Iron Man 3
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: May 3, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 44 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMay 1, 2013
Iron Man 3 is an ominously exciting, shoot-the-works comic-book spectacular. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMay 1, 2013
Thanks to Downey’s genius, Iron Man 3 is equally terrific, whether Tony’s fending off an army of villains or bantering with a kid in a shed on a cold, snowy night. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineChris CabinApr 30, 2013
A madly creative, darkly comical, and fiendishly self-aware actioner with muscle to spare. Read full review
83
Film.comWilliam GossApr 28, 2013
Downey, Jr. remains a rightfully cherished smartass figure, having as much a ball with Black’s one-liners as he had in “KKBB,” and he sells Tony’s newfound post-traumatic vulnerability more credibly than the film does. Read full review
80
TimeRichard CorlissMay 1, 2013
Besides rehabbing a hero who overcomes anxiety to save the world and defeat the terror-industrial complex by the simple matter of cloning his body armor, the movie proves that there’s still intelligent life on Planet Marvel. As you’re propelled out of the theater on IM3′s hydraulic lift of pleasures, you’re likely to say, “That is how it’s done.” Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 30, 2013
It sharply fuses the humor and heart of the earlier films with a satisfyingly heavy-metal strength — and a darkness that’s more than earned. Read full review
80
Total FilmJames MottramApr 25, 2013
Funny, twisty and thrilling, this is shellhead’s most entertaining solo flight to date. It’s also an impressive pace-setter for this summer’s barrage of big movies. Read full review
80
EmpireNick de SemlyenApr 25, 2013
Black proves the perfect blacksmith, forging smart new tech and scenarios for the swaggering super-genius. If this does turn out to be Downey Jr.’s final solo outing, it’s a very strong exit. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyApr 23, 2013
Black and his co-screenwriter, first-timer Drew Pearce, have great fun reshuffling the deck, teasing about who might occupy what superhero suit and morphing the story along with identity revelations and expansions of the dramatic horizons; the well-chosen cast members respond in kind with virtually palpable glee. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinApr 22, 2013
Black has an instinctive feel for balancing action set-pieces against the passages of soap-opera that are required to make them matter. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawApr 22, 2013
Iron Man 3 is smart, funny and spectacular. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanMay 2, 2013
The balance between human interaction and mechanical mayhem works well until the end, when flying suits and exploding bodies fill the screen. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanMay 2, 2013
It's solidly entertaining, with Downey's roguish charm as appealing as ever. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigMay 2, 2013
The rambunctious Iron Man 3 is a briskly paced thrill ride until about 90 minutes in, when the excitement wanes. A few late-breaking surprises re-invigorate the tale, however. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay 2, 2013
Iron Man 3 has the stuff to please the devotees and divert everyone else, which is pretty much what's expected from the curtain-raiser of any summer season. Read full review
75
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonApr 23, 2013
For all the film's flaws, Black brings enough to the table that it's far from a chore, and if this level of ingenuity and surprise can be maintained, there'll be no need for Tony to hang up his Iron Man helmet any time soon. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMay 3, 2013
At least this time "Goopy" Paltrow gets to perform a few superheroics herself, along with enduring some heavy-duty torture that’s bound to please her haters — for whom the sight of the top of her face being peeled off in "Contagion" was like Christmas in July. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMay 2, 2013
Black and company throw all kinds of stuff at the audience, and though it doesn't all work, a lot of it does and the attempt to be different and create unguessable twists is always appreciated. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirMay 2, 2013
As far as bored and cynical, playing-out-the-string comic-book action sequels go – hey, Iron Man 3 is a pretty good one! Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 1, 2013
Downey is as funny as ever, if not more so. He ensures that Iron Man 3 is a solid installment in the franchise, and helps to make it seem, at least for a time, that it might be something more. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMay 2, 2013
Iron Man 3 is missing that old Tony Stark spark. Not from Robert Downey Jr., who is still the best thing about this overblown show. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzJun 11, 2013
