Here we go again! (Can't we quit while we're ahead?) Of course this thing is absolutely overloaded with Computer Generated blowie uppie stuff, but the film only comes alive when Tony Stark and Colonel Rhodes, for one reason or another, are without their marvelous suits. In particular, we like it when Stark and the little Tennessee boy Harley find a "connection." (You'll laugh.)

The big villain this time is a terrorist called "The Mandarin" but he isn't the only one to challenge our hero. (AND the future of our world as we know it.)

It took thousands of artists to make this, but these guys get their names in the paper:

• * Robert Downey Jr. ("Due Date") his Tony Stark absolutely shines when he is without his armor and interrelating with the boy, Colonel Rhodes, or with Pepper.
• * Gwyneth Paltrow ("Sliding Doors") comes back again as Pepper Potts, our hero's right hand (wo)man.
• * Guy Pearce ("Lawless") sneers his way through the role of Aldrich Killian, the inventor who tried to team up with Tony in 1998.
• * Ben Kingsley ("Ender's Game") has a blast as The Mandarin, the world's ultimate terrorist.
• * Don Cheadle ("The Guard") is a welcome face, as Colonel Rhodes steps in when we don't know who else will help.
• * Paul Bettany ("Margin Call") is the voice for Jarvis, and an impeccable one it is, too!
• * Ty Simpkins ("The Next Three Days") is Harley, the bullied kid who has his dad's machine shop in the garage. This star-struck youngster isn't above trying to manipulate his new friend though... His scenes with Stark are the BEST.

Thank you Marvel Studio for including the picture of each actor in character when his or her name appears in the credits. What a great thing to do. Of course our packed house at the screening is waaaay too savvy to leave during the (endless production) credits; this is, after all, a Marvel Studio production, so we KNOW there will be a teaser for the next upcoming release. So don't leave, okay?