Ever since watching The Avengers, I've been looking forward to Iron Man 3, and even though the only trailer that I've seen of it wasn't that interesting, I was still looking forward to it. In the end, Iron Man 3 was a solid film and I never got bored while watching it, but it does leave some to be desired. The portrayal of Mandarin and his true form which, while funny, was just slightly disappointing considering how hyped the character was in the marketing prior to the film's release. It felt like his character didn't fit well after that, literally just a joke (seriously though, I did not see that plot twist coming so I was a bit shocked and thinking "wtf" when it happened, kudos to them for that). I know the whole message of the film is that Tony Stark, even without his suits, is Iron Man, BUT, it would still be preferable if his suits had more screen time. You seen them at the start of the show (thinking, this is going to be pretty awesome since they start showing off the bad boys right from the start), then they effectively disappear until the grand finale. The film can feel too jokey at times, although the humor was funny, it can feel like it doesn't jell that well into the overall tone. Music is quite epic and the climax was intense. Sure, it's not as cool as The Avengers but it was still great in it's own right, especially when Tony calls on all his backup (then again, having Pepper ultimately be the one to defeat the villain was weird and awkward). It was surprising to see Tony Stark creating a clean slate (and there I was thinking when the fireworks were happening, what would happen if some of the bad guys didn't die and decided to strike them now...). Overall, still a great film.
