Iron Man 3

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, & Don Cheadle

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I know, I'm a bit behind on my Marvel films, but to be honest, after Iron Man 2, I really wasn't looking forward to seeing another one. There's no doubt that Marvel films have gone from simple stories about superheroes to epic adventures with the best writers and actors in Hollywood, but the fact is Iron Man 2 was your typical disappointing sequel. In the third installment of the Iron Man adventure though, the franchise bounces back in a huge way, as we get a story that not only rivals the original, but in my opinion knocks it on it's ass! Iron Man 3 finally answers the question does the suit make the man or does the man make the suit, as Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) faces his toughest enemy yet, the one with the greatest reach, that no one sees coming. With his team and gear in ruins, Stark is left to lamb it in the middle of nowhere, and in a sense start over and find himself all over again. After playing Tony Stark for so long and appearing in just about every film Marvel has made in the last decade, Robert Downey Jr. knows everything there is to know about the character, and it has never been more apparently than it is here. Writers utilize cannon from various comics, graphic novels, previous movies, and really delve deeply into the character like never before. I also like the fact that it wasn't just another film with Stark in his lab full of toys. This time he's stranded in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by new people, having to start from scratch, it gave the whole thing a much more realistic feel to it, and finally there's the villain. While I loved every second of the Avengers, the truth is that the bad guys are aliens and aren't all that realistic. The Mandarin is a really bad guy and he's as real as the rest of us, needless to say I loved it. If you're not the huge fan I am and you only decide to see one of the Iron Man films, I'd choose this one. Rarely do I ever suggest seeing anything but the original, where it all started, but in this case, the effects are better, Downey's knowledge of the character is better, the writing is much better, and it's not the same old tagline you tend to get with introductory films.