Tin Man

Rating: 6/10 (7 May 2013)

This film is mildly recommended.
The simplistic genre of comic book action hero films usually fail to excite me. Yes, there have been exceptions to the rule: Marvel's The Avengers, The Amazing Spiderman, The Dark Knight quickly come to mind, as does the original Ironman. But in general for me, most comic book action fantasies are of the black and white variety: the good guys vs. crazed villains, plots to take over the world vs. plans to save it, the evildoer almost destroying our hero who makes a triumphant comeback, the CGI constantly overwhelming the real stunt work. Yes, the formula is set and hardly ever detours from its goal.
Which brings us to the third installment of the Ironman franchise, which is more of the same one can expect from this genre, but also a rare commodity that adds some grayer tones to the story with its wry and cynical humor, its stronger character development, and a crowd- pleasing performance by its lead actor, Robert Downey, Jr.
￼The formulaic plot of Ironman 3 goes like this: Our flawed and egotistical playboy Tony Stark dons the Ironman suit once again to stop world domination (and for some personal revenge, or course). With the aid of his loyal friend, Col. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and his trusty girl, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), at his side, Stark fights evil in the form of The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), a madman who regularly interrupts the airwaves threatening the annihilation of world order. Also on hand are a rich entrepreneur named Aldrich Killlian (well played by Guy Pearce) who must have an ulterior motive and Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen, a scientist who must supply some more conflict.
This leads to various action set pieces that tend to wow the audience and give that special adrenalin rush to today's movie-going audience. These action sequences vary in success due to the frenzied editing and too many close-ups that interfere with the action. (One exception is an especially thrilling segment involving an air rescue mission to save falling passengers that is beautifully staged.)
￼Solidly directed by Shane Black, Ironman 3 essentially remains escapist pop entertainment. But with the world a-changing, reality is beginning to add a darker tone to the mayhem on the screen. The era of lively pop extravaganza is beginning to lose some of its color. Just how far can you escape from the horrors of terrorism, death, and violence these days, with the on-going epidemic of sadism and brutality we now witness on a daily basis? With so many images of 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing, and ransom serial shootings plaguing our consciousness, can we now be immune to the real life senselessness of killing, even if this PG rated film sanitizes the gore by showing very little bloodshed? Can we allow ourselves to be so desensitized to the carnage in the form of entertainment for an hour or two?
￼The filmmakers seem to have taken too many liberties in updating the source and giving it a modern slant, profiling the enemy to be Middle Eastern. Black deliberately changes the ethnicity of the main villain from the original comic book source. (Perhaps the Chinese backers of the film objected.) This new Mandarin, much younger in the comic book version and without any superpowers in this film, has even aged to resemble Osama Ban Laden and this uncomfortable image plus the film's more serious point of view grounds the film in the real world. Granted the successful Ironman franchise has always had a realistic edge to its comic book trappings. But now reality has reared its ugly head. Explosions are a commonplace occurrence and destruction without consequence is everywhere in Ironman 3. (This film made me seriously question at what price do we pay for entertainment value nowadays.)
That said, the film has some assets amid some missteps, from its fine production values and its inspired casting. Downey and Paltrow continue to have the right chemistry between them, even if the script by Drew Pearce and the director gets a bit wobbly at times. Transitions between the narrative exposition and the gung-ho warfare and gadgetry became tedious and dull. An unfortunate amount of time is spent with a cute tyke at the midway point that might appeal to the pre-teen set but slows down the film's momentum. Also, while Guy Pearce brings the perfect sense of deranged danger to his character, Kingsley makes some unusual choice with his vocal delivery which I found more off-putting than menacing. (He sometimes sounded like a high-pitched Walter Cronkite.)
Ironman 3 is a well-made Hollywood blockbuster that totally engages its audience with some powerful images, strong acting, and even has a twist or two to convert any naysayers. ( The "surprising" twists didn't surprise me at all.) Still, I personally needed more fantasy in my escapism, a further leap from the harsh reality of our world that this film was unable to give me. In retrospect, maybe the black and white extremes of past efforts are better than the grayer shades on view. I guess today's superheroes do have it even tougher after all. GRADE: B-