Iron Man 3

            Writing a review about a movie that didn't disappoint you is tough.  Especially when it met or exceeded most of your expectations.  So think of today as 'Mainstreamin' Lite.'

            On to the review!

            I went to the 1120 a.m. showing of Iron Man 3 yesterday and guess what?  The theater was pretty packed.  Fortunately I got a decent seat and didn't have to wish I had gone to the 945 a.m. showing.  (Yes, my local theater was screening Iron Man 3 when most 20-somethings aren't even awake yet.  That's how you know you've got a money-maker.)

            Once we got through nearly 30 minutes of trailers and the film started, I was admittedly a bit worried.  An Eiffel 65 song?  Flashbacks?  Mullets?  Fortunately my fears were alleviated within the first 15 minutes and I was once again sucked into the Marvel universe.

            This time around Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) doesn't seem to have much to do with his time other than tinker with his existing suits and build new ones.  After the threat that the Avengers put down, there doesn't seem to be anyone willing to take up the bad guy mantle and threaten the world.  While that would normally be good news, the events of The Avengers rattled Stark to the core and now he has panic attacks as well as difficulty sleeping.

            This is the situation we find Stark in when The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) starts taking over the airwaves, claiming taking responsibility for deadly explosions killing Americans all over the world.   And that's all I'm going to say about the plot.  The trailers did a fantastic job of selling an action-packed superhero film without spoiling anything and I'm going to do the same.

            As far as the actors go, everyone played their part well.  (It's actually been awhile since I was disappointed by the acting.  Maybe The Great Gatsby will break that trend?)  Robert Downey Jr. was Tony Stark, and there were a ton of fantastic one-liners.  Don Cheadle as Colonel Rhodes wasn't in this one too much, but he made the best of his screen time.  Gwyneth Paltrow was a fantastic Pepper Pots, as usual, and I really wish Jon Favreau was in more movies.           

           The special effects were unsurprisingly good, and yeah, that's about it.  Iron Man 3 was not a disappointment and the plot was better than I had expected.  They definitely made up for Iron Man 2's flat, meh plot.  If you're into superhero movies, this is a good one to start the summer with.  Now all you have to do is cross your fingers and hope that the rest of them are this enjoyable.