IRON MAN 3 - Review

Iron Man 3

2 hours, 10 minutes
Superhero, 2013
Written by Drew Pearce and Shane Black
Directed by Shane Black

Starring
Robert Downey Jr.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Don Cheadle
Ben Kingsley
Guy Pearce
Rebecca Hall
Jon Favreau

"So why can't I sleep?"


Looks like Marvel's first trilogy has come to a close. And damn, did it close on one explosive note. Tony Stark's third and final solo-act on the big screen is definitely not one to miss, but it still has it's fair share of issues. Let's dive in.
The opening scenes of the film are actually very emotional. Tony is dealing with some anxiety and PTSD from his time in The Avengers, and things are really coming to a head. His only real release is working on his Iron Man suits, which he has become obsessed with. He gains the ability to control his armor while he's outside of it, and can also call it towards him from a distance as seen in the trailer. The movie actually uses this ability quite well in the action scenes, making for some really interesting combat scenarios.
Anyway, the bad guy is the Mandarin, played by Ben Kingsley. Only problem is that (without giving too much away) Kingsley is seriously underused. What happens to him? I'm not saying a word, but you'll see what I mean. It's just a bit frustrating  Despite being underused, he definitely makes his screen time memorable. The other baddie (there are always two, aren't there?) is Guy Pearce, playing someone whose name I'm too lazy to look up because it's 3:16 in the AM and I just got back from a midnight screening, but ANYWAY he plays the other bad guy and he's actually not bad. It's not incredible or mind blowing, but he's still an interesting character. Only problem is that I still have no fucking idea what the hell his motivations are, but then again I'm tired.
Robert Downey Jr. gives it his all in his final outing, and I think this is definitely on par (acting-wise) with his screen time in The Avengers. While Iron Man 3 isn't as good as The Avengers, it's definitely better than Iron Man 2. Not as good as Iron Man 1,  but better than 2.
So what's wrong with this movie? For one thing, Tony's PTSD plays a prominent role in the first two acts of the film, then just disappears behind a wall of action and explosions. Maybe it's because I sympathize with his panic attacks, but I wanted to see more emotionally distressed Tony. Even the resolution to the trilogy is a bit muddled with "and this is what happend at the end" sort of explanation via voiceover by Tony. And it's kind of annoying, because they just wrap shit up all at once. Like, crucial shit and it's all at once. Also, Tony's entire motivation for seeking out the Mandarin, while it could have been emotional as fuck, just wasn't. I won't say what happens, but he very quickly gets angry and goes off and does something stupid. Like, okay... I get that he's angry, but where his anger comes from just doesn't have that much of an emotional impact as it should have had.
One big thing that I didn't expect from 3 was it's humor. It's unquestionably the funniest Marvel movie to date. Even better, it's not entirely from Tony's sarcasm and cynicism. The other characters have some great bits of funny dialoge and they get into sometimes funny shit. Some of the humor is slightly misplaced, suddenly cracking a great joke in a serious moment can feel a bit jarring in tone, but it's still a funny flick.
Overall, I'd definitely put this movie above the second one, but below the first. Oh, and it doesn't come anywhere NEAR The Avengers. It's got humor, fantastic action, great performances, some misplaced plot points, lack of emotional motivation for Tony to seek out the Mandarin, and not enough Ben Kingsley, but it's still a good (not great) ending to a mostly solid trilogy.
I honestly didn't expect this to live up to the first one (and it doesn't), but it's still a solid ending.

8/10