Iron Man 3

Since this was a Marvel film, it should go without saying that there's an Easter egg at the end of the credits.  While my boyfriend and I were waiting for it, some dude came around handing out t-shirts that had been suction packed into those little hockey puck package things.  It was very exciting.

Ah, what a pleasant, relaxing series of witticisms and explosions!  If you've seen the previous three films featuring Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, then the world of this movie will require no explanation or setup.  If you haven't, then that's too bad as no explanation or setup is forthcoming.

Don Cheadle is still Rhodie, Gweneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts once again puts up with more romantic and professional bullshit in two hours than one person should have to deal with in a lifetime, and Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark is still the sweetest, most charismatic wealthy douchebag that anyone could possibly hope to regret having slept with.  These characters were fun to be around before, and they're still fun to be around.

As for the plot, well, at the beginning of the movie the world really isn't in too much peril, and then there is some peril, and then, not to spoil too many surprises, but the peril is pretty much dealt with by the time the credits roll.*  Also, Robert Downey Jr. says some funny things, lots and lots of stuff blows up, and there is a situation involving people getting sucked out of an airplane that will test your ability to willfully suspend disbelief.

Guy Pierce is pleasingly creepy as the villain Aldrich Killian, and at first I had my doubts about Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin, but by the end of the movie I wanted to pinch his adorable British cheeks and honk his cute little nose.

So if you already enjoy the sight of Volkswagen-sized objects getting hurled at RD Jr, only to clank harmlessly off of his impregnable metal suit as he grunts with exertion and maybe gets a cut or two on his face to show that everything really is serious, well then go see this movie.  If you like it half as much as the six or eight thirteen-year-olds in the row behind me did, then your ticket money will be well spent.


*As you wait through the credits for the Easter egg, it's difficult not to be blown away by the sheer number of people it took to make this movie.  Seriously, holy crap it took a lot of people to make Iron Man 3.  Old movies had a "cast of thousands" in front of the camera wearing costumes, new ones put those people in a giant, giant IT department.