Confession time... I couldn't get through the first Iron Man movie. I rented it and fell asleep. A few months after my first attempt, a friend loaned it to me and I managed to stay awake until about thirty minutes in. I didn't bother with the second movie in the franchise. I wouldn't have gone to see the third movie, if it had not been for Dan. There are some movie sacrifices that are made in the name of love, like movies with robots.
In the end, I enjoyed Iron Man 3, more than Dan, who summed up his opinion by labeling the movie "Shite".
Don't get me wrong, the third movie wasn't good enough for me to rush out and watch the first two. I'm about 50/50 when it comes to the Marvel movies. I really love the X-Men Franchise and Wolverine spin-off. Captain America was okay. Thor and The Avengers were abysmal and worse than abysmal, they were painfully dull. I don't necessarily expect any of the Marvel movies to be amazing, but I expect them to be entertaining.
Iron Man 3 was mostly entertaining, if not often completely silly. I like Robert Downey Junior as Tony Stark. In fact, his small bit in The Avengers, was the only redeeming quality about the movie. The rest of the cast is decent too. Don Cheadle is always a favorite of mine and I like Gwyneth Paltrow. I'm not sure what to make of Ben Kingsley in this particular role. I think that he was supposed to have provided a lot more levity in the film, but it fell flat.
Story-wise, the beginning had promise. I was intrigued with the scientists and the mystery of the bombings. The first person narrative at the start of the movie grabbed me and I never felt like I was missing much from having not seen the other two movies. It kept me entertained for the first half and then it just crumbled into a typical action film with predictable outcomes. Instead of rooting for the heroes, I was rooting for the movie to get back on track with something interesting. It ended with me feeling that I had just watched a very typical action movie.
I thought the best parts are when Stark is left without his defenses, in particular when he is stranded in Tennessee. This provided the best action sequence of the movie. I also liked the weaving in of the science bits with the research videos. It was even a bit creepy in parts.
The worst part was the groan inducing final battle sequence at the end of the movie. I also didn't like how the main villain ended up being so flat and uninteresting. I didn't think that the villain had a compelling enough motive and he was rather one-dimensional. The villain is usually one of the more interesting aspects of this type of movie and it was a let down that the character had not been better developed.
Overall, Iron Man 3 an okay movie. I would not likely watch it again, but I felt like I was entertained. This would have made a better rental, than a must-see in theaters.