Iron Man 3 came out last weekend and impressed the importance of the man inside the iron suit.

The movie picks up after the events of last year’s “The Avengers” with a Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) shaken by the realization that he’s almost lost more than just his life, but also his love, Pepper (Gywneth Paltrow). This personal weakness humanizes the normally cocky Stark and makes him feel similar to a war veteran fresh from the front line.

Although this detracts from the character that many have fallen in love with, it also finally puts into perspective that this hero isn’t an invincible dynamo that always has an answer to everything. We see him suffer and panic, which makes his later desperation that more more believable.

We are also introduced to a new villain called the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). He isn’t what he seems, but he immediately takes advantage of our hero’s weakness. He attacks Stark’s at home, and severely cripples the Iron Man suit and destroys his technology. Tony must then handle the onslaught of The Mandarin’s biological weapons without the use of his technology.

This is Tony’s time to shine, and shine he does. He shows us that he is a genius on the inside, still able to do the duties of Iron Man without a metal mask to hide behind. He breaks into The Mandarin’s house using nothing but materials bought from Home Depot. He also goes fist-to-fist with superhuman foes that would be challenging even with his suit.

This doesn’t mean that Tony’s personality goes from entertaining to serious. Robert Downey Jr. still brings his eccentric wit to the character of Tony Stark, but he’s definitely buckled down and is showing his serious side. The world of Iron Man has always showed that you cannot have a future without a past, and Tony’s cockiness hides his inner concerns.

In the end, the struggle really comes down to Tony choosing between his life, which is the Iron Man suit, or his love, Virginia Potts. After she is kidnapped by The Mandarin, Tony must get in gear to use what he has to save her.

Eventually we see that Iron Man 3 re-establishes what exactly makes the Iron Man. The second movie had villains trying to replicate his suit, where as this movie shows that the core of Iron Man cannot be replicated. It’s not just the suit that gives him the power, but the man that knows how to use it.