Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 (2013) Movie Review

I remember when I first heard that Robert Downey, Jr. had been cast to play Iron Man. I thought Marvel Studios had lost their collective minds. Now can you imagine anyone else playing him? I love what Downey, Jr. does with his Tony Stark character both in The Avengers and the previous two Iron Man pictures. Iron Man 2 wasn’t as good as the first film but even it had its moments of pure fan boy grandeur. Now he’s back and what a cast he has along with him. Paltrow and Cheadle are back. But new are Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, and Ben Kingsley. This will be a big film and needless to say I’m all over this one.

When Shane Black was signed to direct Iron Man, I was skeptical he would be able to handle a big budget feature film as it would be only his second feature film. Last year, I doubted Joss Whedon directing The Avengers [also his second feature film] and he proved me wrong. This year, Shane Black did it to me, again.

Coming IR3, The beginning of the film finds Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) And Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) after the finale of The Avengers, with him to realizes the extent and significance of the events. Extraterrestrials, global risks, spatiotemporal holes in space and cosmic threats are now part of the reality. Panic attacks coincide with the appearance of the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), who threatens (and does) for terrorist acts against America. At the same time, an old friend of Tony returning to life, refreshed and enigmatic. Within this context, when the Mandarin hit the seat of Stark, putting at risk the life of Pepper, the Tony will need to embark on a journey both to save the girl he loves more than anything else but to find out who really is the IRON MAN.

Seriously!! Robert Downey Junior and Tony Stark are a match made in heaven. Robert Downey Junior, who must have felt like he was beginning to sleepwalk through this role, grasps the opportunity to do something a little bit different with relish. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts starts to creep up in protagon-ism and to play a bigger role in Tony’s life, as their relationship is now more than just a mere flirt. Gwyneth Paltrow fleshed out in this third installment and gets to kick some ass as well.

Guy Pearce recovers well from his last role in a big blockbuster and makes for the best villain in the series so far. Ben Kingsley makes for a daunting presence and does much less than I thought he would with my reservations I had from the trailers concerning him. Only Rebecca Hall is a little underused from what I understood how important she was going to be.

This Time Shane Black takes on the role of director, taking over from John Favearu from the earlier Iron Man movies and this can be seen by the direction that Black has taken, Iron Man 3 is an action movie that has taken everything from the earlier Iron Man movies and made them better.

The characters have more of an emotional charge and the connections between each of them are visible throughout the film, Pepper Potts and Tony Stark show more to their relationship and the strain that Iron Man puts on them and with the introduction of The Mandarin only brings in more character building. The entire track between Stark and a kid Harley (Ty Sympkins) is absolutely delightful. Watch out for the little boy, who does a wonderful job in this small role.

Another thing I did love about this film is the parallels they’ve tried to make with Tony dealing with his alcoholism in the comics.

2 hours 11 minutes it is a little long and feels it towards the end but it’s a fun ride. Shane Black disappoints (Story & Slow Narration) and shines (Technical Stuff, Gags & Character Development) at the same time. His writing, like I thought it would, complements the character nicely. However, his cracks at humor don’t seem as seamless as Whedon’s, and sometimes Tony comes across as snarky or just plain not funny. Still, he manages to push all the main character’s development forward and the dialogue flows nicely, so his job sort gets accomplished in that department.

Technically, the movie is near-flawless, as we’ve been accustomed since the beginning. Cinematography, sound design, Sound mixing, CGI etc. What you’ve seen in every other Marvel-verse movie, you’ll see right here.

An early assault on Stark’s Malibu home, Saving the 13 people from Air force One and The big end action sequence it’s easily the most heart-pumping moment of the film and all of these features are at their peak moment. I won’t say what it is, but I’ll just tell you that it almost made my inner child pop as it did in the final sequence of The Avengers.

Iron Man 3 has been given the 3D treatment but it was clearly added in post-production because it makes zero effort to take advantage of the technology despite ample opportunity.

After the slightly disappointing Iron Man 2 (2010) and the success of The Avengers (2012), one may question how the future sequels of individual Marvel titles are going to work out. Surprisingly, Iron Man 3 turned out to be quite a smart continuation, focusing on Tony Stark’s coping with his post-Avengers struggles and self-reassurance of his superhero capabilities as a natural human being. Iron Man 3 works extremely well by pulling in from the previous films. This certainly going to be a massive hit with fans and those who just love action movies. Go For It.

As with the previous films, there’s a post-credits scene. This one has no real value beyond another nod to Avengers Assemble and generating a few laughs.

Theatrical Trailer: