Iron Man 3

Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr.

We last saw Tony Stark in The Avengers, but he's now back in an Iron Man-only movie, Iron Man 3. Although the film makes repeated references to events that happened in the previous movie, this film can definitely be on its own without seeing the others; for those that are familiar with the series, however, it may just be its best movie yet.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) now lives with his girlfriend, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), who has recently moved in with him to his California mansion. A new "bad guy," called The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), has been bombing the U.S., however, and soon he goes too far: one of Tony's friends and his former bodyguard, Happy (Jon Favreau), is injured in one of the blasts, and Tony Stark vows vengeance on the Mandarin on live TV, going so far as to giving his address and challenging the Mandarin to seek him out. Needless to say, that wasn't a smart idea, and Stark and Pepper soon find themselves struggling for their lives as his house is bombed from helicopters in the air. After that, Stark is convinced that there's something more to the story, and he goes off on an adventure to seek more info, with a little boy named Harley (Ty Simpkins) as his guide.

I will say that there's a LOT more to the plot that can fit in that small paragraph! Another villain, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce, who is fantastic in this role), ties in to the story, and he's angry at Tony because Tony blew him off thirteen years ago when he was trying to pitch him a business idea. Don Cheadle returns as Colonel James Rhoades, who flies "Iron Patriot" (rebranded from "War Machine") and is trying to uncover who the Mandarin is. Rebecca Hall (The Town) also has a part as Maya, a one-night stand of Tony's who is also a brilliant scientist.

Yes, see this movie. The 3D was really good at times and a little blurry in other scenes; although I overall liked it in 3D, it's not necessary to see it in 3D in order to enjoy this movie, especially since the film is so action-packed. Robert Downey Jr. was hilarious as Tony Stark, as usual - his one-liners are the best - and Gwyneth Paltrow gets to suit up as Iron Man in one scene as well. This might be the first time I've said this, too, but I loved the credits - they were done in "comic book style" and were very cool. Make sure to stay after the credits, too, for a scene with Tony and one of the Avengers - as some of you may know, Marvel usually likes to treat its viewers who stay through the whole credits with an extra scene. The movie's ending almost implied that Iron Man 3 might be the last Iron Man movie we may get, but I hope not, as his movies are some of the best in the franchise, and it will be a long wait until 2015 for The Avengers 2, if so.

Iron Man 3 is in theaters today, May 3rd, and is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 130 minutes. 4.5 stars out of 5.

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