I must say I was somewhat disappointed after watching Iron Man 3. The first two had lots of humor, they overdid it in this one though, it pretty much suffocated nearly every scene that had any potential to be more than just another joke down the line. As for the Mandarin...

*MINOR SPOILER*

I was looking forward to see this villain ever since they teased him in the very first movie just to turn out to be another joke. It might be a great twist for those who are not familiar with Iron Man lore, it's a big punch in the gut though for those who are. On one hand I see how Mandarin relates to our real world situation and what he actually represents, on the other seeing as The Avengers broke that little bit of "realism" Iron Man had they could have introduced the original Mandarin just fine (there are little, almost insignificant signs he's still out there), and that's what really bothers me, unlike some other comic book movies they weren't bounded by realism on any level. With that being said I did enjoy Ben Kingsley's performance.

*MINOR SPOILER*

I also thought the after credit scene would be somehow significant to upcoming Marvel movies, the usual practice by now, it wasn't, like at all. Overall it's a fun movie, a solid action flick, though nowhere near as good as I expected.