The best crew member was the guy who edited the trailers!

Rating: 6/10 (26 April 2013)

OK, for starters I would like to tell all the RDJ fans I'm sorry. You may find this review harsh. I was on the edge of my seat when I saw the trailer, then the theatrical release and the extended look. I was sleep deprived, hungry and had to go to 2 different cinemas before I could get tickets for the first show. So you could say I was pretty excited about the latest release from Marvel. But my reaction, post credits, was of only disappointment and agony.
The movie starts off well getting the audience intrigued. But it's pretty much downhill from there. I really liked the amount of pointless explosions that occurred, very frequently throughout the duration of the movie. Though it wasn't that great in 3D. I mean, we have come to expect a whole lot more from movies shot in 3D in this day and age. Happy was good, and may be one of the only characters who stuck to his role from the previous two movies. The plot is rather foolishly simple and actually misleads the audience for most of its duration. You get to see a lot more of Col. Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and in a much more defined role. He was not in the movie just to be in it this time, he had purpose, skills and an insane looking armor (very different from what it is actually supposed to be **Iron Patriot**). Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) was intense in some scenes in this movie, one of the few pleasant surprises that this movie had in-store for us. Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall), "the Botanist" and Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), played their parts pretty well. Not much was expected from Hall's character but she delivers, and Pearce portrayed his character well.
Which brings me to the two big elephants in this review. Tony Stark/Iron Man (RDJ) and the Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley). For one, you get to see a whole lot more of Tony Stark in this movie, with his alter-ego taking the back seat for large durations in the film. You get to see a side of Stark which we seems to be contrasting to the facade we have seen him portray though out the franchise. I think the "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" director and first time Iron Man director has tried to show a "human" side to the "billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist", Stark. I am not sure if the popularity of Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy has sparked off this need for directors to show this dark and gloomy side of their protagonists, but let me tell you this much, with Batman, it worked, with Iron Man, it wasn't really the best idea. It was gruesome to watch Tony struggle with PTSD and other highly human elements in him. The Mandarin, oh God The less I speak about him, the better. I have no idea why Sir Ben Kingsley decided to do this role and how Stan Lee (yeah he does have a cameo, look out for it) allowed it to transpire this way. There is a very brutal end sequence, which tries to redeem the movie, but it is too little too late. I, however, did really enjoy the last few minutes, but only because of the pure awesomeness of Iron Man that was shown in those scenes. Expect some shocks.
Another very very disappointing moment was when we heard no AC/DC playing in any part of this movie. I waited till the end for the after- credit scene (yes, there is one), and was shocked to not be able to listen to a single AC/DC tune. Another characteristic element of Iron Man stripped in this movie.
A disappointing start to my list of summer blockbusters. I hope the upcoming Marvel movies pick up the slack and make up for this tiresome experience. A movie to be watched with low expectations and only for the fireworks. Not close to Iron Man 1 by a long shot. Kudos to the editor of the trailer for making this movie like this seem desirable.
I give it 6/10 just for Happy Hogan.