How will Marvel's universe ever be the same after "The Avengers"? There's bound to be a vocal percentage of viewers who walk out of "Iron Man 3" thinking, "why didn't he just call his superfriends in the end?" It's a good question, one that Drew Pearce and Shane Black's script doesn't ignore, but never satisfyingly answers. Yet that doesn't seem to matter. The bigger question that Marvel has addressed is whether it could effectively narrow the scope of its universe again after "The Avengers" blew it open—and the answer is yes.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) hasn't been the same since his near-death experience in a intergalactic wormhole at the end of "The Avengers." In fact, the words "New York" have become a trigger for his newly discovered anxiety attacks. He has spent his funk by building an inordinate amount of Iron Man suits, and specifically a remotely operated suit that he can summon through a biological tracking system. When a terrorist named the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) emerges, hacking U.S. airwaves to spread fear and causing thermal explosions, Tony calls him out on his cowardice, a move he immediately regrets.

As the script continues to introduce all the players in this third iron-clad outing, from Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian—a think tank manager Tony spurned 13 years ago—to Don Cheadle's Col. Rhodes who has a new gig as the stars-and-stripes-studded presidential bodyguard Iron Patriot, the film appears as a sloppy mess likely to meet the same fate as "Iron Man 2." Only when Tony begins to pursue the mystery of the terrorist bombings do all these seemingly disparate pieces begin to come together into what's actually a rather clever story.

Story structure aside, the script does boast plenty of Stark quips in case you worried the directorial turnover from Jon Favreau to Shane Black would alter the tone of the franchise. Not even close. If anything, the "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" director pushes the boundaries of political correctness with some of the dialogue, especially in the scenes in which Tony finds himself teamed up with a 12-year-old boy.

"Iron Man 3" digs deeper into the psychology of Tony Stark, at least more than you'd expect from a blockbuster. Rather than open with an action sequence to get the ball rolling, we get a flashback to when Stark met Pearce's Killian as well as a genetic engineer named Maya played by Rebecca Hall. Things don't really begin to pick up until Tony has his mansion blown into the ocean.

Not unlike "Iron Man 2," the film's action is largely reserved for the grand finale. Still, the amount of special effects shots is probably tripled, and the action sequences when they do come were written to be as unique and memorable as possible, with a skydiving sequence taking the cake. "Iron Man 3" hits big whenever it makes the effort to do so, proving again how Marvel Studios holds a quality entertainment standard rivaled by few.

The "Iron Man" films (and this is partly fault of the comic) lack truly excellent villains. This film sets up Tony Stark's greatest nemesis in the Mandarin, but complicates it in a way you'll never see coming considering how studios and writers have flocked toward villains in the mold of Heath Ledger's Joker from "The Dark Knight."

The movie gambles in that way and in other ways not all audiences will recognize. Take the boy for example. If the film failed on the whole, it would forever be remembered as "the 'Iron Man' movie with Tony Stark and that kid." That's dangerous territory. If "Spider-Man 3" had worked, everyone wouldn't refer to it as "the one with emo Peter Parker."

Nothing gambles more than the script, which spends a lot of time setting up the premise for what it hopes will be an effective payoff. So much of the film seems anecdotal until you see how the pieces fit. Even then, there's no guarantee the audiences will be compelled by the completed puzzle, but "Iron Man 3" goes bold enough to surprise in a good way.

The humor definitely misfires at times and the sense of danger doesn't pervade the film from start to finish, but considering how must third installments have sputtered ("Spider-Man 3," "X-Men: The Last Stand"),it's testament to a number of quality components at work behind the scenes, not excluding "The Avengers," which clearly reenergized Iron Man as a solo character. Without it, no way "Iron Man 3" opens with nearly $175 million after the critical disappointment toward the second.

Few actors have truly created and owned a character like Downey Jr. and Tony Stark. Without him, Iron Man is just a second-class superhero in Marvel's canon. He single-handedly launched Phase One of Marvel Studios' plan and gave audiences a multi-dimensional hero with both despicable and lovable qualities. If he powers down the suit after "The Avengers 2," it'll be the end of an era.

