PCP on DVD - Iron Man 3

I am really a big fan of the linked Marvel Cinematic Universe, but because they are making so many films all tied together, it sometimes becomes hard to see all of them in theaters. Iron Man 3 was one that I had to wait until home video for, because my wife & I were kind of turned off to the character after the disappointing Iron Man 2. Thankfully, the third entry in the series was far stronger than the 2nd.

Iron Man 3 - 2013, rated PG-13. My Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Iron Man 3 takes place in the aftermath of The Avengers, with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) suffering from PTSD from the events of that film. He faces down a new threat, known as the Mandarin, a terrorist responsible for acts of brutality around the globe. He also faces a second threat, an attempt at making Captain America-like super soldiers from a program called Extremis. Little does he know that the Extremis program and the Mandarin are linked in hidden ways.

RDJ is great as usual as Stark; honestly Marvel knocked the casting for this role out of the park when they hired him several years ago. He delivers the sarcastic one liners very well, but he also does a great job of showing us Stark's pathos and despair after the traumas he faced in his last outing.

Also great in this film are the action sequences. The sequence with Iron Man having to rescue people in free fall from an explosion on Air Force One was incredible, even if not realistic (for one thing, you can't hear anyone yelling at you in free-fall, something I learned when I jumped out of a plane a few years ago). The finale showdown between a whole slew of Iron Man armor suits and an army of Extremis soldiers was also quite awesome and spectacular.

Overall, the film was definitely a step up from the 2nd in the series, and it helped revitalize the character quite a bit. I'm looking forward to seeing how they use him in the next Avengers film, hitting theaters in 2015. I know that for that film, I won't be waiting until DVD to see it.