Iron Man 3 (2013)Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle
Directed by: Shane Black
Plot Summary: After the events in New York, Tony Stark is suffering from panic attacks and has been inventing many new armored suits as a result of being restless. Meanwhile, a string of bombings from a terrorist known as the Mandarin has left the world in a state of panic, and one of his attacks has put Stark's security chief Happy Hogan in the hospital badly injured. Seeking revenge, Stark challenges the Mandarin to come to his home and take him on. When Stark's home is destroyed in an attack, Stark escapes in a suit, but lacks the power to return home. Separated from his home, without J.A.R.V.I.S., Stark must rely on his intelligence as an inventor to get back home, while also solving the real mystery behind the Mandarin's attacks.
So....now we reach an issue that comes with the concept of making an MCU movie. In theory, once you take your universe to The Avengers, it's very hard for you to regress to something smaller. So with the announcement of Phase 2 came 4 sequels and 2 original concepts. Both get put into a trap of different proportions. I'll talk about the original concept trap in a little bit, but let's begin by talking about the sequel trap. We've taken these larger than life characters and brought them together for the team up no one thought would be possible to see on film, and now they have to return to their individual worlds. Their sequel adventures need to feel like a natural escalation from the previous films AND not feel like a huge step backwards from The Avengers. Give credit to Marvel though, for choosing the most popular superhero in the MCU to kick start Phase 2, so let's begin by looking at Iron Man 3...
Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark, and in my opinion, this was his best performance as Stark. One thing that someone might overlook in a superhero movie is that the hero assumes two roles: the role of the superhero, and the person they are when they are out of the suit. This film LITERALLY focuses on Tony outside of the Iron Man suit. Look at that picture. First of all, it's fricken adorable, but secondly, it fully embodies one of the movie's biggest themes. I was explaining it to my friend who thought taking Tony out of the suit for so long was kind of stupid, and I said to him "this film was about proving that Iron Man does not make Tony Stark. Stark makes Iron Man. Well, technically Stark makes J.A.R.V.I.S. which helps him operate Iron Man, but still." Those are living quirks that really exist in my life, but they can hold so much weight given the proper context. THIS is one of those times. Anyways, I now know that Tony does not need the suit to be a hero. He's still a great inventor, a brilliant thinker, and with Iron Man 3, he's proves he's a credible action star.Tony is isolated from his friends in this film, leaving them to go on their own missions without Tony as well. Well, until Tony has to save them. Let's first talk about Pepper Potts, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Now in a relationship with Tony, Pepper wants him to be able to focus on them, so when he begins spending more time on inventing things to pass time, she feels ignored. So now their cute banter has evolved into uncomfortable arguing you don't want to see them have. Without giving much away, she's put in a damsel in distress position and then completely SHATTERS the stereotype by stepping up to the plate and doing something AWESOME! After 3 movies, we finally get Pepper to join in the action and it worked very well. Don Cheadle returns as Col. James Rhodes, but gone is the title of War Machine for a more family-friendly and American title as Iron Patriot (which Stark constantly ridicules). Admittedly...yeah, I would much rather prefer War Machine being back. The Iron Patriot suit is a bit too cartoony for me, and I'm glad to know the War Machine moniker will be back for Age of Ultron.
The Mandarin, played by Ben Kingsley, was marketed as the film's main protagonist. We don't get too much of him (for reasons of which I will NOT spoil), but when we do get him, Kingsley does a great job of making him sound menacing. He's a man of actions AND words, so when you see his words spoken over his actions, it's a very successful method for creating a villain. Another villain in the film is Aldrich Killian, played by Guy Pearce. Killian, besides Loki, has become my favorite villain in the MCU up to this point. His motivations are understandable, he's a business rival for Stark that is NOT over the top like Justin Hammer, and most importantly, he knows how to get inside Stark's head. I absolutely loved to hate Killian as a villain, and in the name of film antagonists, that's exactly what you want to be doing in my book.
Since I've already mentioned *SPOILERS*, then we might as well discuss the post-credits scene...
The post-credits scene here is VERY simple and doesn't really contribute to the MCU, but it's still worth talking about. We find out that Tony has been narrating the entire film as a story to a therapist. Cut to the therapist, and it's Bruce Banner, played by Mark Ruffalo, sleeping while Tony thanks him for listening. He later admits to Tony that he slept during the entire story, claiming to not be that kind of doctor because he doesn't have the temperament. This film continues their bromance from The Avengers, and while not all that important, is still a humorous way to bring this film to a close.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Iron Man 3 is a film that you'll either love or hate. Personally, I love it. It brings the Iron Man franchise to a solid close, while also providing setup for how Tony Stark will evolve by the time we get to Age of Ultron. Because of that, it's worth a watch while preparing for the next Avengers film, but as a standalone, it may not be as crucial to check out.
Iron Man 3 and movie images are copyrighted by Marvel Studios
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