“Iron Man 3,” is the next movie on the Disney Marvel Franchise review list. It like, “Thor 2,” is more enjoyable after a second viewing. The film is directed by Shane Black, who focuses on the human level of the character and the post-Avengers world.
The premise of the film is Tony Stark is dealing with PTSD because of battle in New York City while dealing with people who he has slighted in the past who have come back for revenge as well as the new threat of the Mandarin. From here the story unfolds.
Here is the assessment of the film:
Pros: The Introduction – Tony Stark is recounting how his demons have come back to bite him and later brings it full circle at peace in himself.
The characters – Shane Black is great at directing actors and this is a great character piece…from the exploration of Tony and Rhody, to the antagonists of Killian and Maya. I’ll go into more details further into the review.
The Action – The action is quick and even has Tony suitless having to fight against Extremis soldiers (super soldiers who regenerate and can breath fire). It always feels like something at stake at the action rises believably throughout the film.
Pepper Pots – She is a pro in this, though she gets less exploration than “Iron Man 2,” and the first one. We see her trouble with dealing with PSTD Tony, but also her strength when she fights the baddie at the end.
Rhody/The Iron Patriot – I hope we see the Iron Patriot used by someone else and War Machine become War Machine again…it is even shown in this movie that Rhody hates the new name. This is a movie where he needs to be saved most of the time he is in the suit, but when he is out and about is as competent as Tony. He even manages to save the President after the suit had been used by Killian’s dragon to capture him.
the kid Harley – There is a kid who lost his dad who helps Tony repair his suit after the Mandarin blows up his house. He even distracts the Extremis soldiers during the battle in his town. It ends with Tony upgrading his barn since he sees the kid is an inventor like himself…and also thank him since he is pretty funnily cold to the kid throughout the film. So glad he doesn’t team up for the final battle…he feels like an actual character not a wizkid or damsel needing saving.
Extremis Plot – Created by the main baddie Aldrich Killian with the help of Maya Hansen, these soldiers are seeking to take over the government by using the soldiers as both terrorists and the soldiers fighting the terrorists. The Mandarin was created as the fall guy in the situation since it is just an out of work loser actor who is taken advantage of to create the character. What sets Tony Stark against them initially and openly (telling the Mandarin where he lives) is when his bodyguard Happy is almost killed.
The Locations – A fight in a small country town before Christmas, a fight on an oil rig on Christmas, a rescue from an exploding plane…the locations of action are fantastic in this.
Maya Hansen – One night stand with Tony, taken in by Killian and eventually sees that she can still see the consequences of the work she is doing with Killian so tries to stop him. A great complex character who should have got more time for us to know. Rebecca Hall does great.
Aldrich Killian – Guy Pearce does a fantastic job as the slighted scientist out for revenge. His motivations seem real since he was the guy who was invisible and bullied. It makes his super soldier transformation believable…he’s like the Anti-Captain America. I liked that he fought to the end and that it took everything Iron Man through at him and Pepper Extremised to defeat him. One of the best baddies in this universe.
House Party Protocol – J.A.R.V.I.S. “House Party Protocol,” is fantastic and I can see why it wasn’t used sooner beyond it being a game breaker (and can’t wait to see how this plays into the creation of Ultron later possibly). Iron Man was in the panic PTSD mode, he wasn’t thinking clearly, it doesn’t occur to him until he’s found himself again…and when he does…all his suits fighting for him is one of the coolest scenes in this entire franchise.
Tony Stark/Iron Man – From using the suits as a cocoon to hide from the world (his own words) in dealing with PSTD and eventually letting his suits go in the final battle and accepting them as a part of him and that he is Iron Man regardless, is a fantastic arc. We see Tony the inventor who wins through his wits and also Tony at his most believably desperate and paranoid. Robert Downy jr. once again owned this role.
Okay: The President – He doesn’t do much, he’s just there to be rescued and used.
The Mandarin – Is there to be a fall guy. How he is used is interesting, but as a character he isn’t interesting at all. Luckily the actor is told in one of the short films “All Hail the King,” that the Mandarin is the true leader of the Ten Rings (the terrorist group from the first film) and wants to meet him. Can’t wait to see where this goes. Also, can understand why they got away from making him the traditional mandarin since it is some of the worst of the Cold War propaganda and paranoia. How they make him in this film (and how he might be in this universe) might get away from it though.
Bruce Banner reveal – We see Tony recounting this story to Bruce who has fallen asleep. Would have preferred the Ten Rings short film reveal instead. This is cute but it doesn’t serve the plot or arc of the universe in anyway. We knew they became friends from “The Avengers.”
Cons: No one died – The President’s cabinet gets killed…and Maya who changes allegiance to good but Happy and Pepper live…if one of them had died it would have mad the ending more bittersweet. It is almost too happy for all that goes down.
“Iron Man 3,” is a sold film and worth the praise it receives. In many ways it is better than the first film since it is structured better. Wish they’d worked Extremis into what we learn about the universe in “Winter Soldier,” though. Extremis would have tied in perfectly to that plot…who knows, maybe it was and we won’t find out until “Age of Ultron.” Regardless loved this film, especially Robert Downey Jr. for the greatest range I’ve seen him take the character and for Shane Black for making an entertaining adventure.
Final Score for this film is 9.4. It is solidly good, some actual loss would have made it better though…and it still a favorite film.
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