Iron Man 3 is the 2013 installment of the Marvel Comics series. As a member of The Avengers, Iron Man's previous appearance on the big screen was the mega-release of The Avengers movie during the Summer of 2012. Iron Man 3 does not pretend The Avengers film did not exist. As part of the franchise, our action picks up several months after the events of the previous film, with numerous references to the action in the 2012 film. While I was less impressed with The Avengers, Iron Man 3 restored my faith. I saw this film in 3-D while it was still in theaters and felt it worth the few extra dollars.
Iron Man 3 centers on Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) as he struggles with his demons. I use the plural form here because there is a dichotomy in the storyline regarding this struggle. One is the external struggle as Iron Man faces down a tech savvy terrorist known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). Stark references this demon in a flashback sequence where he acknowledges his own complicity in creating this situation. The other half of the parallel drawn in this story is the internal struggles that Stark faces. After battling aliens in The Avengers, Stark is suffering from sleeplessness and panic attacks. Basically, it appears he is suffering from PTSD as he battles his internal demons.
Borrowing a page from Colonel Oliver North, Stark issues a challenge to The Mandarin that includes his home address. He realizes the folly of this challenge too late. After his home is destroyed by rockets, Stark is believed dead. He struggles to piece his life back together as he learns more about the attacks leveled by The Mandarin. The story gets personal as it touches Stark's love interest Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and a former girlfriend. Everything is not as it appears as Stark pulls back the veil revealing an Oz-like Mandarin and a much deeper plot that threatens to shake the very foundations of America. In true Iron Man-fashion, Stark handles his business with flash and panache.
The storyline, in typical comic book fashion, is larger than life. The plot is unreasonable and even a bit contrived. But that doesn't mean it is bad. The story contained enough personal interactions interspersed with some mild plot twists to remain entertaining. These factors also add a bit of depth to otherwise cartoon-like characters. It works. While the story pushed believability to maximum limits, this is sort of the draw of Iron Man. The flair and attitude of the character are meant to be larger than life. In other films, I would probably grade down somewhat on credibility and character development, but this was classic Iron Man. Ultimately, the internal and external battles provided enough fodder to create a parallel worth examining.
Some of the characters were better developed than others. The best character, in my opinion, was Ben Kingsley. The writing and performance for this character created an interesting dimension that gave the film some much needed flavor. Paltrow also added some depth to the story for similar reasons. I can't imagine any other actor as Tony Stark, now that I have seen Downey dating back to the first installment of the series. He is Iron Man. He owns it on every level and it works. Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce and Jon Favreau all have "flatter" characters, but are exceptional at bringing those characters to life. Great casting all around.
Iron Man 3 was rated PG-13 by the MPAA. Typical. The rating stems primarily from violence, which includes numerous bombings, fight scenes and gun battles, not to mention Iron Man doing his thing. There was some sexual innuendo that included a female character in her bra and underwear. The thematic material was contextual, brief and far from racy. There was some language and drinking, but those issues were almost secondary. For the most part, the rating appears tied to the violence. What is a superhero movie without violence? Not even a Saturday-morning cartoon passes that test. This film did not seem to me to be one I would put an age restriction on.
As expected, the special effects in Iron Man 3 did not disappoint. This was actually the first film shown in 4-DX in several foreign markets. The 4D experience will include moving seats, scent, wind and fog to enhance the experience. This film was probably a good choice to premier this new technology. It was great to watch in regular old 3D, which was worth the extra money. The special effects were part of the magic of this movie. Go big or go home. Marvel didn't appear to spare any expense in bringing this film to life. The costumes, CGI and sets were phenomenal.
Iron Man 3 restored my faith in the franchise. After being let down by The Avengers, I was due for redemption. I was engrossed in this 2 hour plus film from start to finish, although the final battle seemed to wage a bit too long. The film looked great, had an interesting narrative arc and some great action sequences. It felt a bit long at the end, but the pacing was solid for most of the film. While I wouldn't consider this film perfect, it wass worth watching at the theater. I would have preferably watched in 4DX if I lived in Japan when it was released. Worthy of a paid rental, 8/10.
Photos and video courtesy of Marvel.