Stepping up from 2, but not farther than the original

Rating: Null/10 (5 August 2013)

Back in 2008 when Iron Man was the insane box-office smash, truthfully never bothered to see it in theaters. I had no interest in the film, no matter how positively the reviews read. It was released on DVD at the beginning of Autumn, I did rent it to see if I would fall under the spell of Iron Man...I didn't. I thought it was neat, but my heart wasn't in perpetuated with it. I was astonished that people compared it to the Christopher Nolan masterpiece,The Dark Knight, released that same year. When Iron Man 2 was released, the same situation occurred (almost like deja vu), where I rented it, didn't care for it (though I did take interest in the stunningly beautiful Pepper Potts). Fast-forward to 2013, days after of the Iron Man 3 release. Gwyneth Paltrow had become my celebrity obsession, Iron Man 3 was denting box-office, and reviews were pouring in claiming part 3 outgrew its predecessor. I saw it twice in theaters, enjoyed it, but found the entire experience to be polarizing. After living my infatuation with Gwyneth Paltrow for months, I decided to revisit the films and found my opinions to have morphed into new thoughts.
IRON MAN 3
Part 3 can be judged differently than the first two installments. There's a new director in town and Iron Man 3 being the first follow-up flick from Marvel after the substantial success of The Avengers. Iron Man 3 feels more like it tries sequel to The Avengers, rather than support the first two films. The tone and cinematography make you feel like you are playing a video game, not watching a movie. It's peculiar how dividing Iron Man 3 actually is. Foremost, the tone has a broad range of being the lightest film of the series to the darkest film of the series. Iron Man 3 takes some staggering risks that pay off, but could've had some more polishing to the script. It had some of the deepest emotional moments, but those are complimented by some of the fluffiest cheesy moments. Ben Kingsly is perfectly dynamic and frightening in his role, but the only thing Guy Pearce brings to his role is a pass card to get by the audience completely without them caring about his character one way or another. The film has the best action sequences and visual effects and strong character development for its hero. My favorite thing they maneuvered in Iron Man 3 is the message of the movie hitting the movie's opening and final scenes with and epic punch of Downey's narration. Rating: 5.5/10
Grade: B
My next thoughts are dedicated to two men that are both geniuses gifted in their artistic expression. Joss Whedon could not receive any more respect from me for his masterwork on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His show was humanity, love, and life conducted into 142 episodes of television. Unfortunately, my opinion of The Avengers isn't favorable to his film. The Avengers is geek-glorified trash that felt like an animated Saturday morning cartoon. All three Iron Man films far surpass The Avengers, for my money. I couldn't discuss the Iron Man films without paying respect to the comparison between this series and Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight series. I find the original Iron Man to introduce the story and develop it's characters better, even if it may lack the craftsmanship of Batman Begins. Nolan got the more impressive sequels, however. Contrast.
Anyone can tell you that Robert Downey Jr.'s screen presence is what guided the series to the popularity levels it reached. Downey's effortless charm is so believable, it makes you wonder if he's really putting forth the effort in his acting or if he's playing an exaggerated version of himself. He has superlative chemistry with his co-star Gwyneth Paltrow and together, they are the pillars that ground the series. Both actors excel in the entire trilogy making the acting the most dependable aspect in the series. "I watched the Iron Man movies to see Gwyneth Paltrow" said no one in history other than Ryan C. Showers.
Even with two sequels that didn't live up to the standard set with the shining original film, it's a movie series that is a fun ride. Tony Stark is just as an amusing character as you will find in the action hero category today. The special effects are always worthy of our attention and the actors pull together something that may have been ambiguous on the page. Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Iron Man 3 are blockbusters with a little more than you could hope for.