The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Tony Stark is back! Only months after the massive success of The Avengers, the witty billionaire returns in his third solo outing as the entrepreneur-playboy turned superhero, Iron Man. 

The latest instalment in Marvel’s Iron Man franchise comes with huge expectations, but with quirky director, Shane Black, at the wheel, the film meets the challenge head on.

Iron Man 3 picks up several months after The Avengers, in which Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) – and his fellow superheroes – took down invading alien forces in an epic Manhattan showdown. Now, the fragile-looking superhero suffers with a serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder, complete with nightmares and panic attacks that are often triggered by the mere mention of the words ‘alien’ or ‘New York’.   

He spends most of his time in his personal lab, perfecting new versions of his iron suit, while his ever so loyal assistant and steady girlfriend, Pepper Potts (Paltrow), runs the enterprise. Stark shuns his superhero duties, leaving Col. James Rhodes (Cheadle) – aka Iron Patriot – to fight the world’s evils.

However, Stark is quickly reeled back to duty when his chief security officer and former bodyguard, Happy Hogan (Favreau), falls into a coma after getting ccaught in one of several mysterious explosions. He soon learns that the organisation behind the attacks, led by a mysterious terrorist known as Mandarin (Kingsley), are planning destruction on a much larger scale. Meanwhile, two figures from Stark’s past pop up unexpectedly with dubious intentions; mysterious scientist, Aldrich Killian (Pearce), and ex-lover, Maya Hansen (Hall).

Shane Black – who made his directorial debut with Downey in 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – has deliberately made this film a little more human and a little less robot. Bringing a personal approach to the superhero we’ve all come to love, Stark spends more of the film out of his suit than before. Don’t despair, though; it’s not all angst and personal demons. Black – along with co-writer Drew Pearce – has injected plenty of twists and turns, as well as a touch of dark humour.

Although satisfying on a pure entertainment front, with plenty of slick CGI sequences, the film does have its flaws; though its two-hour running time gives the plot freedom to develop naturally, several inconsistencies in the script materialise and it, at times, lacks the  usual tightness and snappiness that defines classic superhero films.

Nevertheless, Downey’s performance, once again, carries the story through; his jittery performance as a fragile symbol of valour keeps the drama ticking and his jaded one-liners maintain a pleasing razor-sharp wit. Paltrow finally gets a chance to strut her stuff and Pearce – one of the most underrated actors in the industry today – puts on a brilliant show, while as the master villain, Kingsley is simply glorious.

Iron Man 3 kicks off the summer blockbuster season with a bang and makes for a worthy follow-up to The Avengers.  Will there be another sequel in the works?  We hope so.