Iron Man 3 Review

I think few will doubt the strength of performance and character that Robert Downey Jr. has brought to Iron Man.  Five years ago I walked into the theatre expecting a typical summer blockbuster and in tandem with that, I was blown away by the personality and charisma that he brought to Tony Stark.  Watching Iron Man was all about watching him, plain and simple.

I missed out on Iron Man 2, however there's no question that charisma transferred over to The Avengers, and Downey Jr.'s performance was once again a huge show stealer.  Thankfully he's lost none of his touch for the start of this summer's blockbusters in Iron Man 3.

In a post The Avengers world, Tony Stark is having some problems.  The film begins with many of his suits being destroyed, and then flashes back to before the first film, 1999 in fact.  Celebrating New Years in Switzerland, Stark is still a pompous jerk focused on one thing, and that evening it's with a hot botanist, Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall).  This sets off a chain of events that's finally caught up to him now, resulting in the devastation of his personal life.

In the present day, Stark is having a lot of anxiety issues from the attack on New York earlier and his brush with mortality.  While he struggles with his inner demons and keeping his relationship to Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) ship-shape, a new terrorist calling himself the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) has arisen and is doing terror bomb attacks throughout the US.  The catch is no one can figure out how these bombings are actually occurring, as there doesn't appear to be any bombs or remaining components present at the detonation sites.

Of course since it's public knowledge that Tony Stark is Iron Man, many people are looking to him to help stop the Mandarin, and when he issues a challenge to the terrorist, well, that's when things get personal.

What follows is an action packed effects fest of the highest calibre.  In addition to Downey Jr.'s always amazing performance, the level of action and specifically effects was extremely enthralling.  Even outside his suit, which Stark spends a good bit of time, the film's action doesn't disappoint, which I loved.  Battles of all sorts are grandiose in the extreme, interjected with humour at every turn.

In truth, my only gripe about the film was the plot as a whole felt very contrived simply to get stuff to go boom, and while that's certainly not the end of the world, it made Iron Man 3 feel less clever than the original; more of a spectacle than a story.  Overall that's quite forgivable, though what was really hilarious was the villain's actual motivation.  I'm not talking about the twist (which was very cool and I won't spoil it here), but let's say the film's antagonist has the dumbest motivation I've ever seen for a villain ever.  He still makes a great villain, however, it's just the reason he's doing everything doesn't quiet add up to anything substantial.

Regardless, Iron Man 3 is a great film, very entertaining and extremely enjoyable.  It's all about Robert Downey Jr. again, and provided you loved his rendition of Tony Stark before, you won't be disappointed now.