Iron Man 3
Starring: Robert Downy Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Ben Kinglsey, Guy Pearce
Directed By: Shane Black
Reviewed by Brendan Dousi

[rating: 4/5]

You’d be forgiven for being wary of taking my advice when it comes to films like Iron Man 3. As a (not-so) unique breed of superhero-obsessed geek, my views on anything coming from the Marvel/Disney cohort are bound to be extremely biased. I’d like to clear the air, however, and state that I did not like Iron Man 2. I thought it was a mess of a film and underwhelming. Now, with that out of the way I’d just like to say that Iron Man 3 was freaking awesome.

After the events that happened during The Avengers (2012), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is having trouble sleeping and is busying himself with constantly upgrading his Iron Man armour, much to the dismay of his partner and CEO of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) who herself has to deal with the romantic and business advances of genius scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). Meanwhile, a terrorist calling himself The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) has started to commit untraceable acts of terrorism on American soil which is keeping government agent, and Tony’s best friend, James Rhodes aka War Machine(Don Cheadle) very busy. When these attacks effect someone close to Tony, he challenges The Mandarin on live television which almost immediately results in his over the top Miami mansion being blown to smithereens and the real explosive brunt of the film truly begins.

This third installment in the Iron Man saga is being helmed by director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) rather than the traditional choice of Jon Favreau; who at least returns to reprise his role as Stark’s security officer, Happy Hogan. Coupled with a slick screenplay by Drew Pearce and Black himself, this film skyrockets to near the top of Marvel’s cinematic ladder falling just short of The Avengers. As if looking at Iron Man 2 and saying, “Ok, let’s not do that again…” the film balances perfectly between action and developing Tony Stark as an emotional, real human being who is dealing with his own limitations.

While there are still many great action scenes, they are used much more conservatively than is expected leaving the bulk of the film full of witty, fun and heart-warming human interactions. Most notable is when Stark teams up with an adorable young boy named Harley (Ty Simpkins) when experiencing slight suit malfunctions. While most films try and shoe-horn in these often tedious kid interactions, this one feels extremely organic, most probably due to the immature nature of Tony Stark. These scenes, along with those between Pepper Potts and Stark, shine as some of the best of the film.

Needless to say, Downey Jr. owns the role of Tony Stark and Iron Man. With a top-notch supporting cast of Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce teamed with him, it truly makes this film a joy to sit back and experience. Besides a few stretches of logic that  could have been fixed with a throw-away sentence or two, this is an almost air-tight Hollywood joy ride that simply gets you pumped up for Phase Two of the Marvel cinematic universe. 2015’s Avengers 2 seems almost too far away for more Tony Stark goodness. Here’s hoping for a few cameos in Marvel’s future line-up.

Oh, and it’s a Marvel movie. Stay until after the credits.