Any old iron

Rating: 7/10 (28 November 2019)

Iron man is back and has moments of greatness and elements of surprise but did it all work swimmingly. Well in my opinion it rusted ever so slightly. The main problem with this film is the villain for me. The motive is good but the execution not so much. Jealously can be a dangerous thing and arrogance can set it off. But for me the previous instalments had stronger character development for our main antagonist. Maybe the twist gave the main villain much less screen time than we were prepared to accept. The main villain is a terrorist in the name of the Manderin or so we are lead to believe. But not everything is what it seems. Tony Stark does some crazy stuff for an intelligent man and is easily sent over the edge when his friend Happy is injured. Although there isn't a great deal of character development on their friendship. One big flaw for me is the simplicity in which the manderin is offered Mr Starks home address on the entire news. Now we know from previous instalments Tony can be his own worst enemy, at times egotistical, but seriously this is ridiculous. Does Tony not consider the danger he is not only putting himself in but his girlfriend Pepper. Being the third instalment like most third parts the exaggeration and humour has stepped it up a few levels and of course so has the explosions. Robert Downey Jr maintains his believable flirtatious chemistry with Gwyneth Paltrows Pepper but also begins ascending new friendships in the unlikely nerdy boy in basement type or garage to be accurate. More of a distraction or annoyance than a friend but a healthy one to remove him from his PTSD after the events of the Avengers alien invasion. Downey Jr shows great emotional depth and along with humour/witty intellect he brings stress and anxiety to a much more round less invincible Tony. He proves that he is much more than just iron man. At times a mentor/father figure to the boy that he treats only like an adult. Juxtaposed along with how his father may well have treated him judging from flashes we have seen of Howard Stark throughout the marvel cinematic universe. Pepper is no longer the damsel in distress in this one but a influential team player and a worthy ally and partner for Stark. Guy Pearce is good in his role as the envious Aldrich Killian but we don't seem to get enough of him as we'd like. Overall it's a solid sequel but nothing groundbreaking in the comic book movie world. More of a story or revenge and how our hero will adapt against the odds.