Some of Marvel's worst, but still passable.

Rating: 6/10 (4 September 2018)

This has always been one of my least favorite Marvel movies, though I haven't seen all of them. I remember it being a pretty big disappointment when I saw it in theaters, because the hype for it was pretty big. Part of the problem with this movie is that it was the first MCU movie to come out after The Avengers; needless to say, a tough act to follow. The audience knows that the stakes have been higher and that Tony Stark logically wouldn't have to face the Mandarin alone given that at least one of the other Avengers could probably have been called upon for help. So those factors made it kind of hard to take this movie that seriously. However, I think that the sub-par nature of this movie is a real testament to how well Kevin Feige and company have done with connecting their heroes in all the subsequent movies.
With that said, I have a lot of issues with the movie. Most of them are matters of taste, but I think that they might be tastes that other people share. The main thing I disliked was how much comedy they tried to force in. I understand why they would want to go for a light-hearted tone, but if every joke were cut, I think it would result in a better movie. A couple of them are funny, but most are annoying. The fact that the Madarin turns out to be a goofy junkie actor shows that the movie doesn't really take itself seriously. That might have been fine, but then the real Mandarin turned out to not be that great of a villain either. More of a personal issue I had was the kid Harley, who I wanted to throw out the window every second he was on screen. I know he was supposed to be annoying to Tony, but that doesn't mean that he has to be annoying to the audience. Finally, the ending was kind of dissatisfying. It wasn't that much of a let-down because it's not like the emotional plot was that promising to begin with, but It did hang a lantern on how little attention was paid to any kind of human story. Tony has kind of an arc in how he gives up his obsession about his suits in favor of Pepper, but it's not handled that well and isn't even that logical. I think there was also an idea that the way to truly test Tony was to have him face challenges without his suits, but he's never totally without them, and honestly the suits are perhaps the best part of the movie so including less of them was a bit frustrating.
I know that was some fairly harsh criticism, but it's not a terrible movie, it's just flawed. The visuals are of course very good and the climatic battle with all the iron man suits was pretty cool. Also, the plot basically works which is hardly applaudable, but sadly some movies of the same budget can't seem to slap together a plot that logically connects their action setpieces (looking at you Michael Bay). Oddly, I actually had more hatred for it as a fourteen year old seeing it in theaters than I do now, which is odd since movies like this are pretty much tailor made for fourteen-year-old boys. I wouldn't have chosen to see it again, but two of my friends who are big MCU fans were recapping all the movies before Infinity War so I joined them for this one.
I might make recommendations on whether to see this, but it's been five years and the MCU has moved on a lot in that time. If you're not an MCU fan, don't bother with this. It might be moderately entertaining for you, but it won't change your view on superhero movies. If you are an MCU fan or looking to get caught up, this is one you can skip in good conscience. Overall Rating: 6.8/10.