New Images from “Thor: The Dark World”
In Theaters and 3D November 9, 2013
Iron Man 3
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau, Ty Simpkins, Paul Bettany, James Badge Dale, Stephanie Szostak, Mark Ruffalo
Directed by Shane Black
Based on the Marvel Comics
Run Time: 130 min
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Superhero, Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Release Date: May 3, 2013
My Score: 9.5 out of 10
Synopsis:
Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) is having troubles adjusting after the events in New York, realizing that Pepper Potts (Paltrow) is the most valuable part of his life. But when an international terrorist known as The Mandarin (Kingsley) begins attacking America, Stark calls The Mandarin out to face him head on, and Tony Stark finds himself in great danger as he takes on his greatest enemy ever.
Review:
You would expect Iron Man 3 to begin to lose momentum as it is the third entry in the series and Robert Downey Jr.’s fourth time as Iron Man counting last year’s The Avengers which has become one of the highest grossing movies ever, but boy you couldn’t be more wrong!! Iron Man 3 is hands down the best Iron Man film in the series and is a complete game changer to both Iron Man and the Marvel Universe as it ventures into territories not yet explored and screams “Welcome to Phase 2!”
One of Iron Man 3’s biggest assets is of course Robert Downey Jr. as its lead. He is absolutely hysterical, and this time you can tell he is just having a ball playing the character again and has become that role that you associate the actor with like Sean Connery to James Bond. Robert Downey Jr. delivers his lines quick and with great purpose, whether to bring on a huge laugh with his gust bursting one liners or his more serious lines that shape the film. Regardless, he is a pure joy to watch on the screen, especially as this film launches Tony Stark into places he has never been before and you get to experience Robert Downey Jr. play that character as he is truly out of his comfort zone but pushed to the point of breaking to fight to protect the ones he loves with a ruthless vengeance.
Iron Man 3’s plot line is something that is completely unique to the Marvel Universe (so far, we still have a lot more films that could travel down this path) but it’s such a breath of new life to the franchise, that you are completely glued to the screen. Imagine Chirstopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy meeting Marvel with the humour of Robert Downey Jr. and you about summarize the feeling of the movie. The best part about the plot though, is that it is full of many unexpected twists that are brilliantly crafted and impossible to see coming even with some knowledge of all the players involved, but you know something will come of it with this knowledge. Anyone who has seen the film will know what I’m talking about and will know that the comic book community will be very divided on this major twist at the end of the film as according to my knowledge throws the comics out the window, but the writing of Shane Black and his co-writer Drew Pearce is so brilliant its impossible not to see it as cinematic gold!
The rest of the cast is great. Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are back respectively as Pepper Potts and James Rohdes, both in a larger role than previously in the Iron Man films, but still not getting as much screen time. Its odd, but once you see the film you will see how crucial they are to the plot but also realize that there is so much happening that its impossible for them to have a lot of screen time. New to the series are Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin and Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen. Kingsley is notably the villain of the film and his performance is great, but I can’t say anything more. You will greatly enjoy it, just watch the movie and you’ll see what I mean. Rebecca Hall is very good as Maya, but unfrotunately her character doesn’t have anything memorable that makes you remember her after you leave the theater, but her character has purpose in the film and Hall makes sure that the purpose is delivered with a great performance! But the scene stealer of the movie has to be Ty Simpkins, the young child who becomes Tony’s sidekick for a portion of the movie. Simpkins goes head-to-head with Robert Downey Jr. and the two of them are brilliant. The duo provide some of the biggest laughs of the entire film, and its one of those rare child characters in a film that works brilliantly. It’s also nice seeing Tony interacting with Simpkins’s character as it brings out a side that you have not seen in Tony before for some brief moments, until they start butting heads again of course! Something with Tony will never change.
Your probably why I didn’t mention Guy Pearce above, and that is because he deserves his own little write up as he gave my favourite performance of the film. His character, Aldrich Killian, is easily the best written character of the entire film who gets an entire character arc that you would expect from a trilogy all in one film, and Pearce gives a brilliant performance that truly brings the charter to life. Being on the of the villain’s of the comic book films is always hard as you have some pretty notable performances to live up to (like Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight) but Pearce is up there as one of my favourite villains in an action movie of all time and easily the best villain the Marvel Universe has ever seen. Gone are the typical types of villains which have been consistent through out Phase One and hello to a new and more exciting type for Phase Two hopefully!
The action in the film is great! No action sequence is the same, and this time you gets lots of Tony in the suit and then Tony taking on a more James Bond style of action outside of the suit. This is the first time there has been major fighting for Tony out of his Iron Man suit and its truly just him, which is incredibly excitement as it begins to pose the question of whether the man makes the suit or the suit the man. None the less, the special effects are insane and especially in the IMAX 3D format, the film is a visual spectacle as well. The final action sequence at the climax of the film is wild and great, augmented by the 3D technology and it makes the movie that much more fun to watch!
My only complaint about the entire film is the ending. It seemed very abrupt, it all of a sudden ended and not on the note you would hope. It sets the tone for what we could be seeing for our heroes in Phase 2, but gives no notion of Thanos or what will becoming with future Marvel films. That’s even including the post credit scene, which is just more humour and a great second ending to the film which features a familiar face from the Marvel Universe.
Final Thoughts:
With wicked awesome performances from Robert Downey Jr. and Guy Pearce and a great supporting cast, Iron Man 3 is Marvel’s best solo adventure to date and takes a turn into brave new territory that screams goodbye Phase One and hello to Phase 2!!!
