The Summer Blockbusters begin...here's the lowdown

Rating: 8/10 (24 May 2013)

Before I go into the nitty gritty of Iron Man 3 let me just try and quell the angry fans that will jump all over me and say that it was a good movie!! It is a well deserving summer Blockbuster with brilliant special effects, a decent story, and a worthy sequel to not only the Iron Man franchise but also the Avengers as well. I enjoyed watching it. However...the big but...I completely understand where some of the fans who are ravaging it with bad reviews are coming from. I believe the incredible, first rate special effects, and the excellent performances warrant at least an 8 but the film has some major flaws too. First of all, this has now become less Iron Man and more The Robert Downey Jr. show. It has always struggled with that balance because Downey is so charismatic and a brilliant actor and to shove him in a metal suit and hide him seems pointless but...that is Iron Man. However, unfortunately the film has evolved into Iron Man suits that control themselves, Downey's Stark that is more James Bond out of the suit, a lot of gun fights like a spy flick and missed opportunities as a superhero movie. It felt like the whole schtick with the Iron Man suit was that none of his suits worked. If this were a drinking game you'd take a shot every time a suit malfunctions and you'd be drunk before the movie was over. He easily spends more time out of the suit than in it. I knew when I saw the trailer with the "back-up" of a bunch of different "Iron Man" robots that I wouldn't like that angle and I didn't. It was silly and pointless. Do I want to watch a dozen Batmans, Supermans, Iron Mans, Superhero clones? Nope. I came to see one! The other big flaw was that of The Mandarin. I will not give away the twist here because it is a substantial twist but the one thing I was perhaps most excited for from the trailers was the performance of Sir Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin. He appeared larger than life, viscous, an incredible superhero villain...well to say he was underwhelming is the understatement of the year. He was mis-used, horribly written and a complete and utter disappointment.
The cast returns in full form. Robert Downey Jr. is electric as Stark. He is the perfect fulfilment of that cocky, dark, genius playboy. This time around he is dealing with some dark emotions following the events of The Avengers and its a good turn for his character. Replacing him when it comes time won't be easy as he is to Iron Man what Connery was to Bond. Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, and Jon Favreau all return to their familiar roles. They are good but somehow all three of them are just a tad underused except Paltrow. She is as good as she has always been and her and Downey have good chemistry, boring great chemistry. I wasn't a fan of some of the plot twists to her character...felt like she wore a suit and donned more powers than Downey did in the movie. Cheadle is severely underused and spends most of his time out of his "War Machine" suit too. I'm not sure why the makers of this third instalment thought Cheadle and Downey should stay out of their uniforms and act as their alter egos. I basically said all I can say about the legendary Ben Kingsley. I thought he was going to be one of the best villains to come out of a Superhero film and instead they ruined it. Its not his fault but rather the script because he could have been simply outstanding. Guy Pearce is decent as the villain who does things by channelling a Lex Luthor type character. He's a solid actor and does well but his character was only okay. Rebecca Hall also joins the cast as a Scientist from Stark's past. She is good as well though I'm not sure entirely necessary to the story.
I definitely feel sorry for Shane Black as director. He had a HUGE OMINOUS job ahead of him. Disney and Marvel have built an action franchise worth countless Billions and every outing has to be EPIC and bigger and badder than each predecessor. Iron Man 3 certainly feels epic...there is no doubt. The very first action scene in Tony's home is brilliant and edge of your seat riveting. No matter what they are going to disappoint some fans because the expectations are so high. I still think no matter what they made a grievous error with the villains in the film which is such an important factor in a superhero film. Many fans are blaming Disney for such details as the kid sidekick that makes an appearance but that didn't bother me. There was a redemptive quality in the relationship between Stark and the kid. I was also surprised at the level of violence in the film especially considering how many innocent people are either blown up or just shot. Even bad guys are shot...a lot...just with a plain old gun. I could probably spend days nit picking my way through the film but I won't do that. It was a good movie, lots of fun, a great start to the summer Blockbusters and certainly it still holds its own in the superior Marvel franchise of movies. See it for yourself and try to go in with proper expectations. 8/10