Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley

Directed by: Shane Black

Synopsis: Suffering from PTSD following the battle of New York, Tony Stark must fight a dangerous foe without the help of his Avengers teammates, as a terrorist threat on the United States ultimately becomes an assault on him and his loved ones.

For many, Iron Man 3 is one of the lesser films in the MCU. I’ve been guilty of having that mindset myself, but the Shane Black’s conclusion to Iron Man’s solo stories is one that continues to surprise each time I watch it. It’ll never have the cultural importance of Iron Man and it doesn’t have the comedic masterclass from Downey Jr. that Iron Man 2 has, but the finale of the Iron Man trilogy (I’ll not get into an analysis as to why Civil War can be looked at as the last of his tetralogy) has more than enough moments that are unrelenting, funny, impressive and enjoyable.

Before we get into all of that though, some of you may be wondering why I’m taking the time in December to review, of all MCU films I haven’t written about, the third Iron Man film, in contrast to one more notable such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Thor: Ragnarok. The reason I’m writing this review is simply down to Iron Man 3 being a Christmas film. Yes, we can debate all day about the likes of this, Die Hard, Step Brothers and Rocky IV and whether they’re actually Christmas films or films with a Christmastime setting, or we can just think about Tony Stark dancing to Joe Williams’ “Jingle Bells (Bombay Dub Orchestra Remix)” and accept the facts during this festive time of year. “Jarvis, drop my needle.”

Ok, now that’s been cleared up, let’s get into what makes this film one of the MCU’s most under-appreciated. Coming after the big time event that was The Avengers, the next film was always going to be a bit of a comedown (truth be told this and Thor: The Dark World still have that aura about them when watching) but despite the sight of Tony Stark arguing with Captain America being replaced by him waking up in cold sweats in the middle of the night, it’s because of the more serious approach taken in the film – from Tony calling out The Mandarin after Happy Hogan falls into a coma, to Pepper Potts’ “death” (still one of the more surprisingly unexpected MCU moments I can remember watching for the first time) – that allows the more fun aspects to be even better. Whether it’s Happy and his love for Downton Abbey, the aforementioned suit-up to the sound of a remixed “Jingle Bells”, or Tony’s lack of remorse in leaving the fatherless Harley Keener out in the cold as he drives away (“We’re connected!“), Iron Man 3 is simply a really enjoyable watch – and thanks to Brian Tyler’s main theme an Iron Man film has a truly memorable piece of music.

Iron Man 3 also has its fair share of enjoyable action-sequences, with a few of them giving an opportunity for Rhodey (Cheadle) to shine as the Iron Patriot (his saving of President Ellis (William Sadler) in the final battle does lead to one of the most important lines of dialogue spoken in Avengers: Age of Ultron). They’re also important in letting us see Tony save so many – the barrel of monkeys idea as several people fall from a plane is tremendous – which is worth remembering as The Infinity Saga goes on and he’s led to believe he’s more so responsible and remembered for many avoidable deaths.

Obviously, the film isn’t without its flaws, as Killian (Pearce) isn’t a great villain despite the power and threat he possesses, and Trevor Slattery (Kingsley) is initially very unsettling as The Mandarin before the big twist reveal that, again, results in pure comedic gold. Watching Ben Kingsley drinking a beer watching Liverpool play Chelsea shouting “GOOAAAALLL!” and singing “Olé!” is an all-time MCU scene. Regardless, while Steve Rogers had Red Skull and Bucky Barnes, and Thor had Loki and Hela (the less said about Malekith the better here), Iron Man 3 ends Tony Starks’ trilogy leaving him without a truly great one-on-one villain. I suppose it’s just a good thing that he was responsible for Ultron four films later (so does Iron Man actually have a pentalogy?).

Iron Man 3 might not be at the top of my list of favourite Marvel Cinematic Universe films, but thanks to its many positives and lines such as “It’s Christmas, take ’em to church” to bring us into the final battle, it’s most certainly in my top three favourite Christmas films – just behind Muppet Christmas Carol and Rocky IV.

Rating: 3.5/5