Iron Man 3.

I saw Iron Man 3 last Friday. I had been intrigued about the direction that the film would take post The Avengers. I needn't have worried!

This film is in effect a stand alone, with only vague references to 'what happened in New York' and  questions about 'how did you get out of the wormhole?' It also gives me the impression that the Iron Man franchise is 'parked' or even ended. The ending allows them leave things as they are or come back with another film if they need to. Even the post credits sketch is a light hearted in joke with no hints at future plots or connections to other films.

The action starts in a time line before the first film, and sets up the rationale behind the villain. There follows a story of Tony Stark losing everything and having to improvise, with the help of a young fan, to get back in the game and save the world. There is a lot of humour in the film with constant one liners. There is also a lot of action, as you would expect, with a 20 minute full on battle with about 30 drone Iron Men taking on the overheating villain's henchmen. There is also a wonderful stunt packed sequence where passengers falling from Airforce One are saved.

I can highly recommend the film, especially in 3D, although I did find some of the action sequences a bit of a strain on the eye.  It's 12A rating means that it is good family entertainment.