Iron Man 3 (5 Stars)

This was the world's most successful film in 2013, based on box office earnings. Personally I prefer an adjusted list, based on the profit (earnings minus budget), but I'm not aware that anyone does a list like that. I'd have to do it myself, which would take too much time if I wanted to do it for more than one year.

When I reviewed the film last year on June 3rd I criticised the farcical elements of Tony's suit constantly falling apart. I still don't like it, but after watching the film a second time in the comfort of my own home it doesn't seem so bad. It is a very good film, and it almost has a James Bond feel to it when Tony Stark is running around without a suit with a gun in his hand. I was initially disappointed that the Mandarin, Iron man's greatest enemy, was reduced to a Trevor Slattery, but I've heard that a future film will introduce the real Mandarin, so I'm satisfied.

It's very much a Tony Stark film, not an Iron Man film. We don't see much of Iron Man, and even when we see him it's mostly the suit operating under remote control, not Tony wearing the suit. Other fans and reviewers criticise this, but it's not a problem to me. In Detective Comics #272 Steve Engelhart wrote a story in which Bruce Wayne never donned his Batman costume, and this was praised as an innovation. The real hero is the man behind the mask.

The recent Marvel films (since "Captain America") all contain a short film on the Blu-ray release, usually about 15 minutes long. These features, which are referred to as "Marvel One-Shots", are so good that I'm considering reviewing them separately. In this one-shot we see an adventure featuring Peggy Carter shortly after the end of World War Two. It's a great little spy thriller. 15 minutes isn't enough, I'd like to see more of Hayley Atwell.