Anthony's Film Review - Iron Man 3 (2013)

Iron Man 3 has taken me by surprise, being better than the first two...

While Iron Man and Iron Man 2 were good but not near spectacular levels, Iron Man 3 successfully outdoes those two predecessors. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, the main character of Tony Stark, the eccentric yet brilliant genius, is great to see on screen. Second, the action seems to be much better this time. Third, it's the end of a trilogy, wrapping things up in a rather nice way. It may not feel like the end of a three-part series at first, but that will become clear by the time the end rolls around.

Iron Man 3 is an action movie that feels both real and fantastical. There is an evil terrorist known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) who is behind several bombings. However, nobody can catch him because nobody knows where he is. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) wants to do something about him, but so does the United States government, which has enlisted Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), in a suit that is a version of Iron Man's to become the Iron Patriot, to deal with this terrorist threat. Even so, the public looks to Iron Man as the answer to their prayers.

The fantastical part of the story doesn't just come from Iron Man. It's also the type of weapon the terrorist uses. Imagine a sort-of human bomb. Basically, an incendiary human individual whose tissue can heat up to the point of exploding. It's actually kind of a tense concept, though it looks cool on screen. Anyway, imagine fight scenes with characters who could burn up at any moment. Also picture using those foes' own heat properties against them. After all of this, the revelation about why this is happening is quite an intriguing moment. Makes the story more interesting.

It's also worth noting that Iron Man 3 presents a nice cast of characters. There are the familiar ones I mentioned already, Tony Stark and Colonel Rhodes, along with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). In addition, the prologue of this movie presents Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall), who is an old flame of Tony Stark, and a scientist named Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) who enthusiastically tries to get in touch with Stark and hopefully form a new business partnership. Other notable characters include a boy whom Stark unexpectedly meets, a woman from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the President of the United States. No matter how big or small the character is, they all make the film a sight to see.

And speaking of sights to see, the action is, not surprisingly, exciting and great. Much of it is due to the fact that Tony Stark now has 42 different Iron Man suits. Each one can function independently without Stark being inside them. In fact, each piece of an Iron Man suit can fly around individually and can be summoned by Stark to attach to his body. It's quite interesting to see moments in action scenes where a character is fighting with just one or two components of the suit rather than the entire suit. Then there are the moments where Tony Stark temporarily isn't Iron Man and has to fight with a gun, just like anyone else would. Oh, and before I forget, there are three unforgettable action sequences in Iron Man 3: the climax (of course), a mid-air disaster occurring in the second half of the film, and the destruction of a large house.

This is easily the best of the three Iron Man-centric movies. Just by doing what the series did before but better, it has won me over and forced the needle on my 1-to-10 scale from a 7 to an 8. If it isn't clear by this point in time, Marvel Studios has a winning formula with its superhero movies, all set in the same fictional universe called the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even if Iron Man comes to an end, there will always be other Marvel superheroes that will excite the audience. One thing's for sure: you can thank Iron Man for that, having set the blueprint from the very beginning.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Iron Man 3, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my reviews of Iron Man and Iron Man 2.