Iron Man kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008
with a great origin tale that really helped the fledgling Marvel studio
establish itself as a force to be reckoned with. This was followed up with
2010's Iron Man 2; a film that some people thought made missteps for the
franchise. After last year’s phenomenal success with The Avengers, Marvel look
to kick off Phase Two of their film franchises with Iron Man 3.
Robert Downey Jr is back as Tony Stark who, while seeming
his old cocky self to much of the world, is suffering from anxiety and stress
after the events of The Avengers. Now the Mandarin, played by Ben Kingsly, is
causing explosions around America and threatening the President and it's up to
Iron Man and Don Cheadle’s War Machine to stop him.
The trailers for this film made it seem like it was going to
take Iron Man to a far darker place and while this is true the film does not
lose the comedic edge that has been present in the other films. Downy Jr once
again gives a tremendous performance as Tony Stark and is the heart of the
movie ably opposed by Guy Pearce, who plays a great role in fellow tech head and
scientist Aldrich Killian. Killian was at one time spurned by Stark and now has
his eyes of Pepper Potts played once more by Gwyneth Paltrow.
Director Shane Black has done an excellent job with the many
interesting and varied action scenes in this film. That should be expected with
his prior experience with films such as Lethal Weapon, he really outdoes
himself here with some truly breathtaking scenes. The script really sparkles
with catchy dialogue and many twists and turns that really take the viewer on a
roller coaster ride.
Iron Man three is not without its problems however. Several
members of the cast don't seem to have that much to do, often showing up for a
few scenes that for all purposes could have been done in another way. Nobody
does a bad job, quite the opposite in fact, but this results in the characters
themselves feeling a little empty. Rebecca Hall in particular feels like she
may have had a bigger part at one point during development that didn’t quite
make the final cut.
The Mandarin on the
other hand is a tremendous character. Those who have read the comics and were worried about magic invading
these films should stop worrying now. Kingsly brings an entirely original spin
to the Mandarin and is almost worth the price of admission himself.
The story revolves around Extremis, a discovery that alters
human DNA and allows the repair of significant injury such as re-growing limbs.
This process is not perfect however and can have dangerous results and it is
this mystery behind this pushes the plot. Iron Man obviously is somewhat of a
science fiction story but these aspects can seem a little jarring. However the
film mostly does a good job of making you take these premises seriously when it
could be very cheesy indeed. Fans of the comic will be happy with the action
and characters on show here and the ending certainly leaves you wondering what
is coming next for Tony Stark.
The Verdict
Overall Iron Man three is an enjoyable film that comes very
close to matching the quality of the first and eclipses the second with set
pieces that rival any film in the genre. If this is the swan song for Robert
Downey Jr as Tony Stark it is a fitting one as this is most definitely a Tony
film because it gives us a glimpse into the man inside the iron.
The LHSRATING for Iron Man 3 is 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment