I saw 'Iron Man 3' in 3D. I didn't want
to, but it was the only show available, so I was forced
to. While movies that are post produced in 3D are
generally lame, and I am on record for despising 3D movies in
general, this one was one of the most worthless. They
didn't even have the common decency to make the credits come
out in 3D. Just me whining, and imploring you to save
your extra dollars and not see this movie in blurry,
worthless, 2nd pair of glasses wearing 3D. That's
all. The movie itself, 3D issues aside? Eh… it was
okay.
After the situation in New York City a year back in 'The
Avengers', Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a bit of a
mess. We can't really blame him… Gods, Aliens, cosmic
cubes, wormhole portals… it was a bit much even for an
international genius and playboy the likes of Stark. He
can't sleep, he's prone to sudden panic attacks, he's not
taking care of Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) the way a woman like
that needs to be taken care of, and he spends his spare time
building various versions of his Iron Man suits.
Fortunately for us, because watching Stark pout is no fun,
danger is on the way in the form of international terrorist
The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) who is just causing all kinds of
trouble around the world, and stateside for that matter,
blowing stuff up with awesome bombs that leave behind no trace
evidence. After The Mandarin's last escapade caused Tony
some personal grief, he let that evil dude know that tables
are about to turned and Iron Man is about to get in that
ass. At least I guess that was the plan. This evil
dude doesn't take to threats lightly and a few missiles later
to a posh beachside estate, Tony is short one hillside mansion
and somehow finds himself in Indiana, or some state that
starts and ends with a vowel that I can't remember, trying to
get to the bottom of the deadly threat of the Mandarin.
In addition to the Mandarin, there's also the
issue of Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) a genius who has been
harboring an intense dislike towards Stark for the last
fifteen years, back when Tony was a certifiable jerk instead
of the debatable jerk that he is today. Aldrich has some
fancy new tech he'd like Stark Industries to help him launch,
which Pepper as acting CEO passes on, which I guess is a
mistake… but not really. I mean in hindsight this fancy
tech seems to be ready already, and not in need of Stark
Industries support, but there it is.
The Mandarin has a plan… bring the imperialistic infidels down
their knees! And the Mandarin has long green bankrolling
this plan of his, and Iron Man is no where around. But
at least we do have the Iron Patriot and James Rhodes (Don
Cheadle) on standby. Oh, we really don't have him
either. A few months ago Iron Man was getting pummeled
by Asgardian gods and turning out okay, today some guy who can
make his hand hot is handing him and his iron clad best friend
their collective butts. What's up with that?
Surprises and twists are abound as Tony Stark… and we mean
Tony Stark, not Iron Man… prepares to save the day. And
his super powered girlfriend. It's complicated.
As most of us know, this version of Iron Man was directed by
Shane Black and upon announcement that Mr. Black would be
handling the directing duties for this movie, we were giddy
excitement. Shane Black has scripted some of the most
important action movies ever made, and while he only had one
directing credit before this one, this one credit was 'Kiss,
Kiss, Bang, Bang' which was outstanding. If you were to
ask me. This leaves me a little conflicted with 'Iron
Man 3' because it is, unequivocally, a Shane Black movie so it
is everything I expected it would be, but I was also a little
disappointed. Go figure.
What makes a Shane Black movie? A certain style of
humor, characters at odds with themselves, characters who are
either physically or mentally tortured into toughness, and a
good buddy repertoire, but done in a way that's unique to this
filmmaker. These things are all in 'Iron Man 3' and this
is what separates 'Iron Man 3' from pretty much all of the
superhero movies made to this point. It's cleverer, it's
more personal, and it's more character based which tends to
make for a better overall movie.
But does it make for a better superhero movie? Therein
lies the rub. Tony Stark having panic attacks, Tony
Stark sulking, Tony Stark bonding with a cute kid, Tony Stark
using his brain as opposed to repulsor rays to solve problems…
I don't know. Then the filmmakers started f'n with
the Mandarin, and while I'm no Iron Man purist or anything,
and it was funny where they went with it, but they did kind of
screw up Iron Man's Joker, Lex Luthor, Green Goblin and Dr.
Doom. Then there's the symphony of Iron Man suits that
you probably saw in the trailer, and this waters down the Iron
Man mythos in that anybody, and I mean anybody can put on the
suit and be an Iron Man. Or heck, the suits don't even
need anybody inside of them to be Iron Man for that
matter. There's no super hero magic in that.
Ultimately Mr. Black has made more of a Tony Stark movie than
an Iron Man movie and it was a good Tony Stark
movie. The thing is we were kind of hoping for a
great Iron Man movie.