Iron Man 3 builds on the first film's political cynicism by suggesting that politicians and arms dealers dream up foreign policy crises to consolidate power and make money, but it doesn't develop this notion in detail, because if it did, the audience would tune out. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyMay 2, 2013
The real question for audiences isn’t whether Tony Stark/Iron Man defeats the latest supervillain (of course he does), but whether the movie itself rises above the dreaded third-in-a-sequel torpor of "Spider-Man" and "The Dark Knight." Spoiler alert: Yes, mostly, it does. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMay 2, 2013
A big, kabooming sequel that plays sleight-of-hand with its audience. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversMay 2, 2013
For all the clanking armies of iron knights on display to dazzle the eager kid in each of us, this summer epic rings hollow. There's no one home inside the suit. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMay 2, 2013
Marvel Studios will only be able to draw from this well only so many times, though, before fatigue sets in. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 1, 2013
The best scenes are when Stark just cuts impatiently through the claptrap. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 1, 2013
It's not without its payoffs; I enjoyed a lot of it. But overall last year's "Avengers" delivered the bombastic goods more efficiently than this year's Marvel. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreApr 30, 2013
The broad, goofy jokes and one-liners land — even if they feel a little winded, this time. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMay 3, 2013
In other words, Iron Man 3 -- once more delivering a satisfying combination of humor, action and dazzling set pieces -- provides everything fans of the franchise expect. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfApr 30, 2013
Given the keys to the franchise and a role in the writing, Black has massively upped the verbal sparring and kept the broad inventiveness of comic-book malleability in mind. “I’m a mechanic,” Stark says to the boy in a moment of self-doubt. That’s 100% Black, that line, a tidy code of craft, and the jitters pass. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonApr 23, 2013
It’s undeniably entertaining – and worth seeing for Kingsley alone – with the misfires never fully overshadowing the moments of glory. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd May 1, 2013
Here, it’s hard not to wish Downey were sparring with his costumed comrades again, instead of trading barbs with the far-less-colorful cast members — old and new — of this busy, sporadically diverting sequel. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMay 3, 2013
The action, directed by Shane Black, ranges from passable to interminable. The plot goes from clang to bang. Downey Jr. is still the best thing about this series. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMay 2, 2013
The third iteration of a franchise that began so well becomes a hollow hymn to martial gadgetry. The suits and story clank in unison. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn HornadayMay 2, 2013
A frantic, occasionally funny, finally enervating bricolage of special effects, explosive set pieces, sardonic one--liners and notional human emotions, this branch of the Marvel franchise tree feels brittle and over--extended enough to snap off entirely. Read full review
50
SlateDana StevensMay 2, 2013
Unfortunately, that sharp-eyed domestic comedy is dwarfed by the far less well-written supervillain crime plot that surrounds it. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 2, 2013
Judged solely in comparison to its corporate cousins, Iron Man 3 is a defective model. It’s lightweight but slow, padded with cheap jokes to disguise how hollow it is. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 1, 2013
Violent and nonsensical, with story elements in contradiction, it is lifted up by the efforts of the actors, who try to put a human face on the blockbuster machinery and almost succeed.
50
Austin ChronicleLouis BlackMay 1, 2013
The film provides more of the same and nothing startlingly innovative, but what's here is good. Read full review
50
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekApr 29, 2013
The big problems with Iron Man 3 are less specific to the movie itself than they are characteristic of the hypermalaise that’s infected so many current mega-blockbusters—too much plot, too much action, too many characters, too many pseudo-feelings. Read full review
50
VarietyScott FoundasApr 25, 2013
Iron Man 3 is more perfunctory and workmanlike than its two predecessors, but this solid production still delivers more than enough of what fans expect. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisMay 2, 2013
Stuff blows up and then more stuff blows up because that’s what happens when diversions like this hit movie screens around this time of year: chaos reigns and then some guy cleans it up. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithApr 30, 2013
The villains are all wrong, the motivations are muddy, even the gadgetry is off. And the swaggering genius at the center of it all has become a preening fool. Read full review
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