I'll make this short and I'll make it spoiler free. We posted our Top 10 superhero movie lists in anticipation of having several more to rank by the end of the summer. I'm not sure Iron Man 3 can go on the list. Not because it wouldn't earn a spot, but because it feels like much less of an Iron Man movie and more of a Shane Black action movie that Tony Stark stumbled into.
Should you go? Yes.
It's entertaining. The pace is frenetic and it's good summer fare. Honestly, I have to see it again to make a final assessment of the film's merits. I wouldn't be shocked if I end up buying the Blu Ray. Just don't go in expecting the light fun of Iron Man (or any other Marvel movie for that matter). This is a Shane Black movie through and through. Shift your expectations from Marvel's Iron Man to Lethal Weapon. And it doesn't take a huge leap to see Stark and Rhodes as Murtaugh and Riggs.
Should you take the kids? No.
Personally, I wouldn't take a kid younger than 12 to see Iron Man 3. I think people have come to trust and expect a certain brand of family fare from Marvel and up to this point their films have been very consistent. Iron Man 3 steps outside of that expectation. The violence is more graphic and there are moments that would be legitimately disturbing to younger kids. There is also a lot of conventional gun play that we haven't seen in Marvel's other movies. Iron Man knocking someone out with his repulsors and Tony Stark shooting a 9mm are two very different things.
So, there you have it. Be prepared for something different. And the film is very much framed as the end of a trilogy. Black went to great lengths to tie a bow on this one and wrap up everything we've seen from Tony to this point. I think it hurt the movie to some degree. That, in conjunction with a jumbled ending that fizzled, seemed to take the wind out of the audience's sails. The energy fell a little flat in the theater.