Ironman 3

• Title:  Iron Man 3
• Director:  Shane Black
• Date:  2013
• Studio:  Paramount, Marvel
• Genre:  Action, Fantasy
• Cast:  Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Rebecca Hall, Ben Kingsley, Paul Bettany
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  NTSC, R1

When I saw Iron Man 3 in the theater last summer I was somewhat disappointed.  I bought the DVD anyway, and having watched it a couple of times, I still think it wasn't as good as it could have been.  But I bought the film because I like Robert Downey Jr. and he does seem to be born to play the part of Tony Stark aka Iron Man.

The interesting part of the story is that Tony, after the events in New York, in The Avengers, is suffering from PTSD and panic attacks - not that he seems willing to deal with his trauma.  He and Pepper are living together, but arguing as ever.

The film uses a voice-over by Tony to try to connect and explain events.  In a tag during the credits, we'll learn he's talking to Dr. Bruce Banner.  However, even with the voice-over, this film is confusing and hard to follow.  And even after multiple viewings - that doesn't improve matters, at all.  And that remains one of the prime problems with the film - without a good story, a story that grabs you with it's characters - or an unique and meaningful plot, the best action sequences in the world can still seem boring.  So, the film doesn't really work because it's confusing, and the action sequences don't really work because they have little meaning.

The plot involves a series of "terrorist" bombings - bombings which eventually turn out not to be the result of terrorist bombs at all, but a new, experimental military technology called Extremis.  Extremis was invented by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) a man Tony had met at a party before he became Iron Man.  Tony blew the guy off, causing him to obtain military contracts to develop Extremis - rather than using it as a genetic treatment for physical disabilities and medical illnesses.  Though, given the little we see of Killian's character, it's doubtful he would have used Extremis for purely "peaceful" means even if Stark Industries had backed his research.

The terrorist bombings, by a man called, The Mandarin, turn out to be a charade - The Mandarin is Trevor Slattery, a British actor, hired by Killian to put a false face on the bombings - which are actually a side effect of Extremis going wrong.  S.H.I.E.L.D., meanwhile, had tried to get Tony to work with them to stop The Mandarin - but he refuses as he thinks it's none of his business.  When Happy is injured in an random Mandarin attack, however, Tony takes it personally - and not only threatens the Mandarin but gives out his home address in a public press conference.

Tony's actions prove to be as dumb as that sounds - as the Mandarin attacks and destroys his Malibu home.  Tony, in escaping, ends-up in Tennessee, where he is given help by a young, geeky, know-it-all kid.  And yes, that part of the plot was extremely annoying. Pepper disappears for the vast majority of the plot - and Tony's running around with a kid.

Tony is in Tennessee for a reason, though - before the public threats of the Mandarin started, there was another explosion with the same heat signature.  Tony figures there's a connection, and in Tennessee - he finds it, thus leading him to Trevor, and then to Killian. But Killian meanwhile has taken Pepper and exposed her to Extremis.  Thus, Tony 's final battle is more about saving the woman he loves than about stopping Killian and Extremis. This should have made the film work better - however, not only is Tony helped by Rhody, not the "Iron Patriot" but about 30 remotely activated Iron Man suits join in the final battle. Therefore, in the final battle - it's very difficult to figure out who's who and what's going on (both Tony and Rhody get in and out of various suits throughout the battle).

Still, at the end, Pepper almost dies, but Extremis saves her.  Tony realises how much he loves Pepper, and even has the shrapnel and electromagnet removed from his chest, and one is left with the idea that he might, finally, become a better person without relying on his suit of iron.  Well, until the next Avengers film.

The problem with Iron Man 3 is twofold - it doesn't expand the universe at all, it simply introduces yet another villain, and this villain isn't even real - the Mandarin is a sham.  An Killian, though nasty, is somewhat finite as a villain - Extremis doesn't work.  It, temporarily, does as promised - even regrowing limbs, but eventually the patient blows-up.  Not exactly a medical miracle.  And secondly, it becomes just another chapter in an on-going story that never ends.  There's no beginning, middle, end structure to the Iron Man films - so there's no growth.  In the second film, I felt Tony had slid backwards to his original party self; in this one - Party Tony is in a flashback, but there's still no real growth or change.  And the end scenes, which do hint at change -- Tony realising his feelings for Pepper, Tony having the shrapnel and magnet removed, etc., all seem fake and short-lived.  We know Iron Man will be back, so what's the point?

I did like the scenes between Pepper and Tony at the beginning and end of the film, but overall, Gwyneth Paltrow is almost criminally under-used in this film.  She needed either her own storyline, or to be with Tony in Tennessee doing research - not simply arguing with Tony at the beginning, and being a victim at the end, until Tony tries to rescue her and she ends up rescuing herself instead.

Recommendation:  For die-hard Marvel fans Only

Rating:  3 Stars

Next Film:  Justice League:  Flashpoint Paradox