Iron Man 3

The Gist: After a brush with death against alien invaders (as depicted in The Avengers movie), Tony Stark has trouble sleeping and focusing, and spends his time developing new Iron Man suits. Meanwhile, a middle-eastern terrorist named the Mandarin has been carrying out terrorist attacks against the US with increasing frequency and with untraceable weaponry. When Tony has had enough of the government's incompetence, he challenges the Mandarin directly, putting himself and his beloved Pepper Potts in grave danger.

Iron Man 3 sees the very talented Robert Downey Jr. don the superhero metallic suit once again, and by now he has so thoroughly imprinted Tony Stark with his charisma and personality, it's hard to imagine who will agree to replace him in the inevitable reboot.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle resume their roles (as does Jon Favreau, although his character is less and less sympathetic and useful) and are joined by Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, and the dashing James Badge Dale, all doing an excellent job.

The Bottom Line: Iron Man 3 is a nice entry in the series, has eye popping visual effects and jaw dropping action scenes, but some events were a bit debatable (like the final fireworks -- I won't say more to avoid spoilers, but I don't see how they made any sense or benefited the character). Overall, an enjoyable comic book hero movie.

Grade: 7