'Iron Man 3' Kicks Off Summer Complete with Energy and Laughs

Iron Man returns with more suits of armor than ever before, including Mark XLII.

Last year this time, Marvel embarked on its most ambitious outing ever with The Avengers. For the legions of rabid Marvel fanboys out there, witnessing its larger-than-life superhero dream team (Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America) joining forces for the very first time onscreen sparked a higher demand for more superior superhero flicks. That's all fine, except there's even greater pressure on Iron Man 3 to deliver the goods, more so than any previous installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Since the life-altering events of The Avengers, billionaire genius Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has found himself suffering from PTSD, unable to sleep and consumed in the bowels of his Malibu home lab with constructing newer variations of Iron Man armor. But those are just the start of his problems when Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin begins to terrorize the American people and its government. After an attack on his long-time friend Happy, Tony's war with the Mandarian gets real personal.

Iron Man 3 is one of those few and rare three-quels that manages to stand on its own two feet without too much comfort or dependency on the franchise's previous films. Normally by the third installment, there's no genuine reason for studios to put effort into keeping the franchise alive except for reeling in a cash flow of record sales. Iron Man 3 is different, in fact fresh now with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang's Shane Black at the helm. Black takes over for Jon Favreau and the changes aren't subtle, they're massive all around.

That's not a bad thing either, Black constructs a more grounded Iron Man movie akin to the original without falling prey to being an overblown and overplotted sequel like Favreau's Iron Man 2. Tack on some humor, actually loads of humor expected from Black. Some of the jokes work, while some fall flat. It's about as random as a roulette wheel, offering up a jarring and bumpy ride in the comedic department.

In his fifth round as Stark, Robert Downey Jr. nails the role once again, tinkering around with more of the man rather than the machine. It's also great to see Gwyneth Paltrow take on a more girl-power type role as Pepper Potts, even to the point of alluding to plot points in future MCU films. Likewise Ben Kingsley offers up a more realistic approach with the charismatic terrorist leader, the Mandarin. Of the three films, Iron Man 3 is bestowed with the most rounded cast.  Don Cheadle finally comes into his own as Rhodey and except for an awkward flashback at the beginning, Guy Pearce works some comic book magic as an additional villain to the Mandarin.

While Iron Man 3 is the perfect popcorn blockbuster to kick off the summer movie season, the film has its share of missed opportunities. Iron Man 3's jammed packed with references with various comic book arcs like the more recent Extremis virus, which is crucial to the plot, but is suffocated by an overall lack of investment. Additionally, Black misuses a hefty portion of the middle act, which should concentrate on Tony at his low point after barely surviving a terrorist assault on his Malibu home. Instead we get an unnecessary cheesy subplot that attributes to the overuse of humor.

And of course, there is one part in Iron Man 3 that will polarize audiences more than anything else in the movie and is the linchpin of whether or not the rest of the movie manages to pull together. Diehards will be frustrated by this alteration in Iron Man canon, but Black has his reasons for the change and once movie and comic are separated, it does serve the plot to a degree. It's certainly not the worst sin from a Marvel movie. Just look at that atrocious emo dancing scene from Spider-Man 3 for starters.

Full of explosive energy and fresh vibes, Iron Man 3 catapults Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe off to a well-deserving bang. It may not quite muster up a kick as effective as 2008's Iron Man, it does the suit and franchise proud.

GRADE: B+ (8/10)