With the overwhelming success of The Avengers, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was firmly established as a cinematic powerhouse. Given the success, Marvel decided to launch Phase 2, starting with another Iron Man sequel, but done quite differently. For one, while he returned to play Happy Hogan, Jon Favreau opted not to return to direct the sequel. Instead, directing duties were handed to famous screenwriter Shane Black, who previously worked with Downey on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. In fact, it was Robert Downey Jr who recommended Black to Marvel given their previous experience. Also, around this time, Disney had just acquired Marvel, but they had to pay original distributor Paramount for the rights. Given that Disney earlier acquired Lucasfilm and its properties, including Star Wars, it was expected there’d be rights issues. So, just one year after The Avengers, we got Iron Man 3.
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Rating
Following the attack on New York, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is experiencing PTSD from what he went through. This has led him to spend less time with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and more time building suits. Pepper is visited by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who has a new project called Extremis that has potential. At the same time, a terrorist known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) has been responsible for numerous bombings. One such bombing nearly claims the life of Tony’s friend Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), leading Tony to challenge The Mandarin. Unfortunately, this leads to Tony’s house being blown up and him flying off to another part of the country. While searching for answers on the bombings, Tony starts to learn more and more about who The Mandarin really is. Who is The Mandarin, and what is he ultimately after?
After how somewhat underwhelming Iron Man 2 was, this is an improvement, though still not as good as the first. Like before, the performances are all-around great, especially from Downey, who really gets to show off his acting chops. Given the trauma the character has faced, Downey really conveys just how broken Tony is and how affected he’s become. Also, Guy Pearce, while somewhat laughable in appearance at first, makes for a pretty decent villain. Plus, Ben Kingsley, though somewhat wasted, still turns in a solid performance, being both unnerving and even funny. Also, because of my love of character actors, it’s great to see William Sadler and Miguel Ferrer pop up here. Like before, this movie has some great action sequences, though it’s interesting how many of them don’t involve the suit. Some may be disappointed by this, but I actually think it’s a welcome change of pace.
Given this film was co-written by Shane Black, it should come as no surprise that the dialogue is very humorous. One major highlight is the back-and-forths between Downey Jr and Ty Simpkins as a very bright kid. Without giving away too much, I know one major complaint audiences had was a certain misdirection given. Let’s just say that certain characters aren’t what they seem, and while I get the frustration, I didn’t mind it. That being said, this movie does have some of the same issues as before, namely the pacing. There are several points where large stretches go by without much happening, definitely more a slow burn. Admittedly, it’s handled fairly well since there’s more character development and the performances keep it engaging. Overall, Iron Man 3 is a step above the previous entry, though only slightly above being middle of the road.
