Rating of
3/4
Review: Iron Man 3
MikePA - wrote on 05/05/13
Even if Iron Man 3 can't quite exceed last year's The Avengers or even the first Iron Man film, it still kicks off the summer movie season with a fantastic bang. Everything you'd expect in an Iron Man film is here - the great sense of humor, the breathtaking action, and the charismatic performance by Robert Downey Jr. - as well as a few turns and plot surprises that makes for a much more entertaining film and engaging look at the darker and personal parts of Tony Stark.
The film is directed and co-written by Shane Black, who is mostly known for making fun action films, including Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Lethal Weapon. What he brings to the table here is certainly rather different and unique when compared to the previous Iron Man movies. It gets darker and it gets personal. It's devoid of the richness and authenticity of the first Iron Man, being that this film is much more broad in structure and a bit convoluted at times, but most of what is put on display totally works.
After the events in New York (The Avengers), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) seems, in a way, broken. Think Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Rises. He suffers anxiety attacks when reminded of what went down in New York. Aside from that, he's going through some relationship troubles with Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow) and is threatened by this evil, Bin Laden look-alike known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). A scientist named Killian (Guy Pearce) comes along to cause some trouble alongside The Mandarin, as well as a character played by Rebecca Hall who doesn't really add much to anything. Let's just forget about her.
Once Stark is truly pissed about The Mandarin's attacks, he finally makes his own threat: "No politics here... just good old fashion revenge." However, he doesn't really expect to get his house blown to bits and himself nearly killed. Once he is strayed from his suits and Pepper Pots, he needs to work his way up again to kill The Mandarin and Killian before they hurt more people, including Pepper Pots herself. This is where the movie takes its unique turns, and eventually builds to an action-packed climax.
The heart of these movies are Tony Stark, and Robert Downey Jr. definitely (and unsurprisingly) brings his A-game. But as the film explores the deeper parts of Tony Stark, way beyond the millionaire, snarky and sarcastic part of him, Downey Jr. really knocks it out of the park with a great performance. He truly makes the character engrossing and packs the movie with soul. Don Cheadle has more to do this time around as War Machi --- excuse me, Iron Patriot. His performance is fun and he's great in action.
Ben Kingsley is insanely good as The Mandarin. Through those silly videos, you can tell both Tony Stark and the rest of the country is in a lot of trouble. That is up until the second half in which a big WTF moment takes place - which at first will be looked down upon, but the more you think about it the more you'll realize how much it really, really works. I thought it was brilliant. Pepper Pots is given more to do. At one point she actually wears the suit and saves a life, which was cool to see. Guy Pearce's villainous character wasn't necessarily bad - it was fine - but the film didn't do much development for him and wasn't really that clear on his whole scheme and his motives. His performance was good, but as a villain he's just passable.
The actors are working with a very good screenplay written by Shane Black and Drew Pearce. It dialogue is better than ever. It's a well structured film for the most part, even if it does feel like too much at times. It's a very funny film, featuring a lot of Joss Whedon humor which is really fun.
No summer blockbuster is satisfying without its action scenes. One of the best things about Iron Man 3 is definitely the action. These are really spectacular set pieces. The mansion destruction sequence is epic, the airplane sequence is amazingly effective, and the big 20-minute climax is as exciting as an action movie climax can get. But these scenes actually mean something. Yes, Shane Black makes them really loud and really bombastic and really, really crazy, but they feature characters who you like and root for to survive.
Iron Man 3 is a totally good film, a solid and respectable addition to the Marvel universe. The action is great and Robert Downey Jr. is as good as he can be. You'll leave excited for the rest of Phase 2 and the rest of what this summer has to offer. For an extra laugh, stay after the credits!
3/4
