Was happy to see a new director breathe some life into the series and I appreciate all the call-backs to the other Marvel films, most notably The Avengers. Marvel has figured out how to make movies that act more like real comic books. The days of a stand-alone superhero franchise that doesn't tie together with other properties from the same universe may be coming to a close now that the Dark Knight series has ended. Look how Green Lantern ended up without other franchises to prop it up. When all the films connect and form a larger storyline it gives the audience more incentive to see the ones they might not otherwise care about (Captain America, Ant-Man, etc.).

Iron Man 3 has the best villain of all three, and trust me I was going into this expecting the opposite. The film had some pleasant surprises and the action sequences were fast-moving and clever with overly intricate set-ups just for fun's sake. It reminded me of scenes from the old Indiana Jones films where everything goes wrong with one thing after another in a row. Tony Stark escapes capture by summoning his new self-attaching suit that can come to him from miles away (I wonder if he got the idea after seeing Thor's hammer) and then he throws various parts of it to defeat bad-guys while flying around the room and the pieces come back to him like a boomerang. It's strange enough to hold your attention as opposed to mindless punching or shooting "action" in other films.

And at no point did he suddenly discover a new element in this film, which is good.

Looked great in 3D and the extra depth was helpful in making sense of the complex set-piece at the end of the film. You never know with some 3D movies if it's going to be crystal clear or a blurry mess. Never thought I'd say this but I'm looking forward to Thor: The Dark World more than Man of Steel now. Which do you prefer, colorful comic book type movies or dark and gritty graphic novel style films?

3.5 Stars (out of 5)