Iron Man 3 Review

As the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to occur in the aftermath of ‘’The Avengers’’ Iron Man 3, the latest installment in the popular series has some lofty expectations to meet. Thankfully it rises to the challenge with flair and gusto, delivering another entertaining and engaging super hero movie.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) has many things in his life; loyal friends, vast amounts of wealth and of course Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) his assistant turned lover; but the one thing missing is security. From the offset Iron Man 3 sets itself apart as the darkest entry of the trilogy. Stark is tormented by what happened in New York and is that much more unprepared for the onslaught of the Mandarin (Ben Kingesly) a ruthless terrorist who along with disgruntled scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pierce) seek to bring destruction to everything Tony holds dear. Tony’s house and suits are all destroyed, leaving only the mark 42 suit and his own ingenuity to defeat his most dangerous enemy yet. Ingenuity is one aspect that Iron Man 3 does so well; despite the title, the movie takes it’s time to take both Tony and Rhodes (Don Cheadle) out of their suits for tense and frenetic conflicts with side arms; this may sound disappointing for an Iron Man film but never fear, the final action sequence is by far the best of the series so far with the armies of Stark and the Mandarin clashing in a fury of explosive aerial combat. Add to this the Extremis enhanced troopers supplied by Killian and the stakes are dramatically raised for our heroes this time around. Iron Man 3 has plenty of action but also mixes in healthy doses of drama, emotion and even comedy in the midst of the dark struggle the characters face; Stark teams up with young boy Harley (Ty Simpkins) from which he learns never to underestimate potential allies as he did in Iron Man 2 among other memorable moments and the ending wraps everything up nicely with Tony finally coming to terms on his attachment to the Iron Man tools he created.

With the characters mostly developed already, Iron Man 3 keeps things simple; instead adding new situations for the characters to face; Tony Stark’s torment and anxieties over New York add a new layer of psychological depth that persists through the first half of the film. This combined with the same wit and humour we all love proves that Stark can be an entertaining and likeable character without resorting to the selfish attitudes that plagued Iron Man 2. Pepper Potts is placed is more danger and peril than ever before and James Rhodes learns the hard way that having a high tech battle suit doesn’t make you impervious to any attack; placing the characters in these difficult situations forces them to adapt, further adding to the increased tension that creeps into Iron Man 3. On the villainous end of the spectrum Killian is a sinister villain who again has a grudge against Stark but at the same time has the skills and expertise to conceal both his identity and motives from the world. The only weak spot in the cast shows through Dr Maya Hensen (Rebecca Hall); who raises some interesting moral questions about going too far with science and technology, though unfortunately these issues weren’t addressed thoroughly enough to become a concrete theme in the plot. The characters are also separated for the majority for the film which does detract from their interactions slightly; aside from these minor gripes the characters remain both interesting and above all else audiences will care about them till the end of the flick.

The Iron Man series has reigned supreme in its portrayal of technology and science and it does so again here; the big hook this time is controllable suits, watching the suit parts fly and fit seamlessly onto Tony’s body or watching the protagonist leap from suit to suit are all fantastic and riveting to watch. On the other hand, the extremis technology is an intriguing, yet deadly piece of technology that often envelopes the screen with its bright orange glow. Even with all this amazing technology on show, Tony Stark is even forced to fabricate his own makeshift weapons in a clever scene in which he sneaks into the Mandarin’s compound without his trademark armour. Overall the technics and special effects on show are once again top of the class in the realm of super hero movies.

If Iron Man 3 is the final movie in the series (Downey Jr’s Marvel contract expires after this film!) then the trilogy has been ended on a high note. Its action, comedy and drama are all executed brilliantly with only a few missteps along the way; with this in mind it could inch to the same standards as the original in terms of substance and quality.

Rating: 4/5 Stars