As far as pure excitement goes, moviegoers will be hard-pressed to find a superhero movie that offers more of it than Marvel’s Iron Man franchise. Iron Man 3 continues that trend, cranking the level of intensity up to 11, while also taking the viewer on a journey into the fragile psyche of a vulnerable Tony Stark.
Director and co-writer Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) is handed the keys to the latest installment in the series. There are plenty of thrills to be had on this ride for sure, but at times it seems not much else.
In this outing, we find our hero, Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) squaring off against a new nemesis, the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), who orchestrates the detonation of a series of bombs, obliterating nearly everything and everyone in their blast radius, and leaving no trace of the device that was used. After Stark’s ex-bodyguard and long-time friend Happy (Jon Favreau) is injured in one of the blasts, Stark sets off on a mission of “good old-fashioned revenge.”
Before Stark can even suit up though, he has the foundations of his life blown out from under him—literally— thanks to some well-placed missiles. I guess he probably regrets giving the Mandarin his home address now.
This attack leaves Stark stranded far from home, without any protection, and to his own devices—much the way we saw the character in the first Iron Man film.
There is also something different about Stark this time around. He seems to suffer from some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder that leaves him overwhelmed with anxiety at the mere mention of the words “New York.” It’s clear that the fight against Loki and the Chitauri army from the film The Avengers has clearly left Stark more aware of his insignificance in the grand scheme of things—at one point in the film he refers to himself as “just a man in a can.”
Once again, it’s difficult to find fault in Downey’s portrayal of the flawed character. His trademark wit and rapid-fire retort style return front and center, leaving him in command of the screen any time he’s on camera, and leaving the audience lingering for his next utterance.
Downey isn’t the only one who delivers a worthy performance. Ben Kingsley is masterful in his portrayal of bin Laden-esque—in appearance and motivation—the Mandarin. Guy Pearce also shines as the other bad guy in the film, Aldrich Killian (his last name has the word “kill” in it … You know he’s evil). Killian is a former science geek who holds a grudge against Stark for blowing him off one New Year’s Eve, and looks to destroy the self-proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist by teaming up with the Mandarin.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle also reprise their roles as Pepper Potts and James Rhodes, respectively.
While there is nothing outright bad about the film, as I watched it I felt like there just wasn’t enough Iron Man. During much of the movie, Stark is stripped of his trademark armor. And while watching Stark go tit-for-tat with a young kid he befriends was entertaining at times, I found myself asking inside my head: “When am I going to see Iron Man blow something up?” I guess that’s just the comic book fan/kid in me.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of explosions and whiz bang visual and special effects to keep diehard action fans happy (the falling out the plane scene was spectacular). The climax scene of the movie is nothing short of breathtaking, delivering some of the best effects I’ve seen in any movie.
This is definitely a “go see.” It avoids some of the pitfalls that plague many films adapted from comic books. It offers enough highs and lows and ventures into some new territory to prevent it from feeling like a “been there, done that” affair. While it would be dishonest to call this film the best of the franchise, it stands up well as another entertaining entry in the Iron Man saga.
-- Derrick Mitcham
Director and co-writer Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) is handed the keys to the latest installment in the series. There are plenty of thrills to be had on this ride for sure, but at times it seems not much else.
In this outing, we find our hero, Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) squaring off against a new nemesis, the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), who orchestrates the detonation of a series of bombs, obliterating nearly everything and everyone in their blast radius, and leaving no trace of the device that was used. After Stark’s ex-bodyguard and long-time friend Happy (Jon Favreau) is injured in one of the blasts, Stark sets off on a mission of “good old-fashioned revenge.”
Before Stark can even suit up though, he has the foundations of his life blown out from under him—literally— thanks to some well-placed missiles. I guess he probably regrets giving the Mandarin his home address now.
This attack leaves Stark stranded far from home, without any protection, and to his own devices—much the way we saw the character in the first Iron Man film.
There is also something different about Stark this time around. He seems to suffer from some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder that leaves him overwhelmed with anxiety at the mere mention of the words “New York.” It’s clear that the fight against Loki and the Chitauri army from the film The Avengers has clearly left Stark more aware of his insignificance in the grand scheme of things—at one point in the film he refers to himself as “just a man in a can.”
Once again, it’s difficult to find fault in Downey’s portrayal of the flawed character. His trademark wit and rapid-fire retort style return front and center, leaving him in command of the screen any time he’s on camera, and leaving the audience lingering for his next utterance.
Downey isn’t the only one who delivers a worthy performance. Ben Kingsley is masterful in his portrayal of bin Laden-esque—in appearance and motivation—the Mandarin. Guy Pearce also shines as the other bad guy in the film, Aldrich Killian (his last name has the word “kill” in it … You know he’s evil). Killian is a former science geek who holds a grudge against Stark for blowing him off one New Year’s Eve, and looks to destroy the self-proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist by teaming up with the Mandarin.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle also reprise their roles as Pepper Potts and James Rhodes, respectively.
While there is nothing outright bad about the film, as I watched it I felt like there just wasn’t enough Iron Man. During much of the movie, Stark is stripped of his trademark armor. And while watching Stark go tit-for-tat with a young kid he befriends was entertaining at times, I found myself asking inside my head: “When am I going to see Iron Man blow something up?” I guess that’s just the comic book fan/kid in me.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of explosions and whiz bang visual and special effects to keep diehard action fans happy (the falling out the plane scene was spectacular). The climax scene of the movie is nothing short of breathtaking, delivering some of the best effects I’ve seen in any movie.
This is definitely a “go see.” It avoids some of the pitfalls that plague many films adapted from comic books. It offers enough highs and lows and ventures into some new territory to prevent it from feeling like a “been there, done that” affair. While it would be dishonest to call this film the best of the franchise, it stands up well as another entertaining entry in the Iron Man saga.
-- Derrick Mitcham
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