Iron Man 3

Rating: 7/10 (9 June 2013)

The first film was really good, the second film was a tiny bit of a let down, but I heard this third film was an improvement, and I saw that it was rated well by the critics, so I went to the cinema to see it, from director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang). Basically the film starts with a flashback to a New Years Eve party in 1999 where Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) was with female scientist Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall), who invented the experimental regenerative treatment called Extremis, which intended to recover severely injured people. At the party Tony was invited by disabled and nerdy looking scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who owns company Advanced Idea Mechanics (AID), to have a place in the company, but he rejects the offer, and saying he would meet him later leaves him humiliated. Forwarding to the present day, Tony is still recovering from the events during the alien invasion in New York (during Avengers Assemble) and having panic attacks, so he has built several Iron Man suits to relieve himself, but this is also creating friction between him and his girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). Meanwhile a series of bombings by a terrorist called The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley) with no forensic evidence left behind at the scenes has left intelligence agencies bewildered, but when Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), security chief of Stark Industries, is injured, that is when Tony threatens the terrorist on television. Tony says for the Madarin to come and get him, he is later visited by Hansen who comes to warn him of danger, and the terrorist responds to the televised threat by sending helicopter gunships to destroy the Stark house, but he saves Hansen and Pepper from the attack. Escaping the attack in one of his suits Tony blacks out and crashes somewhere in Tennessee, where a bombing took place, following the crash the suit or experimental armour has no sufficient power to get him back to California, and everyone believes that he is dead. He gets help from ten year old Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins) in investigating the incident in the town, the explosion has all the similarities to a Mandarin attack, and he deduces from his technological thinking that soldiers subjected to Extremis have reacted badly to the effects and it caused them to explode, he witnessed this with agents Ellen Brandt (Stephanie Szostak) and Eric Savin (James Badge Dale) attacking him. With the boy's help Tony traces the location of the Mandarin to Miami, but meeting the dangerous looking man from television Tony is surprised that he is actually a British born actor named Trevor Slattery, the Mandarin is a creation of the true villain, now good looking and Extremis cured Killian. When Tony is captured by Killian, the villain tells him that he has kidnapped Pepper, and that she has been subjected to Extremis as a blackmail to force him to help the improve the effects of the experiment, Hansen is killed for having a change of heart, and Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), formerly War Machine now re-branded as the Iron Patriot, is lured into a trap to steal his armour. Tony manages to escape and help Rhodes, he knows that the plan by Killian is to use and control the Iron Patriot suit to attack President Ellis (William Sadler) aboard Air Force One, so the two heroes head for the impounded damaged oil tanker where the villain is hiding out. Going against the numerous henchmen Tony activates all of his suits, and controlled by JARVIS (voiced by Paul Bettany) they fight the thugs, while Rhodes rescues the President, before saving Pepper who has survived the Extremis effects. Killian is trapped in one of the Iron Man suits to be self destroyed, but this fails to kill him, but Pepper intervenes with her newfound powers and he is killed, and to prove his dedication to her Tony orders JARVIS to destroy all the armour suits, the shrapnel embedded in his heart is removed in surgery, and he throws his obsolete chest arc reactor into the sea, but remarks he will always be Iron Man. Also starring Ashley Hamilton as Jack Taggert, Dale Dickey as Mrs. Davis, Miguel Ferrer as Vice President Rodriguez, Xueqi Wang as Doctor Wu, Shaun Toub as Ho Yinsen, Bill Maher, Joan Rivers, Stan Lee as Pageant Judge and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner in a post credits sequence. Downey Jr. is still likable being knowledgeable and jokey, Pearce is a great choice as the knowingly nasty villain, Kingsley is great being deceptive and amusing, and supporting cast members Paltrow and Cheadle get their good moments as well. The story is much better worked out than the previous, the fight and destruction sequences are engaging, especially the house attack and final fight, the special effects are really cool with all the suits in action, technological gadgets and explosions, there is plenty of fun to be had with this terrific fantasy action adventure. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Special Visual Effects. Very good!