The narrative advances in the story of the title character, promoting changes that will certainly influence his participation in the next films

Rating: 8/10 (2 March 2020)

Since the Chitauri attack on New York, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has struggled to sleep and, when he does, has terrible nightmares. He fears he will not be able to protect his girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) from the various enemies he has come to have after wearing the Iron Man armor. One of them, the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), decides to attack him with full force, destroying his mansion and putting Pepper's life at risk. To face him, Stark will need to rise from the bottom of the sea, where he was taken along with the wreckage of the mansion, and overcome his greatest fear: that of failure.
Black and Pearce wrote the script for this sequence based on the comic book arc "Extremis" written by Warren Ellis. Obviously, the adaptation is slightly inspired by the comics, maintaining only one basic idea and introducing a new technology: remote control of armor, without going deeper and showing in the film the real potential of this technology. One of the creators of the virus in the comics was Aldrich Killian, who does not have a major role in the comics, but who has changed his story in the film, being the main antagonist. Even a story of an unrequited love from the past is created to strengthen the bonds between Killian, Potts and Tony throughout the narrative of the film. Another difference is that in the comics, Mallen is the host of the Extremis virus and it is he who confronts Iron Man. Mallen's powers are basically the same as we saw in the film, super strength, that shape with red eyes, blasts of fire through the mouth, the only difference is that it doesn't explode. However, the fidelity of adapting the comics to theaters is no demerit, on the contrary, the end result is extremely satisfactory.
In this third film, the producers and screenwriters took the main character to another level, addressing some aspects in more depth. Not only does Iron Man stand out, but mainly Tony Stark gains several layers of depth. The first minutes of the film are the ones that make this clearer, when we see a more fragile, more humanized facet. Tony starts to deal with his worst fears and suffers consequences from facts from previous films, being just a "man in a can" and having to deal with aliens, other superheroes and the fear of not being able to protect the people he loves from even more real and powerful threats. Since the Chitauri attack in New York, Tony has been extremely emotionally shaken. He began to isolate himself in his laboratory and devote less time to Pepper, has recurring dreams about the battle of New York, has difficulty sleeping, even staying awake for days and doing what he knows best: working nonstop on new creations and technologies , thus developing constant anxiety attacks. Tony's vulnerability permeates the entire narrative.
The most political tone of the script is noteworthy, previously treated only as a background. Mandarin, through his speeches, points the finger in the face of the United States and points out the hatred that has led to attacks in recent years. It also speaks of the neglect of oil spills and shells aimed at favoring only a few groups or individuals, and how all this will lead the country to continue suffering at the hands of terrorists. Not to mention that the organization IMA (Advanced Mechanical Ideas) and the oil giant Roxxon, known to comic book fans, gain space on the screen, in addition to the appearance of cinematographic versions of several of the Iron Man armor loved by readers of the comic books. Interesting to the public also to see the first meeting between Tony and Yinsen, many years before the cave in Afghanistan, which had been mentioned in the first film.
Even with mistakes, in general, Shane Black proves to be a talented artist by mastering humor and action, from the conception of the script to behind the camera. The director wisely bets on the talent and ability of Robert Downey Jr, who shines again on the scene with his unmistakable sarcasm, writing numerous clever, fast and fun dialogues and making the action move forward in an intelligent and bold way. The scene of the destruction of the Malibu mansion is one of the best-directed and most creative sequences in recent years. It's really exciting and breathtaking and it was just the trigger for the rest of the action. In the course of the projection, we still see the Tennessee fight, the escape of Stark in Miami and especially the rescue of the Air Force One crew and obviously the megalomaniacal climax on an oil rig, in more action-packed sequences over the air and over the land, all packed with stunning visual effects, which get better with each film.
In fact, the effects are a show apart, as is the production designer of Bill Brzeski and photography by John Toll. Brian Tyler's soundtrack changes the tone of the first films and brings a greater variety of styles, but in the instrumental part it does not present anything so innovative, but still very efficient, action renas have gained a lot of emotion and urgency in the hands of the composer. The pair of editors Peter S. Elliot and Jeffrey Ford, on the other hand, deserve a lot of reverence, as they deliver a two-hour film that flies by. The film does not get to be irregular and has a very well defined pace.
Iron Man 3 is undoubtedly an exciting start to Marvel's second phase. Even with errors, the film entertains and delivers what the Iron Man fan has gotten used to and looks forward to. After the worldwide success of The Avengers, there was a great expectation for the following films and fortunately we were not disappointed. The sarcastic humor and the action used correctly and at key points in the story are very well balanced and exciting. The narrative advances in the story of the title character, promoting changes that will certainly influence his participation in the next films, in addition to entertaining an audience of all ages.