~Steven C

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I am sure that "Iron Man 3" will make a ton of money and satisfy audiences. But, at the same time, it delivers something that is not the original "Iron Man"—it's got more than the original and so much less. First the more—the film has more stunts, more CGI, more action and more explosions than ever before in the series. If that is what you're looking for, then you'll no doubt be satisfied. As far as less goes, the film has much less in the way of plot, characters and, especially, fun. Now I am not saying it's a bad film—but by this third film in the series (and the fourth appearance by Robert Downey Jr. as the lead) the formula is a bit faded. Good….but faded.

By this installment, like his comic book character, Tony is a serious screwball. He rarely sleeps and has significant problems with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. And, at times, he seems more machine than man. Not surprisingly, his personal life is a mess. At the same time, two threats are looming—one by a brilliant but morally suspect inventor (Guy Pearce) and another from a lunatic seemingly modeled after Osama Bin-Laden (Ben Kingsley). While the Pearce plot is much more important to the film, I really liked what they did with Kingsley, as this was an injection of humor—and the film needed all it could get. In fact, Kingsley's character and performance is my favorite thing about the movie. Now the cute is isn't bad, either, but he did seem a bit like a cliché. The bottom line is that Tony needs to come, once again, to the aid of the world and in the process there are fifty bazillion stunts, explosions, MANY situations in which he could not possibly survive (yet he does…which makes little sense) and a lot of 3-D. Now the 3-D portion bothered me, as it really wasn't necessary for the film and didn't enhance or detract from my viewing at all. If I had the choice, I'd probably see the normal version simply because it's cheaper.

Oh, and by the way, where are the great AC/DC tunes? Instead, the soundtrack is okay but features songs by Dwight Yoakim. I am sure Yoakim is a nice guy…but he's not AC/DC. So, in summary, I wanted more humor, less explosions, more plot and more AC/DC. If we can't have that, perhaps this should be the last film in the series—and the end does hint that that COULD be the case….maybe.

The first film was great and among the better Marvel films and the second while a step-down did for all the major problems it had did a lot of things right. As unpopular an opinion as this might be, Iron Man 3 was a solid second sequel and a notch better than the second. Yes it is agreed personally that the Mandarin was not very well handled, he could have been better developed and was cheapened by the face-palm inducing plot twist. Don Cheadle and Gwyneth Paltrow are given very little to do to the extent that Cheadle actually is wasted. And Hans Zimmer's score was a disappointment, I like Zimmer but the score was too much of an over-loud drone that was often too in-your-face and there were numerous times when the orchestration didn't fit. Iron Man 3 still does a lot right, it's very expertly made with the best special effects quality of the three films, striking locations and use of gadgets and very stylish cinematography and editing, never showing any signs of drabness, garishness or choppiness. The action sequences have plenty of great spectacle and are very exciting, especially the plane sequence and the explosive climax, that is by far the best climax of the three(the first's was rushed and overblown to me and the second's while an improvement was rather brief and could have started earlier than it did). The script had plenty of breezy black humour, great exuberance and enough surprises that are done smartly and cleverly. You may miss the mix of comic nostalgia and currant relevance that the direction in the previous two films had but the darker, without being overly-serious approach served the grittier-than-usual story here well and Shane Black does show that he is comfortable in action and in the drama and thriller aspects. The story is more involving and far less familiar than that of the second's, the only reservation being the plot-twist for the Mandarin, and doesn't feel cluttered this time round, and emotional impact, tension, fun and coherence are not sacrificed at least. Robert Downey Jnr. mixes brooding intensity and deadpan comic timing adeptly(if not as fresh and powerhouse quality as in the first) and for the villains Ben Kingsley actually plays deceptive quite brilliantly and Guy Pearce is also very effective. The supporting cast are very good on the whole, though the way they're written varies. All in all, not as good as the first Iron Man but a solid second sequel that is not wholly deserving of the dislike/indifference it gets, though the criticisms are valid. 7/10 Bethany Cox