Directed by: Shane Black
Rating: ★★★★
It’s going to be another year of superheroes. After some excellent ones last year, 2013 kicks off with its first superhero blockbuster, and it definitely doesn’t disappoint.
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| Tony Stark must battle against a new enemy: himself... |
A lot of people seem to have issues with Iron Man 2, but to be honest I didn’t: but I don’t really remember much about it. It was mainly filler that expanded on the Tony Stark mythos and led up to the spectacular Avengers Assemble.
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| The Iron Man suits are pretty awesome... |
And just like its predecessor, Iron Man 3 has a plot that isn’t entirely memorable, or particularly inspirational, but it does have everything else that we can expect in a wholly excellent superhero movie: action, adventure, anarchy, explosions, fights, show stopping sequences and, of course, a charismatic leading man.
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| Iron Man and Pepper Potts get up close and personal... |
This time round, Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) is dealing with the psychological repercussions of what happened to him in New York City, and so suffers panic attacks. His girlfriend Pepper Potts (Paltrow) is on hand to help him, but both are distracted by former love interests: Maya Hansen (Hall), an elusive scientist with a literally explosive secret, and Aldrich Killian (Pierce), a successful businessman. Tony and Pepper are attacked by the Mandarin (Kingsley), a terrorist responsible for a recent spout of detonations, and pretty soon Tony finds himself fighting both his new enemy, and his inner demons.
To be honest, it’s all really about a regenerative serum called Extremis and a master plan to kidnap the President, but these nuances aren’t really that important.
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| Remember Sammy Jankis? Oh wait: wrong movie... |
The plot may be shaky, but I really enjoyed the fact that the film focused mainly on Tony Stark and not Iron Man, as he is completely stripped of his gadgets and technology pretty early on in the film and has to rebuild both himself and his suit. This angle takes the film in a new direction, allowing for strong character development in amongst the impressive action sequences.
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| I really liked the fact that Tony must rebuild both his suit, and himself... |
The cast is incredibly strong: Downey Jr. is once again on form as the charming and cynical Tony Stark, Paltrow is excellent as Potts as she gets an upgraded role and is involved in a fair bit of action, Pierce is exceptional, Hall is beautiful and gives a strikingly strong and memorable performance and Kingsley is scene stealing in his turn as the Mandarin.
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| Rebecca Hall is brilliant actress, and gives a strong supporting performance. |
It is also good to see Don Cheadle as Col. James Rhodes, and although he isn’t in it enough, he gets his moment in the sun.
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| The very best of friends: Tony Stark and Col. Rhodes |
Iron Man 3, as to be expected, has a lot of action packed heart pumping mayhem. The attack on Tony’s Malibu house is really well directed and incredibly exciting.
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| Tony's beautiful house is destroyed... |
Also, the moment when certain people are thrown out of an aeroplane, which was probably my favourite bit in the movie, is successful at being both exhilarating and terrifying. The ending, set on an oil tanker, delivers a huge fight sequence that looks amazing and contains everything you want out of a superhero action movie.
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| The fall from the aeroplanewas probably my favorite part of the film... |
The humour of the original Iron Man and the other Avengers movies is also still very potent in Iron Man 3. Downey Jr. clearly enjoys playing Stark, and this is shown through his sardonic sensibilities and comic timing. There are loads of funny moments; most of them involving Tony begin rude to a small child, but there is a scene with an adoring fan and one particular supporting character that are also pretty hilarious in their own right. There is also a very funny stinger after the closing credits.
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| Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin |
The romance between Potts and Stark is also much more developed, and although Potts suffers the same fate as many other superhero love interests, by being kidnapped by the villain towards the end, she gets much more to do than just be pretty and scream in terror.
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| Potts and Tony suffer through an awful lot this time round... |
Iron Man 3 may have a strange plot involving fire monsters and people exploding, but it is well paced and hugely enjoyable, mainly because Iron Man is stripped bare and has to rely on his intellect rather than his suits. Also, the action packed adventure is very strong, and the 'fireworks' finale is pretty spectacular, which would probably appeal more to die-hard fans, but is still amazing to watch for people not too familiar with the comics and the suits.
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Is this the end for Iron Man? The film seems to allude to it. Sure, he’ll be back in the Avengers sequel (who could turn down that kind of money?), but as to another Iron Man movie, well I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
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