This is a strange, strange film, in my opinion. Boring comparisons first: it outshines Iron Man 2 in each conceivable way. At its absolute best and most inspired, it also outshines the first film and The Avengers, but I also believe it is more flawed overall than both. Iron Man 3 is almost a tale of two films. There are components, ranging from quiet character beats to perfectly calibrated moments of left-field and wry humor to a super cool second-act plot twist, which sing and soar and lift your spirit. I also dig how often Tony is in action without his Iron Man suit, which, while bad-ass in and of itself, also serves to obscure this franchise's finest asset: its committed and distinctive star. Yet the enterprise is also disjointed, often poorly paced, and at times unsure how to reconcile its idiosyncratic heart with the bang-bang-bland requirements of the genre. The core storyline, focused on an experimental regenerative virus with complicated and destructive side effects, is uninteresting and undermined further by very poor computer-generated images. This problem climaxes when one character breathes fire, an image I can only describe as cringe inducing.

C+

lol

I'll give the movie props for having action sequences that were actually entertaining. The last few flicks with "action packed" finales were a snooze (G.I. Joe, Oblivion)

wut in the fuck?

He can't be serious.

In the prologue, Pearce resembles Brad Pitt as banging-Tilda-Swinton era Benjamin Button.

I wonder how they will include Iron Man in the next avenegrs given how he "retired" at the end.

I was thinking "Pitt had some work done, it seems".

Yeah...no, excel.

So you've never seen Guy Pearce in anything else?

Easy. A routine he-comes-out-of-retirement-with-reluctance-when-the-world-needs-him-most plot.

Not really. And they def. look a lot a like. Same jaw, same nose, same hair...Pitt looks like more of a stoner, likely because he is one, while this guy looks more serious/bsuinesslike.

But they look strikingly similar.

PUT THOSE PICS IN SPOILER TAGS EXCEL.

I feel like I know Guy Pierce's face better than he does himself now.

http://www.justjared.com/2007/05/30/guy ... brad-pitt/

yup yup

In terms of Guy Pearce's character, I wish there were more of a sense of pain in his later scenes. I might not be able to explain this perfectly, but I found the image of him alone on the cold rooftop moving. It establishes well a motive for revenge against Tony and the world in general. Later, though, he is just a ferocious, macho, self-assured antagonist. I wish there were a few more shades of longing and tragedy within his malevolence, similar to Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus.

I mean its a little bit better than Iron Man 2 but the film is filled with too many moments that fall through or jokes that just try to hard. The third act was at least enjoyable as was the end credits scene.

I give it a B+, it was an enjoyable popcorn flick and way better than the awful Iron Man 2, maybe on par with Iron Man. I wasn't a big fan of the twist, partly because of the marketing built up Kingley so much that I was expecting him to be this ultimate villain. I liked Pierce as the villain, but the marketing really misled people. For that and a few other things that I felt that didn't work, it is a B+ movie.

100% agreed.

It's Pearce, people.

I'm with David, my biggest gripe in what would otherwise be a great comedic superhero flick was the weak villain plot. It just seemed to uninspired and cliche'. Still I found this to be a more complete film than the first Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, and it had more depth to it than the shallow Avengers.

But, like David said, it is perhaps the most flawed film of the Marvel bunch.

Bridges in 1, Rockwell in 2, and Pearce in 3 all have roughly the same personality. It doesnt get more unoriginal than that.

The ending is also just terrible. After four full hims, Stark decides to & figures out how to fix his heart over the course 30 seconds. I just....

2-3 years from now, people will rewatch this and be like ".....yeah. ".

Yes, this did irk me.

I don't really think he retired at the end isn't the last line "You can take my heart or whatever, but you'll never take who I am, I am IronMan"

I did think the ending for Pearce was very anti-climatic, and who knows he could be still alive. It wasn't really clear to me, especially after he got blown up in the Iron Man suit and came back from that.

Yeah I don't think he is retired and am sure he will be back in Avengers 2. I am not sure if they will make an Iron Man 4 though at least with Downey. He said somewhere he is reluctant to keep making them, and wants do more Oscar caliber roles.