Iron Man 3

2013 sequel to a sequel

Rating: 13/20 (Dylan: 6/20)

Plot: A continuation of the Iron Man saga in which the titular superhero fights terrorism.

I gave this movie at least one bonus point because I was so pleased to see that it pissed off comic book aficionados with this Mandarin character. Without spoiling anything, apparently the character was a little different here than he was in the comics. For a third Iron Man movie in a row, there's a bad guy who is more intriguing than Robert Downey Jr.'s good guy. Jeff Bridges in the first movie, Mickey Rourke in the second, and Ben Kingsley here. I love Kingsley's versatility here, and the humor he adds to this installment of Iron Man (in what seems like it might be a neverending series) is welcomed. You just have to love Kingsley, don't you? He takes on these weirdo roles that completely transform him into something else. He's either being typecast as "weird character only Ben Kingsley could pull off" or he's actively seeking out these kinds of roles as some sort of challenge. He's not really the main bad guy here; that would be Guy Pearce. He's fine, too, but the entire supervillain plot and the "science" involved with all that confused me. Like the second movie in the series, this suffers a bit from being a big mess, especially during the climax where there are about a hundred Iron Man suits flying around, explosions, more explosions, even more explosions, and a glowing Gwyneth Paltrow. And more explosions! I don't really feel like I can say much about this that I didn't already say in writing about the other two movies. And this third movie doesn't really say much about Tony Stark's character that the other two movies didn't already say either. And there was no Scarlett Johansson in this one. Is her Black Widow character getting her own movie or not? I'll probably see that one in a theater, more than likely with my pants off.