Movie #132- "Iron Man 3" (2013)

Sequels are usually a mixed bag.  The audience gets wrapped up in a character or group of characters and we wish their exploits would continue.  In comedy, it's a new misadventure.  In horror, the killer keeps killing.  In the world of action heroes, new villains to vanquish.  Hollywood gladly takes advantage of the situation, if the box office is willing, and gives us exactly what we crave.  I shouldn't say exactly because often these movies fail to live up to not only the first film, but also to our expectations.  I can think of just a few sequels that were equal to or better than the original.  It gets even tougher with the second sequel.  In some cases, it's an attempt to escape the sins committed with the first sequel.
I loved "Iron Man".  It would easily fit in the top five action hero movies I've seen in the last 20 years.  Robert Downey Jr.brought something fresh to the genre.  Whereas Batman was dark and dour (I loved "The Dark Knight" as well) and Spiderman was a little too sincere (didn't need a Spiderman reboot), Iron Man fit the current Facebook culture.  Tony Stark wanted the attention.  He was smarmy, brash, witty, and filled with braggadocio.  But he was also intelligent enough to back up his swagger.  Stark brought a sense of joy to "Iron Man".
Then came "Iron Man 2".  I wouldn't rate it a bad movie, however it was a giant step down.  Stark was still Stark, not only fighting the bad guys, but the government as well.  Unfortunately, Mickey Rourke's Ivan Vanko was underwritten and too much of the film seemed like a plug for the upcoming "The Avengers".  A simple case of sensory overload.
So that brings us to "Iron Man 3".  While I feel they tried to correct the errors of the previous film, there is still plenty of excess to wallow in.  The action scenes are bigger, more things explode, and at times, in the final action sequence, it's difficult to keep track what's going on.  The writers try to humanize Stark more by providing him some needed help from an unlikely source and Ben Kingsley is marvelous as the Mandarin, which leads to a nice twist.
"Iron Man 3" is a step up from the previous film, yet continues to fall short of "Iron Man."  In fact, I'd place this entry closer to "Iron Man 2" in terms of quality than the original.
  
Rating: 7/10
Movies I've previously seen: 6
First time viewings: 126