Score: **** out of ***** (B+)
Long Story Short: Iron Man 3 is the first big blockbuster of the summer, with huge expectations as perhaps the second most popular superhero in film (to Batman) and coming off last year's megahit, The Avengers. A new director is brought in, a risky move but one that pays off with a fresh feel for even the familiar elements. Robert Downey, Jr. continues to deliver the goods, and his Tony Stark story is as compelling as ever. Unfortunately, the action and villains are the worst of the series. Still, it's an energetic, entertaining - and hilarious - summer event.
The summer movie season begins! While it doesn't always have the best films of the year, summer is always packed with big event films, and so I plan to be heading to the theater on a regular basis for the next few months. The first release of the summer is often among the biggest, and the same is true this year: after the spectacular success of The Avengers - not to mention the popularity of the other Iron Man films - Iron Man 3 hit theaters with huge expectations, and it wound up making $175 million last weekend. Fun fact I read recently: Robert Downey, Jr. has now starred in a film that made over $500 million (worldwide) for each of the past six years. As I enjoyed the other Iron Man films and The Avengers, this was a no-brainer for me to go see. Iron Man 3 was directed by Shane Black (Jon Favreau did the first two) and stars Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and Don Cheadle.
Despite the spectacular triumph of Iron Man and his pals in fending off an alien invasion, Tony Stark (Downey, Jr.) is an anxious, jittery mess as the latest chapter begins. He has become obsessed with preparing for the possibility of another cataclysmic event, leading longtime partner Pepper Potts (Paltrow) to worry about him. Out in the world, a new terrorist threat has emerged under the persona of the Mandarin (Kingsley), who has been launching attacks at random around the world, bewildering efforts to stop or capture him. Stark pays the Mandarin little attention until one of his attacks affects Tony directly. Tony flies off the handle and it backfires, big time; through a series of events, he finds himself stranded in the American heartland.
Unable to rely on his high-tech gadgets or Iron Man suit, Tony has to use his natural wits and intuition to figure out how and why the Mandarin has been launching his attacks. In a nod to the first Iron Man, Tony must grapple with the consequences of his previous carefree lifestyle that alienated many he came into contact with. Oh, and of course, there are plenty of explosions along the way.
The cast of Iron Man 3 is a mixed bag. Most importantly, though, Robert Downey, Jr. reprises his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man. I, and apparently millions of others, find that Downey, Jr. is a perfect fit for the role: he does a fantastic job of realistically balancing his character's cynical, egotistical side with a streak of selflessness and bravery. He is bitingly hilarious, and in the next moment inspires great sympathy - not an easy trick to pull off. His partner, Pepper Potts, is played by Gwyneth Paltrow again. I think that Pepper's role - in the series overall, and in this film in particular - is creative and interesting, but the writing for Pepper is poor and Paltrow's acting is often too shrill when she's in an action or tense scene. Don Cheadle as Col. Rhodes/Iron Patriot has little to do in this film; honestly, his part could have pretty easily been cut out entirely, which is a shame because Cheadle is a tremendous actor.
Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin is great. I won't go into any more detail than that. Guy Pearce plays Killian, another villain. He's pretty good, but early on he's entirely overshadowed by the Mandarin, and later in the film his character becomes a little absurd. Other notable roles: James Badge Dale (The Pacific) seems to have a great time as a henchman, and is fun to watch... Rebecca Hall is kind of in no-man's land in virtually every respect possible... Jon Favreau (yes, the previous director) gets a bigger role as head of security; he hams it up but is a cheerful presence... Ty Simpkins is actually pretty good (huge praise for a child actor).
On a general level, Iron Man 3 has a similar mix of elements to the first two films of the franchise: lots of humor; more focus on the "alter ego" (Tony Stark) than most superhero films; but plenty of action, too. Still, new director Shane Black certainly puts a distinctive style into this film, so while many faces are familiar, the feel is considerably different. How does that work out for the various elements? It strengthens what was already perhaps the best superhero alter ego, Tony Stark. I loved how they actually showed the side effects of the massive Avengers battles on Tony. They bring in contacts from Stark's bad boy past. And yet the tone in many of these scenes is a little more cheerful than in prior installments. Finally, the humor is about on par (ie: excellent) with the others.
The style change has a different result on the superhero aspects of the film. Granted, I've never been particularly blown away by this element of the Iron Man films: too much of the action seems overly arbitrary. Of course, all superhero films are unrealistic, but Iron Man's abilities seem to vacillate to fit the needs of the plot a little too much for my tastes. This weakness gets amplified substantially in Iron Man 3, where at several points I found myself saying "if you just did ____ earlier in the film this would have been a much shorter movie!!!" The attack on Stark's home - I know you've seen parts of it in trailers/commercials - is one of the most ridiculous and, amazingly, boring actions scenes in recent memory. Kingsley's acting as the Mandarin is the high point for the enemy and its plot. It's just too much of a mess, and pay close attention otherwise key information will pass you by and be assumed as common knowledge from that point forward.
***
Well, for the fifth straight film, I'm stuck in the "B"s. I must say, though, that this was a much more interesting film to consider than the others, which were pretty straightforward "B"s. Iron Man 3 has much more variety, both good and bad. It all starts with expectations: when low, a movie can soar, but when high, a movie can get bogged down. Iron Man 3 certainly had high expectations (like last year's The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit). I think that it was a great decision to insert a new director who made the project his own, with its distinctive style. And the Tony Stark story was carried forward with great skill and some clever interweaving with prior films. Unfortunately, the weakness from prior films - the action and villains - was only worsened here. A superhero film simply cannot get an "A" rating if its superhero elements are poor. Still, it's a high-quality production with strengths in creativity, humor, and Robert Downey, Jr. Come to the theater with tempered expectations... but still, come see it in the theater.
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