Ok, after further thought I have come up with what I would have changed about what I didn't like about the movie.
First off, the Mandarin. Instead of an actor, we have the formerly feared warlord leader of the Ten Rings Army hiding in a cave complex. His forces have been relentlessly hunted down and decimated since the loss of Stark-built weaponry and the entry of War Machine/Iron Patriot into the conflict. His rantings show his hatred of Tony Stark who he considers to be the cause in his changes of fortunes in the war. Enter an emissary from Thanos, who is also looking for payback for the loss of
his army in the previous movie. Thanos is looking for someone to work his revenge on Iron Man and the Mandarin would fit the bill. He is presented with the Makluan rings as new weapons to take his fight to their mutual foe. This both makes the Mandarin the Iron Man foe he deserves to be and is an additional tie-in with The Avengers.
Instead of being once again the Iron Patsy, Rhodes becomes the first victim of the upgraded Mandarin's vengance. He gets defeated in a real fight and the Mandarin then takes his armor to Killian and his AIM cohorts to continue the plan against the President. You can still keep Extremis in the storyline as a goal that the villains want, with Killian getting it's power for a showdown with Rhodes and Tony going toe to toe with his greatest enemy.
Just my idea anyways, feel free to take it apart at your leisure.
