“Iron Man 3” rocketed into theaters this last weekend.
In this film, Tony Stark faces off against The Mandarin, a terrorist who is bombing things and generally just wreaking terror, as the word “terrorist” implies. The actual identity of The Mandarin isn’t exactly who viewers might think he is, however. That’s all I’ll say, lest I ruin the movie by giving away too much.
The identity twist for The Mandarin is a bit much for me. When it first came up, it threw me out of the movie a bit. It was done well, I suppose, but at this point, I’m very weary of the bad guy switcheroo. In the end, it works and it’s clever, but there was a moment when my brain went “Wait, really?” and I’m not fond of that.
The most interesting thing for me was the real character development for Tony. Tony doesn’t really have emotional crises, so when he does, it’s especially touching. Tony doesn’t let himself be vulnerable, so when a character I’ve known and loved for three movies is suddenly having panic attacks and trouble sleeping, it hits me right in the geekdom.
For geeks like me, the film has few flaws other than my previously stated moment of disbelief. It’s fun, alternately serious and funny where appropriate, and finishes off the Iron Man trilogy pretty well. The movie makes for a good ending, now let’s hope they don’t undo all the great writing they did by deciding to make a terrible fourth one. That’s the main worry with this last movie, that the higher-ups at Marvel Studios either won’t let go of a cash cow or that they’ll ruin it by backtracking in “Avengers 2.”
Robert Downey, Jr. is as perfect, handsome and charming as ever as Tony. He gives the movie life, without him, I don’t think anyone would care as much. The Tony Stark character is an egomaniac, so the actor who portrays him better have a good deal of charm to combat that, which Downey does.
Gwyneth Paltrow, although not one of my favorites, does well with the character of Pepper Potts. Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian is perfect, as is Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin. Ty Simpkins plays Harley Keener, the aged 10 or so sarcastic kid who acts as Tony’s sidekick for about half of the movie.
For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with the Marvel universe movies, playing a little catch-up wouldn’t hurt. It’s rather necessary to have seen the first “Iron Man” movie and “The Avengers.”
As usual, remember to stay through the credits, as there’s a goody at the end.
It’s fun and it’s entertaining. I don’t ask for too much more than that. I was content walking out of the theater, which is perhaps the most important thing of all.
