I saw Iron Man 3 twice within 24 hours. This is because a) I really liked it and b) I needed to see it one more time to figure out that I liked it. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it the first time around it's just that, like so many others, I had high expectations and I wasn't sure whether it reached those expectations.
The film is explosive in many ways, and subtle in others. It far surpasses the weaker Iron Man 2, but I don't think I could say that it's better than the first one. Jon Favreau's 2008 hit felt as though it came out of nowhere and for that reason it set the bar for every other Marvel film that followed. Shane Black's take on Iron Man is a little darker. We find Tony Stark where we last left him in The Avengers, although this time there's less cheek and more internal struggle. After his near-fatal return to Earth in the 2012 blockbuster, Stark finds himself suffering from PTSD. Unable to sleep he spends his nights tinkering with his 'toys', building numerous iron man suits and worrying his now live-in girlfriend Pepper Potts. When a villain by the name of The Mandarin poses a threat to America, and Stark himself, he has no choice but to react. What ensues is a lot of action, some great twists and turns, and a chance for Stark to find himself amongst the rubble.
One of the reasons I wasn't sure how I first felt about the film had to do with the fact that Stark is not in the Iron Man suit often in the film. The story follows Stark more than it does Iron Man, and although I wasn't expecting this, I ended up enjoying this aspect. With two other Iron Man films and an Avengers film we've seen Iron Man in many different capacities. It is actually refreshing to see Stark deal with some of his issues outside of the suit.
Rumour has it that Robert Downey Jr. won't return as Iron Man in an Iron Man film. Fear not though, there are more Avengers films to come and he'll most likely be in those. I can't imagine anyone else playing Tony Stark, the role seems to be made for him, and he certainly made the role.
