A Reel Review: IRON MAN 3

 

How does Marvel Studios follow-up its own gigantic spectacle which was THE AVENGERS? Simple: they take their most popular character, strip him down to nothing and let him start all over again. The idea was to go deeper and not bigger, and the execution of that idea either makes IRON MAN 3 soar or land with a large clank.

Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is suffering from post-trauma after the events in THE AVENGERS, which is straining his relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). Meanwhile, a terrorist called The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley) begins blowing things up and an eager inventor (Guy Pearce) begins creating super-powered villains.

IRON MAN 3 is all about the character of Tony Stark as he wrestles with his new demons and faces threats which are hidden from him. After a major event leaves Stark homeless and without his normal resources, the character is left to basically start over; making the film a near-reboot of his overall story. Held together by off-camera narration by Stark himself, the film drifts into a clever gumshoe story as Stark pursues his adversaries and internal problems.

We certainly get invested in Stark’s issues and what he has to do, however as the film unfolds the ultimate motivations of the villains becomes a bit muddled. Exactly what they are after and why isn’t entirely clear, and the film often relies on small and short tidbits to try and drive things home. While it works for the most part, there often feels like there is a little more fleshing out that could have been done.

Despite the murkiness of the script in places, there is a ton of fun to be had in IRON MAN 3. In addition to rooting for our main character, director/writer Shane Black offers some spectacular action scenes, and his talent for sharp and witty dialogue offers the most LOL moments ever in a Marvel film despite how many darker moments come around. Black is also smart enough to keep things fresh no matter how often it drifts into familiar and clichéd territory; scenes with Stark and a young kid, which could have been disastrous, nearly steal the show thanks to some excellent writing and acting.

Robert Downey Jr. once again owns the character. He is perfectly suited for Black’s razor-sharp dialogue and nails every scene. Gwyneth Paltrow only has a few great moments to shine as this time around she is asked to do more physical work than has ever been asked of her. Guy Pearce makes for a good bad guy, and Don Cheadle’s Col. Rhodes character is reduced to an effective sidekick. The most entertaining performance has to go to Sir Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin character. Kingsley is full of perfect menace in the early goings, and when his character takes an unpredictable and bold turn (an innovative turn never before seen in a superhero film), he really gets to have fun with the role and that fun extends to the audience.

The wild finale comes about after a major action set-piece in which the cork is pulled out of a shaken-up Iron Man bottle, and a geyser-rush of comic-book mayhem and fun takes to the skies. By the end, characters meet their resolutions a little too quickly, but thematically it works and the door is left open for some very interesting possibilities down the road. IRON MAN 3 soars in many places with only a few chinks in the armor, and very few will be leaving the theatre without a beaming, ear-to-ear smile.

BOTTOM LINE: See it