'Iron Man 3' review by Captain Raptor

'Iron Man 3' review by Captain Raptor

Much like the offscreen life of its roguish star, the Iron Man franchise has seen falls from grace and great redemption. The trilogy's opener was a pleasingly explosion-and-one-liner filled triumph, but an unremarkable and forgettable sequel leaves a paler impression, before an almighty return in the Messiah of superhero movies, Avengers Assemble. An established franchise then, but Iron Man 3 still has a lot to prove: to escape the drudgery of Iron Man 2 and to step out of the shadow of Marvel's pièce de résistance. 

The influence of Earth's Mightiest Heroes doesn't quite escape the film. Lovably brash Tony Stark undergoes something of a crisis in confidence after the explosive events of Avengers Assemble whilst facing up to the looming threat of international terrorist The Mandarin. This does lead to the incongruity of 'If Tony's emotionally distressed and we have a whole unit of other superheroes, why does he have to deal with this?', which is never fully addressed, but the film does manage to create a believable sense of isolation for Mr Stark, who begins the second act stranded in the middle of nowhere with no armour and no plan. This section of the film, which features very little else apart from Tony being irritated, shines the brightest, as Robert Downey Jr continues to absolutely nail his role, bringing a needed sense of likability to a character who by rights should be downright irritating. Very few actors could seem as charming as he does while telling a small boy "not to be a pussy". Downey Jr has always been the crowning jewel of the franchise, and he feels more comfortable than ever in the role this time round. Other performances are variable: Don Cheadle and Jon Favreau still provide solid support, and Ben Kingsley's Mandarin starts off shaky but becomes a much more entertaining character as the film progresses. New to the franchise is Guy Pearce, giving a performance that's passable at best as slimy scientist Aldrich Killian, although the dullness of the character could possibly be the fault of the script rather than Pearce. Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Pots is left with very little to do this time around, and the wit she displayed in the previous films seems to have deteriorated.  

The action is competently done, and while there's nothing new or inventive about it, it's perfectly entertaining. Iron Man's strength has always been its comedy as opposed to its action, which the third installment provides in spades. Director Shane Black is confident enough to insert pauses in the action sequences with which to gain laughs, such as a henchman who gives up in the middle of a gunfight because "Everybody here is really weird". The plot never really comes to much beyond 'there is a bad man. Stop the bad man', but a character revelation midway through the film shows that Iron Man 3 is still unafraid to play with the formula. The combination of Stark's magnetic personality and the film's emphasis on dialogue steers the film away from cliche, or at least highly noticeable cliche, and even the finale in which our beloved hero must save both his girlfriend and the President feels relatively fresh when it's accompanied with all the humour and style that this film provides. 

Nothing about Iron Man 3 is game-changing or revolutionary, but it isn't formulaic either. Ultimately, plot takes a back seat to allow Robert Downey Jr to continue giving an outstanding leading performance, and the film's blend of smart humour and dumb action makes it a worthy follow-up to the events of Avengers Assemble. There's a tendency for the third film to let otherwise enjoyable action franchises stagnate (Pirates of the Caribbean, Men in Black), but Iron Man 3 evolves slightly, giving more depth (albeit not much) to the characters and becomes one of the few 'threequels' to be the best in their own saga.