"Iron Man 3" Review

Forget the horse races. If it's the first weekend of May, you know there's gotta be a superhero soaring into movie theaters. 

Who could it be this year? None other than everyone's favorite wisecracking billionaire Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man! Assuming you've been near a television or an internet browser sometime in the past year, you know that Marvel is looking to stay atop their high horse after the unprecedented success of last year's super-friends saga, The Avengers. 

With Iron Man 3, fans have hoped for another hit, despite a new director and an apparent shift in tone, as seen in most of last year's early teasers. 

The most recent trailers have looked rather exciting, with Iron Man trying to save a bunch of people from an exploding plane and a sinister Ben Kingsley as the Armored Avenger's arch-enemy, The Mandarin. Goodness knows I bought into the hype. I love Iron Man, I love The Avengers, and Ben Kingsley is the perfect choice for a villain like The Mandarin.

My friend, Brice, went to see a midnight screening of Iron Man 3 and posted a Facebook status afterwards, saying that those trailers were "extremely misleading". He wouldn't tell me how or why, only that I had to see it and decide for myself. So I did. And I'm here to report that I believe he is correct. 

Too bad that isn't a compliment.

Iron Man 3 features the witty comedy we've come to expect from the franchise, as well as some of the trilogy's most thrilling action sequences. It's certainly a step above 2010's Iron Man 2, but Stark's third rodeo is not the post-Avengers high-note we all hoped it would be and isn't the same story that we've come to expect from the trailers.

The biggest letdown was Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin. I was so pissed because, in the trailers, he looked like the first formidable villain to come along in the Iron Man cinematic canon. And it's about time we've had this hero's arch-villain from the comics! I don't want to spoil anything because this is one of the movie's biggest plot twists; so I'll just say that anyone who's even remotely familiar with The Mandarin from the "Iron Man" comics or the original cartoon series will see just how gross an injustice director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and co-writer Drew Pearce did to the character.

Next on the laundry list of complaints focuses on one of the film's biggest plot holes:

Who the hell was the kid?

I guess every hero comes across a "Short Round" at some point in their travels. But even Indiana Jones took the time to explain where his boy came from. In Iron Man 3, Tony finds himself stranded in Rose Hill, Tennessee and joins forces with a youngster named Harley (Ty Simpkins) to uncover the mystery of a Mandarin-linked attack that occurred in the town. I never understood who the boy was, where he came from, or how he fit into Tony's life. When Harley opens his garage to find a famous billionaire tinkering with an Iron Man suit, the chemistry between he and Stark almost instantly sends the vibe that they've known each other for awhile. It feels like an uncle-nephew dynamic, but their exact relation to one another is never explicitly stated. It could just be that the two are "connected", as Harley proposes, but somehow I don't buy into that. 

In addition to seeing more of Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow in the lead roles, Iron Man 3 introduces many fresh faces to the franchise, including those of Guy Pearce (Memento), Rebecca Hall (The Prestige), and James Badge Dale (The Grey). While Pearce and Dale ultimately fare quite well, I didn't really understand Rebecca Hall's character. She plays Maya Hansen, one of the lead scientists on the "Extremis" regeneration project that Aldrich Killian (Pearce) is spearheading. The only purpose Hansen really serves, other than as a "Y2K" fling on New Years Eve, is to warn Tony about the potential threat that the Extremis causes. In the end, she blends into relative obscurity within the narrative, and I could've cared less about her as a character. I actually forgot she was even a part of the movie until I saw her name creep up during the credits.

There are also a handful of hammy stunts, even for a comic book movie. My favorite was when Rhodey (Don Cheadle) swings through a 40-foot oil inferno, without his Iron Patriot armor on, and comes out unscathed. Don't try that one at home, kids.

Having said all that, Iron Man 3 still has moments of side-splitting humor and still thrives on Downey's trademark charisma. He's once again in top comedic form, even as his character's mental state appears to shift. Downey succeeds at making Stark's post-Avengers anxiety believable while still maintaining the pompous personality that audiences have come to know and love.

Gwyneth Paltrow nearly steals the show as Pepper Potts, Tony's former assistant and current love interest. She's beautiful as ever, and still serves as the perfect counterbalance to Downey's enthusiastic playboy.

I actually really enjoyed the scenes featuring series newcomers Guy Pearce and James Badge Dale. Pearce is at his conniving best, and Dale is convincing as the hard-to-kill henchman. The men are dastardly players in The Mandarin's scheme, and between the two of them, they really give Iron Man a run for his money, which is something his solo adventures have sorely lacked.

Along with the talented cast, Iron Man 3 features some of the most intense set pieces in the series. There's the hectic destruction of Stark's bayside home, a mid-air game of "Barrel of Monkeys", Stark's ballsy, sans-suit infiltration of The Mandarin's compound, and the climactic showdown at a shipyard conveniently riddled with highly-combustible oil drums. Gotta use up that budget somehow.

Each scene had me on the edge of my seat; most especially, the climax at the oil yard. Seeing Tony's entire arsenal of suits come out to play is really a treat and is worth the price of admission alone. However, I'd probably think twice about bringing children under the age of 10. This is probably the most violent Iron Man to date, and the overall tone is slightly darker than the earlier movies. This is like The Dark Knight Rises of the Iron Man saga, so if you were hesitant about bringing little ones to see Batman and Bane last summer, I'd take the same precautions here.

Overall, Iron Man 3 trumps its 2010 predecessor thanks to fine acting performances and more rousing action sequences. But Shane Black really drops the ball with the characterizations of Tony's Tennessee sidekick Harley, the Extremis scientist Maya Hansen, and Iron Man's arch-enemy The Mandarin. 

Fans of Iron Man and The Avengers will flock to see this movie. If you consider yourself among them, lower your expectations because this doesn't quite meet the lofty standards set by last year's blockbuster or even those of Tony Stark's first adventure in 2008.

Iron Man 3 isn't a "bad" movie. It just isn't as good as it could and should have been, and isn't quite the narrative that the trailers have led us to believe. Hopefully, Marvel Studios will be back on track with Thor: The Dark World this November.

6.5/10