Scratch away Iron Man’s philanthropic, playboy, billionaire, and shiny metal and what do you get? Iron Man 3.

Director Shane Black parts from the usual Iron Man soundtrack by opening the film not with AC/DC but with another blast from the past: “Blue” by Eiffel 65 and a 1999, pre-Iron Man Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr., The Avengers). This sequel of a sequel delves into the big picture of Tony Stark with something old, something new and something blue.

The storyline is introduced at a 1999 New Year’s party, as a young and arrogant Tony Stark rejects a disabled scientist, Aldrich Killian. Killian is the inventor of Extremis, a virus that leaves the human body and the mind virtually indestructible.

Skip to 2013 in L.A.: an aged yet still arrogant Tony, burdened with PTSD, is faced with a character familiar to the comic universe, the Mandarin. The villain takes credit for bombing government agencies and public places in order to educate the United States, as he tries to re-shape the human race. Tony takes on the new threats, with help from his girlfriend, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow, Thanks For Sharing), who is the Stark Industries’ CEO, Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle, House of Lies) and a small town Tennessee character, Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins, Extracted).

Pepper and Rhodey take front seat roles in the destruction and debilitation of the big, bad plans of the night. Iron Man 3 gives importance and substance to the two sidekicks’ actions. Both get to wear suits and help save the day.

Viewers get a closer look at Tony’s insecurities. He has panic attacks throughout the film, which speaks more about Tony’s purpose as a hero than his tendencies to save the world. He’s not a result of the superhero cookie-cutter. He doesn’t stay constant and reliable throughout his story. He is shaky and wobbly and has finally gotten to a point where he feels comfortable reaching out for help. Since he was first written, Tony Stark has been portrayed as the most unlikeable superhero of them all. His flaws, from arrogance to snarkiness to crippling fear, make him the favorite of many, and in this film, the unheroic characteristics he embodies make him all the more vulnerable and relatable.

Even under the new director, the special effects highlight and capture all the technology portrayed in the comics. Nights of tinkering produced autonomous suits that could be controlled by a headset or JARVIS, Tony’s A.I., and prototype suits that assemble on call one piece at a time. Extremis takes the form of red hot lava crackling at the seams of skin, trying to work its way from the inside out.

Iron Man 3

does have faults– it gets off to a rocky start with cheesy narration and does not give the ample attention to the three-story arc it tackles, but the details tie together neatly with well-timed comic relief and adventurous twists. The third segment of Iron Man’s story is worth watching and watching again.