Iron Man 3 was easily one of my most anticipated films to see in 2013, and I was lucky enough to see it 2 days before its actual release date. I could not have been more stoked to see where the third installment took us. Seems a bad taste from Iron Man 2 has been lingering for years with the general public, but that was never my stance. No Iron Man film will ever be as good as the origin story all those years ago, but for the second film to be dogged the way it was is just the evolution of how series like this tend to work. The fact that it was so despised opened an enormous window for success for a third film. People were so ready to forget about that film and to love Iron Man once again. It did up the ante coming off such a powerful Tony Stark presence in last year's Avengers, and for me, I was very curious how that film would tie into this film. It does a great job of using a few callbacks, while not relying on them to carry this film. Thor is mentioned. New York is mentioned, and The Avengers are mentioned. Shield only comes up once, and overall it is just done perfectly. Iron Man 3 is the first film to be released under the Marvel banner "Phase 2", which is their genius concept of tying the entire Marvel universe together through a series of films and characters so vast, it will take years. It is a bit risky, but it is paying out in dividends. I, for one, welcome a film company taking a risk like this. For one, it gives us tons of new material we may not have been privy to before. Characters are getting introduced in droves and with such an artistic elegance, it keeps us wanting more. I have titled this review as Spoiler Free, because I read very little about this film as to not spoil anything for myself. That being said, everything I write is common knowledge in my opinion. If you have a TV, none of the details about to be given should spoil anything.
First off, I am going to start off with a bold statement. Iron Man 3 is way more of a comic book film than any I have seen to date. The reason these films have become so popular is the fact that the realm of possibility seems high in all the most recent comic book genre films. Other than the alien invasion in The Avengers, most of these films deal with humans being mean to other humans. Terrorist organizations, nothing out of the ordinary, blah blah blah. Other than the unlikely tech, the films have basically taken current World problems and inserted them into these films. Iron Man 3 goes a little bit of a different direction. First off, we have a completely different Tony Stark. We pick up with him right after The Avengers war with Loki's army, and the inner torment Stark is dealing with. He has always been the target, but he feels much more vulnerable now, and this plays very well to me. He is just as arrogant and cocky, but not. RDJ is such a good actor, he plays both sides of the spectrum perfectly. One way on the outside, different on the inside. He is a broken man looking for himself, and trying to figure out what to do.
Now we have the villains. We all know the villain is The Mandarin, but what we don't know is what His end game is. Sir Ben Kingsley is AWESOME. Absolutely nothing but mad applause for his portrayal of the middle eastern psychopath. Like all of these recent films, there usually is another villain that comes into play later in the film. I'm sure you will see who this other villain will be pretty early on, but since I do not remember very much trailer footage of him or his character, I will leave that to you to enjoy. He did very well, but The Mandarin is one of the best "Villains" I have ever seen. I was in a state of awe at the direction they took that baddie, and I LOVED it. Brilliant, but I will bet some will not be as enthusiastic as I am. I mentioned the "comic book" feel to it. Comics are great because they are reality (Real people) mixed with fantasy (Tech, powers, paranormal etc) and this film combines them perfectly. I will admit, I was a little on the fence about said "fantasy", but in the end, it played well, because it is a COMIC BOOK.
These movies always introduce new tech, which I love. Another great fantasy aspect to these films. The big one here is the Mark 42 concept armor. It uses nano technology to basically be self sufficient (Unmanned if you will). It can trace Tony's whereabouts through a series of triggers. It is very badass, and also adds a ton of humor to the overall dark subject matter. We also get the War Machine (Cheadle inside) freshly painted and rebranded as The Iron Patriot. Very cool suit, but not much character substance there. Rhodes (Cheadle) has always been an afterthought in these films. Never grabbing at the spotlight, but it works well. A little extra eye candy and a lot of humor.
Lastly we have the action, and CG aspects to this film. This franchise has always been second to none when it comes to GREAT action sequences, and they always use the top CG firm which has delivered a flawless product 3 times in a row now. What action lacked in number 2, made up 10 fold in this installment. The big question is always, Was there enough action? Oh ya. Tons of it, and not all in the Iron Man suit. Tony is wide open at times and has to MacGyver his way out bad situations. Some scenes had so much going on, it seems like it could muddy the visual waters pretty easily, but that is not the case. It is aesthetically pleasing 100% of the time. It is by far the darkest film in the trilogy, and still not quite as good as the original, but this film is tons of fun, and if I had the time, I would see it again.
**Now a little story about my experience with the end credits and how it almost ruined my night. I have been reading for weeks that there was a scene at the end of the credits and even the guest character was revealed. I did not read who that character was going to be as I like to be surprised. While sitting through what seemed to be the longest credits of ALL time, all 9 of the other audience members left as it was 1 am and an employee screening. They did not feel like sticking around. To me, what's another 7 minutes at 1 in the morning? With what had to be about 2 minutes to pay dirt, the projectionist (not Mitchell) SHUT IT DOWN. I was appalled. Luckily this digital age we live in, this grave error was not so quickly amended. He fired it back up, which started the movie at the beginning and then proceeded to hit fast forward. I watched 2 hours and 15 minutes again over a 2 minute span. Pretty funny. Was it worth it? YES. Even my Brother, who doesn't care for Easter eggs the way I do, Laughed out loud at the one 30 second scene which has absolutely no bearing on the film itself, or the Phase 2 Marvel plan at all. It is merely one last comical scene for you all to enjoy.
NBM rates Iron Man 3 - Phenomenal
