Iron Man 3

Opening with narration by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), this third chapter in the lucrative billionaire-turned-superhero franchise starts with a flashback to Stark's earlier life as a brash-but-brilliant playboy who is spending New Year's Eve, 1999, in Berne, Switzerland, with scientist Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall), while arrogantly brushing-off nerdy geneticist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). Back in the present, Stark suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is obsessed with his ever-growing collection of cool metal suits, including his new Mark 42, which can be remotely-piloted. This installment's threat is two-fold: an evil extremist known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), who is staging seemingly random terrorist bombing attacks, and—of course—devious entrepreneur Killian (creator of a game-changing nanobot serum technology known as Extremis), whom Stark's CEO and long-suffering/neglected girlfriend, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), is busy rebuffing. After Stark's magnificent Malibu beachfront compound is obliterated in a helicopter attack, our hero is presumed dead…until he surfaces in Tennessee, where he is befriended by a resourceful youngster (Ty Simpkins). As inventive Stark rebuilds his high-tech suit and adjusts the priorities in his life, buddy James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) pursues The Mandarin—discovering that duplicity and double-identity twists abound. The imaginative screenplay, co-written by director Shane Black, is full of clever, whimsical dialogue and wisecracking one-liners, while the jet-propelled CGI action sequences are awesome. But what sets this series apart is still the irreverently droll performance by Downey in the lead. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Deconstructing a Scene: Air Force One” featurette (9 min.), and a behind-the-scenes segment on the upcoming Thor: The Dark World (2 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are audio commentary by director Shane Black and screenwriter Drew Pearce, deleted and extended scenes (17 min.), the “Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter” short (15 min.), the production featurette “Iron Man 3 Unmasked” (11 min.), a gag reel (5 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for another winning entry in the popular superhero franchise.] (S. Granger)