Well everyone, here we go! Around this time last year we were introduced to the movie event several years in the making when Phase I culminated in the absurdly entertaining Avengers.
For better or worse, we are on the other side of that era now as Phase II, and the busy blockbuster summer ahead, officially begins with Iron Man 3. The film has a tremendous weight on its shoulders to continue the world that Marvel has set up and begin the next chapter while at the same time creating a movie that entertains and is coherent. As many of you many know, unless you live under a rock, this was the biggest issue with Iron Man 2; that it was too much Avengers setup and not enough Iron Man. And then you have the first film that lies as an example of one of the best superhero movies to date. As much as I loved The Avengers, I was skeptical about Iron Man 3. It was an inevitable movie, but they were also changing directors, and the previous film had proven that it was easier said than done to collect the magic of the first film.
As per usual, my skepticism was utterly and completely destroyed. Iron Man 3 is awesome.
 |
| "Awesome you say? Please continue!" little known tidbit for my readers: Guy Pearce is a frequent visitor of the site. (I wish) |
 |
| This image is far more powerful than you may expect. Is Tony Stark anything without the suit? |
 |
| Stop waving at the damn thing and shoot it! |
 |
| No Avengers, but I'll be damned if it still isnt cool to see a bunch of Iron Man suits in the air. |
However, I do feel like there is an issue that needs to be addressed and in all honesty it was my largest and pretty much only complaint about Iron Man 3. There is no doubt that The Avengers raised the stakes as far as what's on the line. There is an entire universe out there now and earth was almost lost in that film. Iron Man 3 takes an expected downgrade in severity as it's really just the U.S. that's on the line. This disparity between stakes is totally justified, you aren't going to have Tony Stark going and fighting in alternate universes just yet. But it is really jarring, or at least it was to me. I call it post-Avengers syndrome and I think EVERY one of the Phase II movies is going to suffer from it with the exception of Thor: The Dark World since it deals with mainly the same enemies. While Black does a professional job tying the events of The Avengers to this film, I couldn't help but think "I wonder what Captain America is doing?" "I wonder where Thor is at?" "How many buildings has the Hulk destroyed this week?". It's an odd complaint for a movie, I know, but I really couldn't shake it.
 |
| This scene in IMAX 3D was jaw-dropping, nausea-inducing, crazy, frantic, and one of the best of the year. Have you ever made consistent in-seat adjustments because you feel like you are falling due to what you are watching on-screen? Oh...you dont? Chyeah....haha...me either... |
 |
| You wont be forgetting this twist anytime soon... for reasons that you may not predict... seriously don't even try. Just go see it. |
 |
| Side note: Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is still hot. Just thought I should let you all know... |
Wrapping up the review for the first bonafide blockbuster of the year I admit again that I was skeptical of Iron Man 3. As much as I loved the first one, Iron Man 2 was pretty average and had too much "setting up" to do. Marvel corrects their errors and gives us the Stark-focused Iron Man 3 that returns to basics for the character and gives us their most personal story yet, with more character development than most of Phase I combined. It's only main fault is that The Avengers was just SO BIG that this feels like an awkward, but necessary, next step to set up Phase II. But try not to focus on that. Instead focus on this:
If Iron Man 3 is any indication as to what we can expect from Thor and the Cap in Phase II, then we are in for one hell of a good ride.
Pros:
- Tony Stark is back. Iron Man 3 focuses on the man himself and asks/answers the most important question that he can ask: in a world of aliens, other dimensions, gods, and Hulks, am I anything but a genius, playboy, billionaire philanthropist?
- Shane Black weaves the super-interesting Extremis storyline into Tony's personal struggles making for an always-interesting tale that pits internal vs. external fights. And the Mandarin twist is unforgettable. It will be discussed and scrutinized, but it works
- Continuing on with Shane Black...he was the perfect fit. The script is witty and takes full advantage of the star power that Downey Jr. contains. Saying that this is the funniest Marvel movie yet is no small feat when you have the original Iron Man and The Avengers to compete against
- Action galore. And it is glorious action. Provides some of the best scenes of the year so far
- Speaking of action...FINALLY we get an awesome Iron Man finale. Almost as cool as the NYC carnage in The Avengers
- The acting throughout is top notch. Robert Downey Jr. IS Tony Stark and Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce are the other standouts
Cons:
- The Extremis villains never really connected with me and I thought they were really far-fetched. Also, there was some questionable CGI concerning their appearance
- Some of the tonal shifts are very odd with this film. At times, Black wants a more serious outlook on events and at other times he can make it feel like a corny comic book. It's not frequent or all that noticeable, but it's definitely there
- Post-Avengers syndrome. How do you go bigger without actually going bigger, but actually going smaller? Iron Man 3 did about as good of a job as it could have with this issue, but it still plagues the film
Rath's Review Score: 9.5/10
Super excited to see this film! Great to see it does not disappoint. I added your review to my Round-Up post.
ReplyDelete-James
Unless you hate the twist it doesnt disappoint at all. You should LOVE this film, James.
DeleteThanks for the link!
if the same twist was applied to a bat man movie, super man movie, or spider-man movie; people would be up in arms. see the severity of that writing change? that's bad writing for a film anyway, it was a cheap 'surprise' made to get more laughs. it ended up meaning nothing and rubbed 50 years of source material in the dirt. it's like marvel trolled everyone with false ads for this film.
DeleteAs someone who has never read a comic book (other than a couple graphic novels) I suppose I really have no room to speak. It easily could have worked in a Batman or Superman movie if it was dealt with with a more serious tone.
DeleteI think the key thing to realize is that while these movies are based on the comic books, they are not faithful adaptations of them. They are open for interpretation, and thats what Black did for the Mandarin. There is no way that over the course of these Marvel movies that every villain/hero is going to get their story told to the fullest extent. Mandarin being the example in this case.
I can see why some of the comic book faithfuls are angry, but in all honesty, you guys are the only ones that I've seen that dislike it. And in fact, Ive seen several that also thought it was a fantastic twist. It's certainly not bad writing, but I'll give you that it was a bit of a gimmicky trick based on all the trailers.
Everyone keeps talking about the scene where Iron Man saves all the falling people from the airplane and while i admit that scene was amazing it was almost too slick to make me anxious I never felt at any point that any of those people could die. I think that took away from some of the emotion that scene was trying to emit. My favorite scene was when Tony's stark house was attacked that took my breath away! Great review though please check out my own Iron Man 3 review and tell me what you think http://twymanreviews.blogspot.com/.
DeleteFair enough! I just thought it was fantastic in IMAX 3D. But the house attack was sweet too!
Delete