Zero Complex

Rating: Null/10 (5 December 2013)

Directed by Shane Black, "Iron Man 3" sees actor Robert Downey Jr returning as Tony Stark, a billionaire weapons contractor, playboy and superhero.
Whilst wholly routine, the film goes off in some new directions. Here Stark is undergoing an existential crisis, the poor guy fearful of death, personal limitations and apprehensive about using his Iron Man suit. In short, Stark has both a hero complex and an inferiority complex. The film is thus packed with several symbolic moments, Stark fighting in semi-exposed suits, remotely from a distance (using automated drones) and acutely aware of his frail human body. Elsewhere the film questions the fascism of the genre, by having its chief "villain" be an Osama Bin Laden proxy created by the US Government to stoke fears. This Bin Laden proxy is played by Ben Kingsley, who manages yet another totally ridiculous, racially dubious role.
When "Iron Man 2" was released, many believed that the only way the franchise could get more mad-cap was to hire Shane Black, throw in an R rating and have the film model Black and Downey's "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang". "Iron Man 3" doesn't have a R rating, but it was written/directed by Black. Strangely, this results in a film that is less zany than its predecessors. And whilst "Kiss Kiss" was a postmodern smörgåsbord, gleefully proud of its irreverence and irrelevance, Black's "Iron Man 3" is a staid, turgid thing. Maybe it's the Marvel Effect. The recent "Avengers" killed all of Joss Whedon's gleeful excesses too, drowning imagination in dull money.
Unlike most superheroes, Iron Man has no need for anonymity. He's pure ego, allowed to be a celebrity, public figure, playboy, comedian, rich kid, toy-maker, invincible muscle man, billionaire industrialist and one man military industrial complex. Whilst most superheroes function as power fantasies, Iron Man goes several steps beyond. He's a very white, Western, 21st century fantasy. A celebrity superhero for the reality TV generation; everyone must know his name.
7.5/10 - Worth one viewing.