Iron Man 3

Big step up from the last one. Like, not even close.

This one shows up with a bag full of new toys and actually knows what to do with them. Killian, Maya Hansen, the Mandarin (or "the Mandarin," depending on how you feel about what happens there), Extremis, and the Mark 42. All of it landed for me. They didn't just throw new stuff at the wall; they integrated it.

He could read a phone book in the suit and I'd buy a ticket.

RDJ is RDJ. At this point that's not a take, it's a fact of life. He could read a phone book in the suit and I'd buy a ticket. Guy Pearce as Killian is the kind of villain casting that just works, slick and smug and exactly what the movie needs. And shout out to the henchman who knows his geography. Small moment, made me laugh, stuck with me.

The one thing I can't shut up about, and I won't, is Gwyneth. I keep banging this drum across these movies and I'm not getting off it now. Just doesn't work for me. Never has.

Seeing it in the theater absolutely helped. Big screen, friends, the whole deal; that's the right way to do this one. I'll watch it again, no question. Would I tell every single person I know to run out and see it? Nah. But the right people? Yeah, I'll push it on them.