Iron Man 3

Summed up this is a really enjoyable film but I feel no urge to watch it again.

Okay so that line maybe doesn't sit well with a 4 start review so let me explain, it's above average film really enjoyable but there are plot holes and inane scenes that serve no purpose. They're not enough to ruin the film but enough to create a missed opportunity for another comic book film at Avengers/TDK level. I can't really explain without spoiling the film so let's split it out:

The Good

Clearly lessons have been learned from Iron Man 2, the focus being on people rather than tin men in suits. There's still a lot of characters but they're managed well. You get Rhodey, Happy, Maya Hansen, Aldrich Killian, The Mandarin, Ho Yinsen, Eric Savin...they even get William Sadler a role and AIM squeezed in there. All these characters get decent screen time but this whole film is around Tony and Pepper...and Iron Man. This is a good thing, RDJ & Paltrow have had great chemistry in every film and Marvel have took the right step in making them the focus.

The Mandarin, I was a little annoyed that they picked Ben Kingsley instead of an Asian actor. It smacked of arrogance but I see the thinking, Marvel want this film to do well in China. It wont even make it past the censors with an Asian terrorist. Also the way he's been written here there's an out, I can see the comic book version of the mandarin being introduced down the road (I wont spoil it) it's a good way to have the mandarin but not ruin him for the comic fans.

Rhodey is great, when he's out of armour he kicks arse. Eric Savin is a great character in this, James Badge Dale does really well with the role and makes me wish he'd come back in a 4th film as Zeke Stane.

The boss fight, Iron Man 1&2 both had the criticism that the boss fights at the end were woeful. This fight is pretty good, we've all seen the trailer with the multiple armours (I really wish they hadn't shown that, it would have been a great WTF?!? moment, word of mouth would have done more that the trailer did) but the execution of this fight is excellent.

The disappointing

Deviations from the original extremis arc were expected, comics do not translate well exactly onto the screen but the deviations are pretty important plot points. Best illustration I can give is the end, after the boss battle Tony makes a decision to do something to his armours. But why? He had no reason to, he then has a scene at the end why? Makes no sense, with the original story it made sense but not here. The reason being the extremis part of the story has holes in it.

The armour, I like the new armour and loved all the new armours but in the film his new prehensile armour becomes a punchline. It breaks down all the time, falls to pieces like it's made of eggs, it doesn't tie in with the extremis part of the story, it's charged by a car battery for christsake. Didn't we establish that the arc reactor in Tony's chest powers the suit? How would a car battery have enough charge in comparison with a mini nuke-reactor?!? They should have tied the suit into the extremis plot instead of making it part of a joke.

The action scenes. Down to the director this one, some fantastic action scenes as I mentioned above the final fight is really good. That being said the tension and climax to scenes is poor, the sky-diving scene from air force one is a good example. I felt more tension in line for popcorn. Another example is the destruction of Tony's home, we've all seen most of that already but the final part isn't well executed I never feel like Tony's in danger.

RDJ, I really worry that Marvel have created a monster here. After Iron Man and Incredible Hulk they learned some lessons pretty quickly, get actors tied down to long term contracts and don't let the lead actor rule the roost. With RDJ they've got no choice, he is Iron Man (as he so frequently reminds us) and he's able to command $50 million for a part in avengers because he's not in a 9 picture deal. He can walk away and Marvel are worse off for it as people come to see RDJ. It's more than money, he's demanding control. RDJ had his paw prints over Iron Man 2&3, the improv, the director, the "me me me" it's too much. All actors need to be controlled, reined in. They need a strong director tell them "you're not doing this you're doing that I'M THE BOSS", otherwise it's just RDJ making a film he wants to see not what everyone wants to see. The bit at the end of Iron Man 2 'not suitable for avengers initiative' makes sense now, Marvel were prepared to remove RDJ from Avengers.

Look I'm not saying this is a bad film, it's really enjoyable and I'm glad I saw it I recommend you do too.But I probably wont get it on BluRay, I don't care if I don't see an Iron Man 4. In fact unless RDJ is reined in, I don't care if he's not in Avengers 2.