The Iron Man Trilogy has had its share of ups and downs especially when it comes to the franchise’s sequels, but no matter what the end result may be, we as moviegoers will always come back to it not just for the kick-butt superhero action, but also to see Robert Downey Jr reprise his role as Tony Stark. I’ll admit that my relationship with the third and final Iron Man movie has been kinda half and half, heck sometimes you may even hear me say that Iron Man 2 is a better sequel when many would disagree with me. However, with a new director and a darker and complex tone, has this movie changed my mind after a while? or will my past opinions continue to endure?
Taking place after the events of The Avengers, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is back to doing his normal shtick as he’s building more Iron Man’s and trying to get ready for the holiday season. Unfortunately, Tony has been experiencing random panic attacks that are connected to what he has witnessed when he destroyed the portal in space in New York. To make matters worse, a new threat has entered the picture as an unknown terrorist named the Mandrin pops up on televised broadcasts and threatens the world with his unorthodox methods of killing random people. After stupidly giving away his home address to the enemy, Tony gets what’s coming to him as he finds his home reduced to rubble. Tony escapes in an Iron Man prototype suit and finds himself in the middle of Tennessee where he meets a boy who tries to help Tony get back on his feet. Tony will have to act fast in order to find the Mandrin and take him down before the situation gets worse.
I appreciate the darker tone and I believe it may have something to do with the change of directors as Jon Faveru only has an executive-producer credit attached to this movie instead of being the head director. The shift in tone is not at all forced as it seems like the natural progression that has been built up in the previous two movies. Still, It isn’t without its flaws and some problematic storytelling. I like the idea of Tony having panic attacks after the events of The Avengers as we get to see a more tortured side of Tony that we haven’t seen before, The problem with all of that though is that we barely get to see how that conflict resolves itself in the end as that plot point seems more like an afterthought than a completed character progression. Also, let’s not forget the stupidest thing Tony has ever done as he reveals his house address on public television to the enemy with no battle plan. I know the filmmakers intended this scene to feel more like Tony defending his friends and loved ones but it just comes out as idiotic even for a self-absorbed billionaire genius like Tony Stark.
Then there is the reveal of the villain in person which adamantly did catch me off guard with its unpredictability, but at the same time, it was a huge letdown as it would have been much cooler to just have a real comic book hero vs villain type conflict instead of choosing to go with the most boring villain stereotypes possible. With all that being said though, I did like a few things in the main storyline, The relationship between Tony and the kid is very genuine and funny and even though some of the more important plot points that get focused on seemed unfinished, I still did like the ideas that were introduced and it could have made for a much better experience if they were worked on a bit more but I still give kudos that the filmmakers were trying at the very least. The Characters are likable and Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark is still a joy to watch even when it seems like there is not enough source material for him to work off of.
Iron Man 3 was coming off the success of The Avengers and that meant they needed to step up their game with the visuals and the action sequences. The Iron man suit never fails to impress me but the only thing that is more impressive than that is seeing around 15 more Iron Man suits that are all programmed and fighting alongside Tony in the final battle against the villain. There are even some creative and well-thought-out action sequences like when Tony has to save a bunch of people that have fallen out of a plane and he has to get those people to hold hands with each other much like the game, barrel of monkeys. This also takes place around the holiday’s so it seems fitting to decorate the sets and locations with a bunch of festive props spread throughout. Composer Brain Tyler knows how to make epic-sounding musical compositions, especially when in high octane action. The addition of rock music added to the musical compositions is more than welcomed and it all comes together to make for a unique enough experience.
It’s debatable as to whether or not Iron Man 3 is actually a good movie, but what I can say is that even though I would put this movie on the weaker end of The MCU’s list of movies, I can’t bring myself to say that this movie is bad because even with all the problems it has with some of its storytelling and completing character arcs, it does still succeed with some of the charming charisma of the characters and some well thought out action sequences that step things up from the previous Iron Man movie’s. I still prefer Iron Man 2 cause even though that movie is flawed as well, I can at least respect it for trying to complete its story arcs and having a more engaging villain. Still, Iron Man 3 is a decent experience that is still worth seeing for Marvel fans, just don’t expect this movie to be in the high ranks of the MCU’s finest.
(Final Grade C+)