I dunno.

I find the beginning to this one a bit tiring. I think I enjoyed it more when it came out, but now that I know all the tricks it makes rewatching the start a bit of a chore.

But the whole sequence when they blow up his house is pretty amazing.

I think also having Tony on his own, disconnected from all the things that make him Tony Stark and Iron Man does pick up after that. I enjoy the small child as a foil as well. The whole small town vibe is very different than the rest of the films. Also, it’s more like the first one where we are watching Tony be smart and resourceful without all his infrastructure.

The entire Madarin unmasking is also really funny. I think I like it because it does play with the typical evil guy being anti-American when it is all a massive pantomime. Though, it does somewhat undermine the main bad guy because it’s just money and boringness.

Also, I am just not buying the whole breathing fire thing. I think it’s a bit much – I could almost go with with the whole weird extremis thing. But the dragon breath was just a tad over the top. And they only use it once? Why be so silly for no value in the end?

And then the whole GUY JUST CAN FLY WITH THE IRON PATRIOT. Like, does it not take any fucking training? UGGGHH. So annoying. Are there no security protocols on that suit?!

Then there is the whole implied threat of Pepper being a trophy.  This feels like an embarrassing gross bit of misogyny. Threats of any kind of sexual violence automatically makes me hate whatever piece of media I’m consuming.

Also, why did he blow up all his suits? Why?

Even the normal zinger one liners seem to fall flat in this film. I dunno.

So, what I’m saying. It’s a pretty mixed bag. There were excellent bits. There were a bunch of terrible bits. I think it’s one of my bottom 3 of the films. It’s just so ropey!