Derailment of the franchise

Rating: 4/10 (10 August 2013)

Let me start out by saying that I was really excited for this movie. I loved Iron Man 1 and 2, and was looking forward to seeing how they adapted the Extremis arc, one of my favorite arcs in the comic series.
I could not have been more disappointed with how this film turned out. First, I'll start with the good.
The special effects in this movie were superb. The Extremis soldiers, the Air Force One scene, and especially the final fight were all expertly done.
That's about it for the good.
Now, on to the bad...
First off, what annoyed me the most was the derailment of Tony's character. Those of us who saw the first two and the Avengers know that he was a jerk (putting it kindly), but someone who still helped others out. I never saw him as a PTSD victim, especially not to the degree of having flashbacks. What, the wormhole was one near-death experience too many? I mean, it's not like he almost died a thousand other times in the... oh wait, never mind.
Secondly, I really enjoyed the Mandarin in the comical, and was horrified to find out that Black reduced him to a washed-up, drunk British actor.
While we're on the subject of villains, Killian just didn't cut it for me. I think that Tony should have wronged him in a bigger way than simply ignoring him to merit *that* level of retribution. I'd hate to see what he did to any girls who dumped him. He's basically the Buddy Pine (from The Incredibles) of the Marvel Universe!
This movie also included a lot of clichés. Not only is there an annoying kid sidekick, but there's even a hostage scene! Pepper is the one to finally kill the villain after being absent from most of the movie (really showing her as the 'most important thing' in Tony's life) to name a few.
We hardly see the IM suit for most of the movie; instead it's just the baddies mopping the floor with Tony. This is a huge threat, which should warrant the attention of others, right? Where are Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Captain America? More importantly, where is Nick Fury (whose JOB it is to take care of superpowered terrorists?) Why did Tony destroy ALL of his suits just to prove a point? Why didn't he get heart surgery earlier? What will happen when another villain comes to town, hell-bent on revenge?
The movie makes more questions and plot holes than it answered.
To summarize, IM3 is yet another cheap action flick with corny one-liners that shouldn't be considered part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I'm still convinced that it was all a bad dream Tony had that was brought on by heartburn from the shawarma after The Avengers.