The Case for a Third Iron

Any Iron Man film will have to be awesome if it contains one important thing: Robert Downey Junior.

Iron Man 2 might have been a bit flatter than the first outing, but it was still pretty good.  However, the third Iron Man film is a bounce back to the awesome form of the first, with a decent story backing up Downey’s incredible super powers.

Of course, there is a pretty great cast involved in side kick roles.  Gwenyth Paltrow brings her braid and a-grade steel abdominals and gets a bit more action this time around as Tony Stark’s feisty EA turned girlfriend Pepper Potts, while the baddie boots are filled by the incredible talents of Ben Kingsley (not channelling Gandhi as the menacing Mandarin) and in the big business baddie corner is Guy Pearce, covered in tattoos once again and ready to get his hands dirty.

Back to the story though: Stark is a bit frazzled after his experience with the Avengers (in the awesome Avengers movie, and it’s great that they reference that several times, bringing quite a human perspective to some of the more godlike beings and events that transpired in that film) and so has taken to tinkering, leaving Potts to run the business. 

Soon enough though, a bad guy (the Mandarin) comes to the fore, taking credit for explosions across the US, including one that injures Stark’s ex-bodyguard (Jon Favreau).  This brings Stark out of his shell to try and deal with the threat, bringing him head to head with the Mandarin’s forces while continuing to battle his own internal demons.  

There’s humour and depth and an annoying kid (really, did he have to be that annoying?) and the destruction of a collector’s edition Dora the Explorer watch that never gets replaced (honestly!) and lots of things explode and go bang, including people.  Through it all, Downey is the hypnotic centre, keeping the interest up through thrills, spills and the quiet times in between.

The final fight does border on the ridiculous, and unfortunately it is on the ridiculous side of that border.  I was totally confused as to what level or act of violence could actually kill the enemies, as some seemed to go down relatively simply whilst others seemed to shrug off extremely large explosions.  

However, despite that pugilistic preposterousness, the ending is unbelievably satisfying, moving the story and characters forward, though quite what it means for the next Avengers film I am not entirely sure.  Even the “after the credits” scene, which few of the audience in my screening waited to see, didn’t really give anything away about what Avengers 2 might be about, or the role of Iron Man in it.  It was really funny though and I thought worth the five minute wait through the credits.

Verdict: Iron Man 3 is another great film in the series, Robert Downey Junior making the egotistical super genius Tony Stark incredibly likeable, with lashes of humour and a pinch of vulnerability under the armour.  Supported by a great cast as friends and enemies, and with lots of mostly great effects (by Weta, unsurprisingly), the film is all around fun and totally worth seeing on the big screen.  8.5 Iron Fists out of 10.