Marvel's version of The Dark Knight Rises.

Rating: 10/10 (28 April 2015)

After watching the first two Iron Man films and The Avengers, I thought that Iron Man 3 would be just more of the same with lots of action and not a lot of story. Man, was I wrong. Not only is this movie the best out of the Iron Man trilogy but it's also one of the best MCU movies period. From it's witting and humor to it's darker story and how it delves into the character of Tony Stark, Iron Man 3 is a truly phenomenal comic book movie.
Following the events of The Avengers, Tony Stark has been suffering from PTSD and has been having nightmares as a result; meanwhile, America is under attack from a terrorist group led by The Mandarin and after Stark makes a threat to the fanatic on national TV, his entire world is destroyed and Tony must use his knowledge and inventiveness to rebuild his life and find those responsible.
Rather then John Favreau directing this time, Shane Black takes over and brings a much darker tone to this film while managing to to juggle all the somber moments and the comical moments with ease while also showing us how we can create demons in our lives, but, we are also able to dig ourselves out of the messes that we create. I've heard a lot of people complaining that this film focuses too much on Stark and not enough on Iron Man, I personally like my superheroes to be more human and have depth to them, not just flying around in suits kicking ass all the time not to mention I loved seeing Tony step out of the suit and be a sincere person. The film does such an excellent job diving into Tony's psyche showing us the effects of the Battle of New York on Stark and how he's having a rough time handling all these new surprises like the presence of aliens and the fact that he's a superhero and is beginning to fear that without his suit, he's unable to protect those he loves from danger and as the movie moves along, he is required to use his brains and intellect to crush his opponents, and eventually, it is he who makes the suit not the other way around, echoing the worlds that Steve Rogers asked Tony in the Avengers that even without the armor, Tony is still Iron Man. I've also heard a lot of people complain about the Mandarin plot twist, personally I loved it and it worked really well because mostly because I went into the movie knowing almost nothing about what would happen so when the twist came at me, I was shocked but not in a negative way. The way the director and the writer had Killian produce a false extremist to frighten the whole country in order to lure interest away from himself but also to aid his own agenda is nothing short of mind-blowing and is easily one of the best plot twists since the I am your father twist from Empire Strikes Back.
As with the first 2 movies, the cast is sport on: Gwyneth Paltrow is a fine contrast to RDJ as Pepper Potts, not to mention she gets to be in on the action rather than be a clichéd damsel in distress. Don Cheadle doesn't have a lot of screen time in the movie as Col. James Rhodes, but he still does a wonderful job and I loved how Black creates a Lethal Weapon type relationship between Rhodes and Stark. Jon Faverau is also wonderful as Happy Hogan. Guy Pearce is fabulous as Aldrich Killian and while he does come off as a little underwhelming at times, I found his performance quite threatening throughout the film. Even Ben Kingsley did a great job in this film, he is very intimidating when he's The Mandarin, but when it's revealed that he isn't the Afghan terrorist, Ben goes to town and he is clearly having a great time with the role, but it's Robert Downey Jr. who makes these movies worth watching. By now, Robert has become the personification of Tony Stark/Iron Man so much that I can't see any other actor playing this role but him. The persona that he injects into the character is perfect. The charisma, humor and charm that Downey brings to the role is a treat to watch and it adds an element to Iron Man that wouldn't be possible without him in the role.
The visual effects are stunning, The musical score by Brian Tyler is truly fantastic by being much more foreboding then the previous Iron Man films, but is also much more musical, plus the main theme is a total joy to listen to. The humor is also wonderful and while a lot of people whined about that too, it makes the film a lot less dark and gloomy and more fun to watch particularly the banter between Stark and Harley Keener, and yet the humor never distracts from the more somber scenes and at the same time, always feels welcomed. While there isn't a lot of action in this movie when compared to the first two, there are some stand-out moments like a bold attack on Air Force 1 in mid-flight which leads to a thrilling action scene where Iron Man has to save several people floating in mid-air and fly them to safety. The other is at the end where we get to see all of Stark's suits in action.
I will say that Iron Man 3 isn't the horrible movie all the nay-sayers have been labeling it as, I really loved this movie and the direction that it took with it's story and it's message. So, ignore the crybaby fanboys and give this movie a watch. It's certainly one of the best comic movies of the last few years.