IN TWEET: SMART, FUNNY AND REMARKABLY RESTRAINED, ROBERT DOWNEY JR. SHINES IN THE BEST FILM OF THE “IRON MAN” TRILOGY.
Iron Man, how nicely you’ve grown up!
I thought the original IRON MAN was an insufferable bore. It was two hours of too much “see how clever and funny we are” yuk yuks and Gwyneth Paltrow figuring out which of three ways she was going to play Pepper Potts. Flash forward to IRON MAN 3 (by way of a damn good sequel) and it’s a whole different world, literally and figuratively.
What makes IRON MAN 3 work so well is a more mature , character-driven approach to the humor and action sequences. In fact, I was surprised at how restrained the film was overall. There are large gaps of dialogue and character development between some impressive boom boom. Ironically, one of the best sequences in the film is a low tech infiltration of the villain’s lair in which Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark has to rely on his wits, the element of surprise and a trip to the local Ace Hardware.
Make no mistake, this film is all about Robert Downey Jr. He is rarely off screen. While that was a major drag in the dreadful big screen SHERLOCK HOLMES movies, here he is firing on all cylinders and gives one of the best performances of his career.
Make no mistake, this film is all about Robert Downey Jr. He is rarely off screen. While that was a major drag in the dreadful big screen SHERLOCK HOLMES movies, here he is firing on all cylinders and gives one of the best performances of his career.
Downey Jr. pretty much carries the entire storyline, aided by a relay-race of rotating side kicks. Once one is knocked out of commission, he or she is replaced by someone else. The baton is passed from Head of Security Happy Hogan (a fine comedic turn by John Favreau, who should stay in front of the camera from now on), to Pepper Potts (Paltrow), to Harley Keener (played by Ty Simpkins, a real find and one of the highlights of the film) and finally to Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle, always great but oddly underused here).
Writer/Director Shane Black (KISS KISS BANG BANG) deftly weaves references to THE AVENGERS into the plot and, in the case of Tony Stark, the events of that movie are a key factor in the growth of the character. Stark, freaked out by the events in New York City, has been unable to sleep or fully concentrate on his work. His frequent anxiety attacks become a running joke in the film, especially in a terrific sequence with the Harley Keener character. It’s one of those scenes between a child actor and an adult that few films do this well. Ty Simkins is definitely a young actor to watch and here proves to be much more than a source of cute interplay (a film convention that is nicely tweaked in the scene where Stark says goodbye to little Harley).
Sending up big screen and comic book contrivances with gleeful and affectionate abandon allows IRON MAN 3 to wiggle through a rather tepid “world domination” plot.
Sending up big screen and comic book contrivances with gleeful and affectionate abandon allows IRON MAN 3 to wiggle through a rather tepid “world domination” plot.
There are, essentially, two villains here. One, The Mandarin, is played by Ben Kingsley who never disappoints. Here he is on fire, especially after a major surprise plot twists is revealed. The other baddie is Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), probably one of the least interesting fire breathing villains I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure what, exactly, is missing from Pearce’s performance but he never becomes the scary threat we expect in a film like this.
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On the flip side, there are some nasty, flamey henchmen running around who do kick major ass. A highlight is a gloriously over the top fight sequence between Stark and faux Homeland Security official Brandt (Stephanie Szostack) that anchors a major action set piece in the middle of the film.
The true standout on the black hat side of the fence is Savin, played with cool, gum chomping swagger by James Badge Dale. He’s just attractive enough to be alluring but he is clearly not someone you want to piss off. In fact, Badge Dale outshines Pearce in every scene. He would have made a much better (and more frightening) Aldrich Killian.
Global terrorism is a major plot point in IRON MAN 3 and that means bombings and destruction. Truth be told, the attack sequence that takes place at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood is a difficult segment to sit through, especially with the Boston Marathon bombing still so fresh in our collective psyche. It was the one time the audience in the theater got very quiet.
While there is nothing remotely gratuitous or gory about the scene as presented in IRON MAN 3, it will be a long time before I can look at images of the aftermath of a bomb attack (even a fictional one) without pictures of blood soaked debris from April 15, 2013 flashing through my mind.
While there is nothing remotely gratuitous or gory about the scene as presented in IRON MAN 3, it will be a long time before I can look at images of the aftermath of a bomb attack (even a fictional one) without pictures of blood soaked debris from April 15, 2013 flashing through my mind.
Fanboys will be happy that there is the usual post credit sequence, but here it is less about a major reveal than it is about closing the loop on Stark’s anxiety (with a wink and a chuckle). I was less interested in that bit of fluff than I was in the hilariously assembled closing montage. It’s a riotous tribute to title sequences in classics like the James Bond films and the Thunderbirds TV series.The final frame of the movie promises that Tony Stark will return. If it’s in a vehicle like IRON MAN 3, he’ll be welcome anytime.
RONTHINK RATING: B+
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