This review contains some mild to medium spoilers.
First off, you can definitely tell that this was directed by Shane Black. Anyone who has ever seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang can definitely see that fighting/directorial style here. This doesn’t really take anything away from what was set up in Favreau’s first two films. It does though lend to one of the more unique aspects of Iron Man 3 which keeps this movie from becoming a stale threepeat.
Iron Man was about Tony becoming Iron Man, Iron Man 2 was about Tony being Iron Man, Iron Man 3 was about Tony and Iron Man being the same person.
After the events of Avengers, Tony is having nightmares and anxiety attacks. He knows he’s ‘just a man in a can’ and that he is actually very vulnerable. This gets punctuated by the fact that he is separated from the three people he cares about most, Pepper, Happy, and Jarvis. Then, in two very big battles, he has to fight without the suit or with only part of it.
The ‘dungeon’ fight scene where he only has one arm and one leg is one of the best fight scenes I’ve seen in these action/comic movies just in the sheer cleverness of it. It also clearly illustrates just how much Tony and Iron Man are one. Part of him is shielded, part of him isn’t. He’s vulnerable but he is still fighting and still winning.
This is what kept this film from becoming more of the same. The action was different, the psychological aspects were more subtle, and it really brought things full circle.
The other things I liked in this is that everyone played their parts quite well and the new characters were very well casted. Ben Kingsley was both menacing and hilarious. Rebecca Hall was sympathetic in a short amount of time. Guy Pearce was the perfect amount of suave and greasy. James Badge Dale was just awesome in his distinct lack of giving a crap. Even the kid, who is starting to be called “Mini-Tony”, was good. In fact, the scenes with the kid could have been the weakest parts as the dialogue could have gotten a little too campy or Ty Simpkins could have not been able to act but overall it turned out great.
There was a lot of Audi car-porn as well but for the most part it was managed, directors are starting to get more savvy on how to deal with the continued requirement of sponsors and making sure they get their money’s worth.
The only real problem is that this is the first film since Avengers and while Iron Man 3 is more thoughtful and overall a better film, it seems to pale in comparison to the sheer hilarity and action packed roller-coaster ride that was Avengers.
This hasn’t, though, hurt its box office receipts as it’s already made half, domestically, what the two previous films made.
The question now is whether or not we’ll see another Iron Man film or will Tony Stark/Iron Man only exist in the next Avengers movies and as possible cameo fodder for the other hero films? Personally, I kinda like the idea of ending the Iron Man movies here as it’s come full circle with his character.
But as in all things… only time will tell…
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