Iron Man 3 was one of the most anticipated movies of the year. After the massive success of Joss Whedon's The Avengers movie, fans of the Iron Man franchise couldn't wait to see Tony Stark [Robert Downey Jr.] suit up and save the world from this year's villain, Mandarin [Ben Kingsley]. Though it was fun to see Sir Ben play the baddie for once, not everything about Iron Man 3 was as enjoyable. Don't take my word for it.

Daniel Tanure of culture site, Policymic called Iron Man 3 "self-absorbed" and "so smitten with itself."

"Iron Man 3 in a nutshell: that's it. It's just a nutshell. A protective receptacle with no nut in it to be protected. Albeit a very handsome, very witty, very polished nutshell...It's no marriage material. It ain't got no soul. And you won't want to eat it." (Policymic).

Tony Stark's collaborators also have a more defined role in Iron Man 3. Stark's on-again-off-again flame Pepper Pots [Gwyneth Paltrow] even dons a suit at one point and goes on a roundhouse bender. Stark's government pal, James "Rhodey" Rhodes also gets in on the action, introducing the Iron Patriot to the franchise. Yes, Don Cheadle also gets to wear a suit.

Pairing with Kingsley on the dark side is Guy Pearce, who plays evil industrialist [as if industrialist is ever a good thing in cinema] Aldrich Killian. Probably the highlight of the movie is seeing Kingsley and Pearce enjoy themselves antagonizing Downey's character.

All in all, Iron Man 3 is the consummate summer flick. Sharp, witty writing, top-of-the-line CGI FX and the fate of the world in the hands of a few heroes. What's not to like?