Iron Man 3 review

Marvel has come a long way in their cinematic ventures since “Iron Man” hit way back in 2008. In the 5 years that have followed, we’ve seen pulp action super soldiers, biologically engineered monsters, interdimensional beings duking it out with aliens and all of which have culminated in the world’s first major crossover superhero film.

In “Iron Man 2,” the adventures of billionaire playboy, philanthropist, and generally charismatic jackass Tony Stark took a hit in favor of being a 2 hour advertisement for the then upcoming “The Avengers.” Fortunately with less of a burden placed upon and a better balance struck between world building and story focus, “Iron Man 3” manages to fair much better than its predecessor despite its flaws

Robert Downey Jr. returns to the screen as Tony Stark, battling post traumatic stress after his brush with death in “The Avengers” a year ago. After having his trusted bodyguard Happy Hogan (reprised by Jon Favreau) hospitalized after an attack perpetrated by a terrorist making a name for himself known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) using technology provided to him by the head of the think tank, AIM, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), Stark sets out on a mission to destroy The Mandarin.

Unfortunately he must do it with his own wits and a new malfunctioning suit prototype after The Mandarin orders an aerial strike on Stark’s Mansion and effectively destroying his equipment and his home base.

Director Shane Black’s sensibilities lend themselves well to the concept, which captures the feel of the source material even better than Jon Favreau’s already impressive take on the franchise had. Tony Stark and his entire supporting cast interactions are chock full of witty dialogue and banter with more pop than ever. It’s humorous, unpredictable and unlike “Iron Man 2,” doesn’t detract from the actual charm of the characters themselves.

“Iron Man 3’s” humor serves to diffuse the high stakes and tension of the film’s plot, which establishes a more grounded and cerebral tone akin to the first film and attempts to maintain throughout. Make no mistake, this is the original “Iron Man’s” true sequel; No awkward hamfisted Avengers plugs or SHIELD hijacking, this show is all about Tony Stark and his fragile world and this time, despite outshining his fellow cast members, Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t carry the show all on his shoulders.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s chemistry with Downey as his former secretary now Stark Industries CEO and girlfriend Pepper Potts, has returned in full force and Don Cheadle is finally allowed to shine in his role as War Machine, serving as a replacement for Terrence Howard that is not necessarily better but is at least acceptable. Even Happy Hogan gets in a handful of great moments. For the first time in the franchise, the supporting cast exists to do more than simply kiss Tony Stark’s ass and stroke his ego.

As strong as the supporting cast is, the story is focused squarely on Tony and his ability to cope with being swept up into a world of action, conspiracy, and death defiance, greater than himself. Separated from the friends and equipment that he has taken for granted, Stark is left to survive on almost nothing but his own wits and whatever materials he can manage to scrounge together, overcoming the challenge ahead of him to face demons that he has created in his arrogance.

The strength of the writing in addition to Black’s fantastic camerawork and action choreography with enough flash to make Joss Whedon eat his heart out, right down to a climax that is easily one of the best final throw downs of superhero film history, are more than enough to make this film an instantly worthy watch and quite possibly one of the boldest superhero films ever made.

Unfortunately, “Iron Man 3’s” major draws also prove to be the source of its biggest and most frustrating problems.

Black’s comedic content and writing are top notch, which is a good thing because his timing leaves a lot to be desired. The snappy dialogue never ceases to entertain in and of itself but it does have a really bad tendency to detract from the tension and dramatic atmosphere built up, which can render details of the plot significantly ineffective. Downey sells his PTSD stupendously but the actual movie unfortunately forgets to take it seriously by regularly making it the butt of a joke whenever it comes up past the first act.

Additionally, suspension of disbelief behind Stark’s ability to make witty banter as a defense mechanism for the horrors that he is experiencing becomes stretched to its absolute thinnest. Between grappling with his own stress and personal losses in the midst of a battle to protect everything that he holds dear, his aloofness in certain situations just doesn’t click with the rest of the film, despite his own self obsession and narcissism.

The comedic timing as a whole just isn’t as great as it needs to be and the struggle to tread the line in order to maintain a tone ultimately manifests itself in the form of a second act twist involving The Mandarin that is sure to rub several people the wrong way. It took me two viewings and a week and a half of contemplation before I understood what they were going for and it’s sure to be divisive but although I personally enjoy it, I cannot within reason fault those that will have a problem with it.

“Iron Man 3” is undoubtedly the most uneven film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe made thus far and I would dare say that it will beat out “Thor” as the most contested movie of the franchise as a whole. Do not however, let that scare you off. For all of its massive problems, “Iron Man 3” is very quickly becoming a film that I find more endearing as time passes and at its heights is one of the finest specimens of its genre.

Its flaws may distract from that but they do not change that status in the slightest, even if it’s promise ultimately outweighs its execution.

8 Out of 10