Iron Man 3

IRON MAN 3

Director : Shane Black

Year : 2013

Genre : Superhero

Rating : ***1/2

Robert Downey Jr. once again dons the famed metal suit in the third installment of the hugely popular 'Iron Man' series. Directed by Shane Black, the movie changes tactics from the previous films in the franchise and turns the superhero into a damaged victim, who must use his intellect and brilliant mind to bring down his most dangerous foe to date. While the movie is full of fantastic special effects, thrilling set pieces and a fun, kinetic directorial style, it is the performances that make 'Iron Man 3' so watchable; Downey Jr. is as charismatic as always as the titular hero, Gwyneth Paltrow is great as the loyal but headstrong Pepper Potts and Ben Kingsley is quietly menacing as the main antagonist. Just like all the other movies in 'The Avengers' canon, 'Iron Man 3' is too long by quite a considerable amount and while I enjoy the film as an entire piece, there are many scenes throughout which purely feel like generic superhero filler. However, despite it's extended running time and maybe one or two many characters for us to truly care about, 'Iron Man 3' is a very entertaining film that should enthrall both the fans of the hero and multiplex moviegoers alike. 

Still haunted by the events of 'The Avengers', Tony Stark has begun to suffer from quite severe anxiety attacks and to hide his fears and his worries from those around him, he takes refuge in his cavernous basement where he makes an innumerable amount of robots, suits and other gadgets. But when a crazed madman by the name of The Mandarin (Kingsley) destroys his possessions and his personal life, Stark embarks on a life changing journey to find those responsible. While on the road, he must learn to use his ingenuity and cunning to defeat his enemies and save the ones he truly cares about, while also trying to find a meaning to his life and the reality of being Iron Man.

'Iron Man 3' is certainly the most devisive of the 'Iron Man' movies so far and for some, this may come at a price. Due to the events that took place in 'The Avengers', 'Iron Man 3' affords to take a much more comic book aesthetic rather than sticking the seemingly 'grounded in reality' tone of the first installment and while not a problem for me personally, I do think that this will anger both fans of the Iron Man lore and those who have come to know the story and the characters through the previous 2 films. Director Shane Black (who worked previously with Downey Jr. in 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang') certainly shows skill as an action filmmaker and the special effects used throughout the main action sequences are inventive and blend well into the environment of the narrative. However, Black also turns 'Iron Man 3' into a 'searching for oneself' movie and for quite a large majority of the picture, we get very little Iron Man. Yes, this may be a chance for Robert Downey Jr. to show us  his acting chops and expand the personality of the seemingly selfish Tony Stark, but we know the character already thanks to the great screenplays written for the previous two films. Do we really need any more development? I have a feeling that the criticisms of this film will be exactly the same criticisms that met both 'Spiderman 3' and 'The Dark Knight Rises'; that we see much more of the alter - ego and very little of the superhero himself. While I do not disagree with this complaint, I do think that Black should be congratulated for trying to add a larger dimension to a character that basically flies around in a big metal tin can. 

As mentioned earlier, Robert Downey Jr. is great as both Tony Stark and Iron Man. While we saw how great he was revelling as a playboy in the first two movies, in 'Iron Man 3' we get to see a very different side to this seemingly invincible man and thanks to a great screenplay written by the director and the acting talents of Downey Jr, Tony Stark becomes a much more layered and personable character than we were led to believe from 'Iron Man' and 'Iron Man 2'. He has begun to realise that money and fame may not be the be-all and-end-all and that a life settling down with his true love may not be so bad after all. Gwyneth Paltrow is given much more to do in this movie as the beautiful Pepper Potts and plays a bigger supporting role than what she was given in the previous films. Paltrow is able to perform well in both the incidental conversation scenes, the heartfelt tragic scenes and of course, the big explosion filled spectacle scenes and this fluidity of performance gives Potts a much more rounded personality and believable sense of presence. In the end, 'Iron Man 3' is not really about whether an evil genius can stopped, but if Tony can realise his true destiny  and prove his love to Pepper. 

The film does throw some quite unexpected curve balls at us at times and they may either intrigue or anger beyond belief. Speaking to others about this movie, it is surprising how many people were frustrated by the various narrative arcs and strange decisions made in the telling of the story. For me, they were a much needed shot in the arm for the franchise and while I was no fan of 'Iron Man 2', 'Iron Man 3' is a much more cohesive, focused and intense work that pushes the boundaries of the genre and gives us something I personally have never seen before in a superhero movie. I can understand peoples frustrations and I do recognise that 'Iron Man 3' has some serious flaws in both it's narrative and character developments. However speaking truly honestly, I enjoyed it immensely and thanks to some truly great special effects, various stand out performances and a great deal of imagination that has gone into both the look and the tone of the movie, 'Iron Man 3' is certainly one of the better superhero movies of the year and one that I look forward to watching again very soon.