Entertaining, but don't expect more than that

Rating: 7/10 (21 April 2013)

Ever since I saw the first trailers I was dying to see Iron Man 3. And that's where it all went wrong, I guess. If you expect too much from this film – like me - you'll be disappointed for sure. Well, at least a little. Not that Iron Man 3 is a bad movie. It's entertaining alright. But especially the beginning is rather shaky. The motives of both the hero (Tony Stark) and the villain to join the party are not that strong. It's also a 'been there, done that' kinda thing. Except for Iron Man 'using the Force', his panic attacks and his love for Pepper not much has changed. But let's start at the beginning.
After the events of The Avengers in New York Tony Stark is restless. He can't sleep and he gets panic attacks whenever the subject comes up. Enter The Mandarin. In good Middle Eastern terrorist fashion this villain with-the-rather-strange-non-Middle-Eastern accent threatens America with attacks and other misery. This does not affect Tony until The Mandarin puts a dear friend of our billionaire hero in the hospital. And no, the victim is not Pepper (thank god!). Tony wants revenge but makes the mistake of mentioning his home address on national television. The result: the helicopter attack on his estate that can be seen in the trailer (which is pretty spectacular). Of course Tony escapes. Without his lab and with only one Iron Man prototype suit that he could save, Tony begins a quest to find the Mandarin. But very soon he finds out that all tracks lead to someone else, a person he led down several years ago and now wants to get even.
Although The Mandarin shows some serious terrorist actions, the tone of Iron Man 3 is much lighter and more humorous than part 2. Tony has to do some hero stuff without his Iron Man armor and this forces him to work together with 'normal' people (and one crazy fan). At the end he and James Rhodes form a nice team and they ultimately save the day. Overall there's more charm in Iron Man 3. At times part 2 took itself too seriously, I think.
I liked the fact that Tony had to work outside the safety of his lab and use his wits to come up with a plan to defeat the bad guy(s). I liked the character of The Mandarin, very well played by Ben Kingsley. The twist in his story was a nice one. I'm not familiar with the comics, but this one came as a complete surprise.
Is it a spoiler to say that the real villain in this movie is Guy Pearce? Maybe. Fact is that I did not understand his real motives to take a swing at Tony in this movie. Does he want his help? Does he want to destroy Iron Man? Or is he just after the president? Money? Something else? Guy Pearce's character, an inventor/businessman/scientist called Killian, is experimenting with altering DNA in the brain. Somehow he has created this invincible glow-in-the-dark army that can absorb energy, much like Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four. Come to think of it, there's more Marvel déjà vu in Iron Man 3. Lessons from Curt Connors from The Amazing Spider-Man movie for instance. Mutants. And in the end a female character even does a little 'Femke Janssen Phoenix' trick.
One last big letdown: the Air Force One scene, which was destined to be one of the highlights of the movie. In the trailer we learn that there was a hole in the aircraft and several people were sucked outside. Iron Man wants to rescue them but he can only carry four or five persons in the air. And there are at least ten victims out there! Holy macaroni, what will he do? Tony Stark's solution is pretty dumb and unrealistic. It reminded me of the space parts from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Embarrassing, really. The 3D effects also didn't do it for me. But maybe that was because I saw the movie on a rather small screen. If you see it in IMAX it probably is much better.
No, Iron Man 3 did not live up to my expectations – and I was really hoping that it would. But that does not mean that I did not enjoy myself. Robert Downey is almost on automatic with his wisecracking one- liners, but his joking around still works. All the actors do well, except maybe Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan. I think what happens to him is a weak motive for Tony Stark to take on The Mandarin. Therefore, his "This is old fashioned revenge!"-line sounds a bit exaggerated.
Watching the end credits with footage from not only Iron Man 3, but parts 1 and 2 as well you can conclude that even the makers of the saga realize that this should be the final Iron Man movie. What's more to tell? Although I love Robert Downey as Tony Stark I think it's a good idea to call it quits. Let's go for some other Marvel meat and let Tony rest for a while. Maybe there's one more big fight in him in ten or fifteen years' time, when he's passed sixty or so, like The Dark Knight who once returned. Or that boxer from Philadelphia who made one last comeback. But for now I would say that three is enough for now.
7,5 / 10