Iron Man 3 is directed by Shane Black who takes over the reigns from Jon Favreau who, on the other hand becomes the film's executive producer and reprises his role as Happy Hogan. The film still stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and Don Cheadle as Col. Jim Rhodes aka War Machine.
New additions to the cast include Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian, Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen and Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin.
Now for the review. Oh and there might be a couple of spoilers here and there so be wary.
I want to start with a very basic question, is Iron Man here 90% of the time? The answer to that is no. Mostly it's just Stark/ Downey doing the screen time but it surely doesn't hurt. Not one bit actually. In fact this movie is kind of a throwback to the question Captain America played by Chris Evans asked Stark back in Marvel's The Avengers.
Shane Black does a great job of returning to the franchise we all know and love while at the same time fashioning it into a completely different beast. The storytelling structure here is more on the narrative with Stark opening the movie with a bit of rhetoric and drama, which I tell you is a good thing considering how goofy Iron Man 2 was. Downey narrating bits and pieces in the opening and closing of the film also serves as a good POV for what has already transpired.
Robert Downey Jr. proves once again that he was born to play the role of Tony Stark. He's snarky, smart and very weird. Not Johnny Depp/ Captain Jack Sparrow weird but he is quirky. I'm good with how Downey and Black mapped out this new Tony Stark as he even managed to out-Batman Batman in terms of gadgets and cool toys. That is one we have never seen from the previous 2 movies. A sense of just how good Stark is outside the Iron Man armor.
Gwyneth Paltrow does more than just be the damsel in distress in this movie. She actually gives a hand (literally and figuratively) in dealing with the film's final boss battle (more on that later). Seeing her in the last moments of the movie also made me realize just how lucky Chris Martin of Coldplay really is.
Cheadle does more scenes out of the War Machine armor now rebranded and repainted as the Iron Patriot although it'd still be better if Terence Howard still had the role but to each his own on that bit.
The villains for Iron Man 3 range from lackluster to amusing. Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin was intriguing and amusing especially towards the last part when we finally find out that he's not what he says he is. The guy practically lives in his own reality and is totally oblivious to what is really happening. Plus any villain who sleeps off while talking to Stark is A-OK in my book. Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen had it moments but her acting and her character became pretty weak towards the end which was also probably the reason why she was killed off by Killian himself. She did look pretty in the opening scenes for the movie where the Extremis is starting to grow. Seriously was she even in the story? It made no sense why she was there. Even the moments where she was trying to tell off Stark wasn't that great.
Guy Pearce as Killian was interesting and annoying at the same time. Interesting because we have here a character that's just as smart and talented as Tony Stark, just as devious and as powerful but more flawed. The thing that bugged me the most about this guy is his ridiculous hairstyle especially the 1999 scene when he was still all pimply faced and all that. The moment he does go into full overdrive however, you can see just how much a worthy adversary he really is. Also in the last fight scene, the guy totally reminded me of the Terminator unit from T-2.
Visually speaking, I have nothing on Iron Man. It's beautiful especially on 3D (and hopefully on IMAX as well). The stunts were highly coordinated and worked extremely well with the actions of Stark. Between the hero jumping around with just one gauntlet and one boot to the first time he wears the Mark 42 armor, the visuals for the armor are totally awesome. And I'm not even waddling into the actual armors that make it to the film's climax like the Gemini, Igor, Heartbreaker and more.
One more thing it's only apt to have Stark wear the Silver Centurion armor in a scene filled with all sorts of different armors. It's like a page of ARMOR WARS was lifted from the comic book and transferred to the big screen. For that, massive props.
You can call me a very satisfied viewer after witnessing that fight. It takes the lameness of the second movie and reverts it to pure geekery. Imagine seeing around two dozen different armors fighting Extremis fueled soldiers and then seeing Stark running around and jumping from one armor to another fighting Killian... I must say, it's a very smart way of utilizing the armor.
If you think Iron Man 3 will have a more serious tone, then you are sorely mistaken as the film welcomes humor much like how a hungry man welcomes bacon. The good payoff here is that it works. Regardless of the situation you can always expect Stark to have a good wisecrack or quip, something that his 616 counterpart forgot already.
The inclusion of Ty Simpkins as Harley also made it more appealing and definitely funnier and here I was thinking that adding in a young sidekick for a part of the movie will only ruin the overall film experience. Good thing though they were right on the money with the way Harley was written and who they cast for the role.
I'm also happy with how the credits rolled at the end as we get a quick reminder of who Iron Man is, what's to him as well as what he's become. A pity though we never get to see him fly off to space with the Deep Space armor aka Gemini mainly because he activates the 'clean slate' protocol which dismantles all the existing armors. :(
Finally if there's anything you should understand about Marvel Studios' Phase Two, it's this, they've already built their world and now everything is possible and things, people and even organizations have been set loose in this one gigantic sandbox which I can totally get behind with.
Two things I hated about Iron Man 3 though, SPOILERS AGAIN
1. Ben Kingsley's The Mandarin is a total joke. It was good that they did a plot twist here but they should've considered the implications. By turning the Mandarin into a stooge and a druggie, Marvel Studios has effectively made it impossible to get a good movie with a real Mandarin. Oh and nice try making Killian the 'real' Mandarin.
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| Might as well call him the 'MEH-darin' |
2. The inconsistency of the Extremis Soldiers bugs me. One minute they're impervious to repulsor blasts the next thing you know, they're regenerating limbs and blown up parts of the body like they were lizards. There's no concise or clear explanation about that one.
3. Where the heck is the Avengers? Seriously, that was the one thing that was running in my head. Stark's part of the 'superfriends' so why can't he call in one of his buddies for support? Oh wait he did but that was at the end when it's finally revealed that he's been talking to Dr. Bruce Banner aka The Hulk the whole time.
4. For something that's based on Warren Ellis and Adi Granov's EXTREMIS, there's not a lot to go around which is kinda sad because that was a well-written, modern age Iron Man story which also doubles as a new way of giving Stark superpowers.
I really don't need to plug Iron Man 3 because I'm sure as hell you'll be watching it in the coming days, but if you're not planning to, you should because it's a smartly written Summer Blockbuster. it's got substance and laughs and a non-cheesy love story beat. Plus it's got great one-liners, awesome visuals and it paves the way for the things to come for Marvel's Phase Two and eventually The Avengers 2.
Verdict: 8.5/10
Special thanks to Walt Disney Studios Philippines!
i dont like this movie... it was not loyal to comics... it sucks
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