Bulleted Review: Iron Man 3 [SPOILERS]

"Ladies, children, sheep... Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher. Lesson number one: Heroes, there is no such thing." -- The Mandarin

"I'm Tony Stark. I build neat stuff, got a great girl, occasionally save the world. So why can't I sleep?" -- Tony Stark

Here in the Philippines, we were able to get screenings of Iron Man 3 a week ahead of its U.S. premiere. Just saw it last night and overall it was a pretty enjoyable film. Lots of action and lots of humor that would please most fans, both geeks and non-geeks alike. Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has officially begun!

Likes:

• RDJ of course. Tony Stark is RDJ and RDJ is Tony Stark. 'Nuff said.
• Awesome action! The Malibu attack sequence (also shown in the trailers) is one of the best!
• Pepper Potts in action.
• Guy Pearce, IMHO, is an underrated actor and in Iron Man 3 he managed to shine.
• Lots of Iron Man armors (My favorite now is the Mark 42).
• Please do stay till after the credits since there will be a great scene between Stark and Banner.
• As homage to James Bond, the words "Tony Stark will be back" was displayed at the end of the post-credits scene.
• Lastly, three words -- Sir Ben Kingsley! (Say what you about what they did to his character, but his greatness as an actor is unquestionable!)

Dislikes:

• The story reminded me of The Dark Knight Rises. Bruce lost his wealth, Alfred and the Batcave. Tony lost his Malibu home and his tech (At least Jarvis stayed by his side). They were both damaged (Bruce was walking with a cane while Tony was suffering from anxiety attacks). They both reached the depths of desperation. They both have formidable, at least that's what they seemed to at first, enemies which later turned out to be nothing more than lackeys (Bane to Miranda Tate and The Mandarin to Aldrich Killian). They both have lengthy action scenes out of costume. Eventually, in the end, they abandoned all that made them Batman and Iron Man. I know that TDKR really set the bar when it came to superhero stories but can we at least have original stories next time and not rehashes.
• The Mandarin twist --This is one offense that the purists might find hard to accept. In the comics, The Mandarin is one of Iron Man's most powerful foes. At first I thought that Iron Man 3 would have a great comic book battle pitting Iron Man and The Mandarin. But alas, we were subjected to a Mandarin joke. The great Sir Ben Kingsley was wasted.  The only good thing was that even though playing a character such as this, Sir Ben still managed to excel.
• Rhodey was again underused. He needs to have his own storyline. I didn't like the Iron Patriot suit. Bring back War Machine! Cause he rocks! :)

Overall, I still managed to find it to be an enjoyable movie. I just have to overlook the mess that was The Mandarin. Maybe in a future installment, they could depict the actual Mandarin who would be angered that he was misrepresented in Iron Man 3 and that would drive him to reveal his true self and exact his vengeance on Iron Man. Just wishful thinking on my part. But you never know, right?

How about you? What are your thoughts on the latest Iron Man?