Exciting And Action-Packed

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2013)

Iron Man 3
*** (out of 4)
130 mins/ 12
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, William Sadler
Director: Shane Black
Plot: Following on from the events depicted in 'Avengers Assemble', Tony Stark has to maintain his relationship with Pepper Potts while fighting a new terrorist called the Mandarin.
JJ's Verdict: What I like about 'Iron Man 3'is that it doesn't try to be bigger than 'The Avengers'. This film is more a character study of Tony Stark trying to cope in a changed world and of course Downey Jr. completely excels in this role. Stark has to cope with keeping his wife happy while also investigating some terrorist attacks, which obviously don't go together.
And after he tells the whole world his home address it isn't long before he's left on his own trying to save the world with few resources. Through this we get to see more of the man behind the suit and of course he is carrying huge emotional baggage. His opposite number, the Mandarin (played superbly by Sir Ben Kingsley), isn't actually just after Stark but the whole world, which gives the film a more epic sense about it. The rest of the cast therefore, has slightly limited screen time and Don Cheadle's War Machine sadly, has almost no effect on the film whatsoever.
Although he gets some plot choices wrong towards the end and will certainly annoy avid readers of the Iron man comics, special mention must go to Shane Black who hasn't made a film in eight years. He excels in directing the dialogue scenes and the visually brilliant and entertaining action sequences are really something to marvel at. Super stuff!