Worse than Superman 3

Rating: 1/10 (3 May 2013)

I don't know what movie other people saw, but the IM3 I saw is utter garbage. I don't mind the Mandarin twist; the comics version is outdated and too silly to work on screen.. The most obvious problem with this movie is that Iron Man is almost never in it. Sure, Tony Stark is in it a lot, but do people really go to see an Iron Man movie to see RDJ run around with a gun? Even Cheadle gets de-armored for so much of the movie that for a while I thought I was watching Die Hard 3 instead of IM3: two middle-aged guys with guns running around and making banter with each other while stuff blows up around them.
I really felt I was watching Marvel self-destructing. So much for their movie supremacy over DC. There will be comparisons made with The Dark Knight Rises. Like TDKR, IM3 focuses more on the man inside the costume. Unfortunately, this just doesn't work as well with IM3. For one thing, Tony Stark just isn't as interesting as Bruce Wayne. Bruce without the costume is still Batman, but Tony without the armor is just a snarky guy with a silly goatee. The armor is half the character! Furthermore, during the few moments in IM3 when Tony is (sort of) Iron Man, he is portrayed as comically ineffective. Somehow Tony has gone from a genius who designed an armor that allows him to stand his ground against Thor to an idiot whose armor falls apart when someone breathes on it wrong.
SPOILER: Still not convinced? Try this on for size: Pepper defeats the villain after Tony fails miserably and repeatedly. She gets super powers for a few minutes. I kid you not!
Furthermore, another reason IM3 fails is because IM3 doesn't remotely approach TDKR in filmmaking quality. Shane Black is not in the same league as Christopher Nolan. Nolan's masterful pacing, stylish visuals, and use of camera movement and sound make TDKR gripping even when Bruce is not wearing the cowl. That is why TDKR is engaging even when Batman is not on screen (which is a lot). Black's direction is plodding and unimaginative by comparison; much of the time, I felt like I was watching a bad TV show instead of a movie.
SPOILER: Also, the ending will really enrage many fans. The most disappointing part of the movie is the way the ending makes Tony seem like a selfish jerk again. Didn't he become Iron Man because he wanted to atone for all the harm he had caused by selling weapons? His trajectory so far has been from selfish jerk to selfless hero. Now he gives up being Iron Man so he can enjoy his life with Pepper? And because fighting aliens and terrorists is scary? What kind of a hero is that? At least Bruce had the excuse of being physically unable to continue as Batman in TDKR.
I really hope that producers and studio executives make more of an effort in the future to cast actors who are willing to commit to these characters for the long haul.
Joss Whedon is rumored to be less than pleased by the position this leaves him in with the Avengers sequel/s. I don't blame him. At least the next Thor and Captain America movies look promising.