Film Review: Iron Man 3 – All That is Missing is a Cowl.

I saw Iron Man 3 at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas at The Palms in Lekki. To say I had to force myself to buy the ticket would not be far from the truth because as a general rule I do not see 3D films at the cinema. Why? Because I have never experienced the “oh-so-great” cinematic 3D experience in all the other 3D films I have watched. I pencil this lack of the 3D effect to my prescription glasses over which I don the 3D glasses, resulting in no real difference with or without the 3D glasses. However, for the sake of my date and the desire to see Iron Man 3 I put aside all fears of “wasted” money and went to see the film.

Iron Man 3 in so many ways was waaaaaaaaaaay better than Iron Man 2 which to me was a huge disappointment! Gone was the watery plot as well as the weak villains! Enter a believable post-The Avengers story which dwelt more on Tony Stark the man, than Iron Man the super hero/Avenger, and two hugely believable villains in the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) and Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). With Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) in mortal danger, Tony Stark had to step out from behind the iron suit to rescue her leaving Col. James Rhodes/Iron Patriot (Don Cheadle) to save POTUS and the nation (read as world).

I am sure the fan boys were very happy with Iron Man 3. War Machine, now Iron Patriot had loads of screen time and we saw almost every Iron Man suit in the books. We also saw the Mandarin, Iron Man’s primary nemesis in the 1990's cartoon TV series wreak havoc on the world. Even though I could see that happening a mile off, the final scenes where Tony pretty much hops from suit to suit were quite good. Fellow film aficionado Kal, remarked that it was also a tad ridiculous; perhaps this was why those of us watching were not as wowed as we should have been – there was no applause as is associated with the Lagos cinema crowd!

The story line like I pointed out earlier was believable and also very familiar. Maybe this was because in this installment Tony Stark had a few similarities with another comic genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist – Bruce Wayne. The scriptwriters, Drew Pearce and Shane Black (who is also the director) must have taken it upon themselves to try and show us that Mr. Stark is almost as bad-ass as Mr. Wayne. Iron Man 3 tries to show us the “great detective” side of Tony Stark where he pieces the puzzle of AIM, Mandarin and Aldrich Killian together in much the same way the original great detective Bruce Wayne would! In addition, Mr. Stark’s snobbery of Mr. Killian in the opening scenes is very reminiscent of Mr. Wayne’s snobbery of Mr. E. Nygma in 1995’s Batman Forever. Likewise, both Mr. Killian and Mr. Nygma, later blessed with superhuman powers, return to exact vengeance on Mr. Stark and Mr. Wayne respectively! And oh yes, their love interests – Ms. Potts and Dr. Meridian – are also both held captive. Also noticeable was the fact that in these two films the sidekick goes on to rescue the president/city while our superheroes rescue the damsels in distress. However, the similarity that takes the cake is where we find that the Mandarin is not the “actual or main” villain, just like Bane was not the “actual or main” villain in 2012's The Dark Knight Rises!!!

Ok, undoubtedly no idea is original, but let us tag Mr. Pearce and Mr. Shane as Batman fan boys.

As always, Guy Pearce’s acting was sublime. He was quite the scary villain with a point to prove (I think). Ben Kinglsey was a hoot and it no longer mattered that he is not Asian. It was good to see Ms. Paltrow on the big screen again. Robert Downey, Jr. was his effective Tony Stark, but with the swag toned down, as it should be since his character is experiencing some form of PTSD. It was great seeing Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau again on the other side of the lens reprising his role as Happy Hogan, Tony Stark’s PA/bodyguard and head of security.

I found the Christmas setting a bit anachronistic, a more release-date backdrop would have been preferred.

Iron Man 3 is OK fun but the humour and wit is lacking and we get the sense that this was a rush job. The scriptwriters wanted us to see a more human Tony Stark with a few laughs thrown in. His destruction of the remaining suits signalling his retirement from tinkering is also not convincing for we know Iron Man will return. Indeed, Tony Stark gets no realer than the first Iron Man film. Thus, I still regard Iron Man as the best by far of the three. With respect to the Marvel Universe films it also nosedives out of the sky just like Iron Man did in The Avengers for Iron Man 3 does not and cannot keep up with the blast that The Avengers is.

PS: Iron Man 3 has passed the one billion dollar mark at the global Box Office, earning $1,073,861,977 as at May 21, 2013.

PSS: Jon Favreau was an Assistant Director for Batman Forever! Ah! Enlightenment!

Full disclosure: I am an unapologetic Batman fan! And oh yeah, for the first time, I “felt” the 3D effect. J

Image credits: Marvel Studios, Marvel screencap