Is that all you've got? A cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner?

Rating: 10/10 (25 May 2013)

That is what Stark's opponent shouts at him during one fight. Stark's response is "Sweetheart, a cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner could be the name of my autobiography". Audiences have already come to expect such witty and self-referential dialogue from the the great writer Shane Black. Who is Shane Black, you ask? Well, you may not know him but you have certainly seen a lot of his films. This man is responsible for the greatness and awesomeness of the Lethal Weapon franchise, the wise- cracking Bruce Willis in The Last Boy Scout or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang ( which also stars Robert Downey Jr.)
Iron Man 3 was marketed as a story where Tony Stark would meet an opponent that would break him physically and mentally. It all looked very dark and gloomy. I'm glad to say that the end result is far from a dark and gritty movie. It is actually the exact opposite. This film is just as funny and action packed as the previous Iron Man films. The main difference is that this film has taken completely different approach than any other Marvel movie. This film isn't just your typical superhero has to fight a new enemy and in the end he wins story. This is a detective story, where our favorite billionaire, playboy philanthropist in his battle against The Mandarin is forced to go on a full-tilt investigation, revisiting crime scenes, digging through evidence and even interviewing witnesses. More than just being a detective story, what makes it a Shane Black detective story is the connections to the classic noir. Tony Stark is experiencing his darkest and toughest days due to post-traumatic stress from the Battle of New York (although in The Avengers he was fine, wise-cracking and joking around), he loses his home, his hunt for The Mandarin takes him through all kinds of crazy reveals and plot twists. There's even great voice-over narration just in the likes of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. You get more Tony Stark than Iron Man. Which doesn't mean that there is less action. No, you get plenty of action scenes just most of them are Tony being out of the suit.
Robert Downey Jr. has now become the living embodiment of Tony Stark. When you think of Downey, the first character you associate with him Tony Stark/Iron Man. He is just so believable in this role. I can't imagine any other actor in this role, it just wouldn't be such fun. Gwyneth Paltrow finally gets some action scenes. The banter between Downey's Stark and Paltrow's Pepper isn't that funny and light-hearted as in the previous films. Their conversations are now more serious since they are in relationship. Don Cheadle doesn't get much screen time as Col. Rhodes but this is the funnest his character has ever been. Shane Black establishes this Lethal-Waponesque relationship between him and Tony. Ben Kingsley, well, without spoiling anything you have never seen him like this. Few years ago Guy Pearce has started playing villains and bad guys. Well, I can't complain about him he is great as always but I would just want to see him once in a while as the good guy, that's all.
Brian Tyler's score is much more darker but also much more melodic. Finally we get Iron Man's heroic theme which is truly kick-ass and great to listen to.
Iron Man 3 is not the superhero film I was expecting but that doesn't mean it is a bad thing. I'm glad that all those trailers, clips and TV spots didn't ruin the film. I was a lot surprised at all the stuff happening in the film. This film is also great Christmas movie. Black explains why Iron Man 3 (just as lot of his other films are set at Christmas:"It's a time of reckoning for a lot of people, when you take stock of how you got to where you are now and lonely people are lonelier at Christmas and you tend to notice things more acutely. Well, that describes the character's story in this film quite a lot.
P.S. The end-credits scene isn't a tease for the next Marvel film but it gives Iron Man 3 a nice narrative framework.