How can you possibly top The Avengers? Marvel’s four-years-in-the-making superhero epic
not only was the best reviewed comic book film ever, but it grossed over a billion dollars at the
box office. It also had the benefit of being set up by five ( Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible
Hulk, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger) films over a four year span.
Iron Man 3 is Marvel’s first “Phase Two” film, meaning it’s the first movie after the centerpiece
Avengers, and the first before Avengers 2. And it seems that Marvel is off to yet another great
start, because Iron Man 3 is the best in the trilogy, and could quite possibly be the best comic
book film of 2013.
The movie centers around Tony Stark having anxiety attacks after the events of Avengers. He’s
essentially locked himself in his house, constantly tinkering with new versions of his suits of
armor, many of which with different purposes and powers. Stark has become distant to his
friends and family, and desperately needs some sort of event to get him out of this state of mind.
That event comes in the form of “The Mandarin”, a terrorist who prefaces bombings with Al-
Queda-like videos delivering ominous threats. One of Stark’s friends is grievously injured in one
of these bombings, springing him back into action.
It should be noted that this is the first of the three Iron Man 3 films to not be directed by Jon
Favreau, and it shows in multiple ways. It’s a much funnier movie than the previous 2, and some
of the smaller details are a little different (the heads-up display in Iron Man’s suit, for example,
though this could possibly simply be the evolution of the armor), but in other ways it retains
elements of the first two (slick design and the overall charm).
Robert Downey Jr. once said that he felt like he was born to play Tony Stark, and for the fourth
time, he shows how true that statement is. He embodies Stark’s nature from the comics: an
antihero of sorts, easy to dislike but impossible not to love. He matches wits with any and every
one he comes across, including a particularly precocious ten-year-old. Gwyneth Paltrow returns
as Pepper Potts and is better this time around, after not really doing much of anything in Iron
Man 2. Don Cheadle reprises his role as James Rhodes and is also better, though you don’t see
him in the War Machine armor very often.
This is a Tony Stark movie more than it is an Iron Man movie, if that makes sense. You don’t see
the suit in action for about 75-80% of the movie, not unlike how much you saw Batman in The
Dark Knight Rises. When the suit is in action, the scenes are spectacular, some of the best you’ll
see in any action movie all year.
There’s a big twist, which I won’t reveal in this review. It may make you upset if you’ve
expected the movie to follow the comic book to a tee, but if you’re not as invested in the source
material, it may not have any bearing on you. The twist is well executed and sets up the final
battle in the movie quite nicely. There are also some elements of finality associated with this film
as it relates to Iron Man, but a simple message seen after the credits assures us:
“Tony Stark will return.”
Let’s hope it happens sooner rather than later.