After The Avengers exceeded expectations last year and became both a critical and commercial success, most were wondering, if Marvel can top that off, well, Iron Man 3 can't match the starpower of all the superheroes combined, but it is one entertaining comic book film and is way much better than the second installment of the Robert Downey Jr.led series.
Tony Stark (Downey)'s flashiness is no match for his latest nemesis The Mandarin played by Ben Kingsley. By disrupting TV and cable signals by sending his message across the world through some well made video presentations, The Mandarin is part Osama Bin Laden part Vegas Showman. Characters added to the film such as Aldrich Killian played by Guy Pearce and Stark's former flame Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) provide some connections from Stark's past that would set the tone for the rest of the film.
The two allies of our lead superhero Col. James Rhodes aka War Machine (Don Cheadle) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow)'s lives would also be in danger due to some of the new villain's enhancement and the way in which Iron Man saves the day made the film such a treat to watch.
The ensemble cast is excellent. There's no doubt that Robert Downey Jr. was born to play Tony Stark. Paltrow's real life healthy lifestyle is also played well here in the filmand the great Oscar winning Ben Kingsley is perfection as The Mandarin.
The only minor thing about Iron Man 3 is that right on the heels of The Avengers movie, some of the other superheroes should have made an appearance here and not just after the end credits. Putting that aside, the film is entertaining, engaging and because of that, I'm eagerly waiting for Tony Stark's fourth installment.
