Review - Iron Man 3

Robert Downey Jr. has once again captivated audiences and Iron Man 3 has topped the box office.  With a different director (Shane Black) in control of the film fans knew that this third film in the Iron Man franchise would feel different but what they received was something unexpected.

*Possible spoilers ahead.

This is both good and bad. The film definitely has a darker tone and  really does have a "real world" feel to it. The Tony Stark that we are introduced to in this film is not the Tony Stark that we have become accustomed to seeing in his other 3 movie appearances (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and The Avengers). This time around Tony is a mentally broken man who is trying to cope with reality after the events of the Battle of New York that occurred in The Avengers. This becomes a staple of the film as we watch Tony try to overcome several anxiety attacks at the mere mention of the Avengers and New York.

I have to say that the cast did an amazing job in this film. The acting was superb. [Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Don Cheadle (Col. James Rhodes/Iron Patriot), Guy Pearce (Aldrich Killian), Rebecca Hall (Maya Hansen), Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan), and Ben Kingsly (The Mandarin).] Ben Kingsley did a marvelous job on his portrayal of The Mandarin and definitely delivered a chilling performance. Guy Pearce does a great job at portraying someone who starts out with humble beginnings to a cocky individual who knows that he now has power. Well done. The one character that seemed to be lacking was Maya Hansen played by Rebecca Hall. I wouldn't pin this on Hall however, as the writing for Maya Hansen seemed very light and she didn't get much screen time to develop.

The story was well written and Shane Black definitely delivered a darker Iron Man film than we have seen in the past. Seeing this new "human" side to Stark was a lot of fun and it was very exciting to see the army of  iron suits show up during the big battle at the end of the movie. It was the scene that they whole movie built up to (obviously) and it was non-stop action fun! However, Black took some liberties with some characters that fans may not have liked. For starters, there was a surprising lack of "Iron Man" within this Iron Man film and when he was on screen he was mostly trying to get his new Mark XLII (42) armor to work properly (as it is a prototype). I wasn't crazy about this armor as it was just a little too gimmicky for me. That aside, there were some changes made to The Mandarin that I do not think anybody saw coming. For the first three quarters of the film the Mandarin is exactly who fans have read in the comics and delivered a great performance. Then it is revealed, in a rather comical scene, that The Mandarin is actually an actor playing the part of The Mandarin and that it has all been written out for him. His real name is Trevor and he is a simple guy with an English accent and a substance problem. Even though this lead to some very humorous scenes and lines, it is a change that I felt was a bit of a stretch for the film. The Mandarin is a very big character in the comics and in the film it turns out he is nothing more than an actor who is too stoned to realize what's going on around him. Fans will have to accept that part of the movie for what it is.

Overall, this film delivers a great story and makes up for a poor showing in Iron Man 2. Fans will definitely want to check this film out if they have not already.

Rating: 9/10