Iron Man 3 (***½)
Directed
by: Shane Black
Starring:
Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall,
James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, Ben Kingsley, Stephanie Szostak
Seen:
May 1st 2013
***½
Out of ****
The
Iron Man movies have something that no other superhero movie has: Robert Downey
Jr., probably one of the most magnetic actors ever. He does more for the Iron
Man movies than Johnny Depp ever did for the Pirates movies (the Iron Man movies
are actually good). Where Iron Man was a great introduction to the character
and where Iron Man 2 was a just as good continuation of the saga (although a
bit too similar to the first movie), the third movie delves deeper into Tony
Stark (Downey Jr.), and comes off as the best of the three (even with its climax
being the weakest point of the trilogy, in my honest opinion).
Iron
Man 3 tells of the origins of its story through flashback, with Stark reminiscing
on his flawed past, where he created the demons he will soon face. The 1999 Stark
isn’t the man he is now, and his off-handed treatment of both Maya Hansen
(Hall) and Aldrich Killian (Pearce) sows the seeds for the plot of Iron Man 3.
Present
Day Stark was deeply affected by events in New York with The Avengers, and is
suffering panic attacks as a result. He envelops himself in suit development
and experiments, barely sleeping. When a new terrorist threat arises Stark
investigates and when it hits too close to home, nearly killing his security
chief Happy Hogan (Favreau, director of the first two movies), his investigation
leads him to the Mandarin (a fantastic Kingsley). After publicly threatening
the Mandarin his house is completely destroyed, together with many of his
suits, and Stark is left with only one barely functioning suit, the Mark 42.
From here on out Stark is left to investigate and fight the threat that looms
over him and his girlfriend Pepper Potts (Paltrow) mostly without the aid of
his suits, and when there are suits, they’re used sparingly on Stark, even when
they flood the screen.
If
you have a nagging feel of familiarity while watching Iron Man 3 that you’ve
experienced some of this same feel in another Robert Downey Jr. movie, you’re spot
on. Director Shane Black also made the excellent Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, wherein
Downey Jr. also takes on a small narrator role to his main character in the
movie, and some of that feel reflects here. Upon first watching Iron Man 3 the
ending may feel weak enough to leave you disappointed. Think it through though,
even including these disappointing climactic events, and Iron Man 3 beats the
first two movies. I have to say though, that even though I was disappointed
with the ending, the story naturally led right there, and I am interested in
seeing where this goes in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Iron Man 3 is a worthy
send-off for Robert Downey Jr. from the series (current rumour has it that he
will reprise his role in one or more further Avenger movies, but not in more
Iron Man movies), and it’s a great blend of spectacle, humour, and action.
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