "Avengers Assemble" a tough outing and we have here a more nuanced super-hero narrative. But he can't simply be left to finesse his collection of metallic outfits and enjoy his live-in partner 'Pepper' Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow with an amazingly flat stomach for a mother of two) because there are new villains on the rampage. One is uber- terrorist The Mandarin (a wonderful performance from the British Ben Kingsley), another is science entrepreneur Aldrich Killian (Australian Guy Pearce who, as in "Lawless", exhibits real callousness), while a third is one-time Stark girlfriend Maya Hansen (another Brit in the pleasing shape of Rebecca Hall).
Third time round, Jon Favreau has handed over the directorial reins - but retained his cameo acting role - to Shane Black who is also co-writer (his original profession as in the "Lethal Weapon" franchise). Also we have the fashionable use of 3D which does not always enhance the production (often the action is too fast to really appreciate the extra dimension). So this is an entertaining, if unoriginal, romp with the requisite action leavened by wry humour.
As with the previous "Iron Man" movies, if you sit through endless technical credits, you'll be rewarded with a short extra clip but this time we are not set up for the next segment in the franchise but have an explanation of my therapy allusion. Many franchises sag at the third offering (think "Alien" or "Superman") but "Ironman" is holding up well and, after this extra clip. we are reassured that "Tony Stark will return" which is good news.