Excellent send off for Iron Man

Rating: 7/10 (14 May 2013)

It's Christmas time for Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, who after the events in New York (also known as The Avengers) want nothing more than to return to a life of philanthropy and ease. Unfortunately it's not as easy as all that as Stark is plagued with post-vortex panic attacks and insomnia, with which the only way to cope is to tinker and spend evening upon evening in his workshop creating various suit prototypes. Then, as if that wasn't troubling enough, some terrorist who calls himself The Mandarin is high jacking television, making threats and blowing up various locations and/or people.
In a way this third installment of the Iron Man franchise is the darkest. For the first time we see Stark in a truly vulnerable state. He loses his friend Happy to a coma and after a public, mediated threat to The Mandarin, manages to lose his mansion, flashy cars and for the majority of the film, his suits. That and a bout of post-traumatic stress and we, my friends, have a dilapidated superhero.The villainous protagonists are also detrimentally ruthless, from the stereotypically ethnic Mandarin (played wonderfully by Ben Kingsley in a role full of surprises) shooting someone in the head on live television, to Aldrich Killian (a previously snubbed-by-Stark scientific engineer) playing with temperatures of over 3000 degrees – the threat feels inconceivably surmountable.
Thank goodness then for the likes of Shane Black who contrasts this sense of inevitable doom with subtle gags (kudos for the inclusion of Downton Abbey and a reference to Croydon) and sharp, sassy dialogue as- ever brilliantly performed by Robert Downey Jr. Laughs both big and small, in addition to an unlikely sidekick in the form of a cool young kid named Harley, gives Iron Man 3 its heart and ultimately carries the film.
It would not be a Marvel blockbuster however, without a good dose of explosive action which Iron Man 3 absolutely delivers and kudos to the special effects team who work wonders with certain suit trickery. Equally the T-1000-esque super-hot humans were visually effective, constantly regenerating and glowing as a result of Killian's Extremis and Advanced Idea Mechanics. However the action also led to the films' downfall. Sequences such as the skydiving 'barrel of monkeys' felt a bit over the top and the last thirty minutes or so did drag on a little too long.
Nevertheless, these are minor qualms outshone by Black's main strength – fast-paced, entertaining dialogue with a mixture of zing, heart and soul, excellently implemented into what is essentially a fun yet smart, action-filled romp. All of which made stronger, by wonderful performances from Kingsley, Downey Jr. and Guy Pearce who so obviously revels in playing the bad guy.
As Marvel's first outing since The Avengers, the pressure was on and it is a true testament to the strength of Iron Man 3 that The Hulk and co were not missed (although stick around after the credits just in case you still have a hankering). However as the believed last installment of the Iron Man franchise, blockbusters boasting this strong a calibre will be - and boy, what a send off.