Zachariah Swope
Staff Writer

Iron Man 3 continues the story of a man haunted by demons from his past through action packed scenes during the film.
Iron Man 3 continues the story of a man haunted by demons from his past through action packed scenes during the film.

Iron Man returns to his first solo film since Iron Man in 2010 and the big box office hit of group superhero action in The Avengers. This time with a new director, Shane Black, in tow who also helped with the script. John Favreau, the director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, still produced and starred in Iron Man 3.
The question though is, does Iron Man 3 do well with the director that made it a big hit to begin with? The answer is yes and no. Iron Man 3 is a great super hero film, but with unneeded references to the New York incident in the Avengers and a disappointing use of an iconic villain does hurt this film just a bit.
The story of Iron Man 3 revolves around Tony Stark after the events of The Avengers. Demons from his past from something that happened back in 1999 come back to haunt Tony while he is having multiple anxiety attacks and nightmares. Life for Tony gets worse when he threatens the villain known as the Mandarin and an old love interest, Maya Hansen, who comes back into his life. What follows is 2 hours of non-stop, over the top action.
Speaking of over the top action, Iron Man 3 is fast paced and never seems to let down, with the exceptions here and there. The action in the final hour of the movie in particular has to be seen to believed. It is just that awesome.
Now with the plot, fans of the comic might be disappointed. The biggest faults lie with the portrayal of the Extremis storyline, which was changed drastically for Iron Man 3 and the way the villain The Mandarin was used. It does fit with the Iron Man and the Marvel movie universe, but it is still somewhat disappointing for those fans.
Overall, the story was fun. The humor was focused on relationships, which if you know Shane Black’s previous films Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang you know what is in store for you. Though some of the humor is in poor taste and really unneeded.
The plot is helped with the performances of the cast. Robert Downey Jr. has never been better as billionaire/superhero Tony Stark Iron Man. Don Cheadle and Gwyneth Paltrow have more of a role as War Machine, remade as Iron Patriot, and Pepper Potts. Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian was also great as well as Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen. Though the standout in Iron Man 3, despite the portrayal of the villain, was Sir Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin. In every scene he is in he is just absolutely great and fun to watch.
It is worth noting that there is no reference to any other Marvel characters in Iron Man 3. This is just a movie about Tony Stark. Though as always with a Marvel movie, stay after the credits for one of the funniest post credits scenes to date.
Iron Man 3 overall as a film is just plain fun. Yes it might upset some fans, but don’t let that stop you from seeing one great action film with tons of humor. Recommended that you see this in IMAX 3D to get the full benefits of the movie.

GRADE: A : Might disappoint some fans of the comic but overall a great action superhero flick