To say that ‘The Avengers’ was a success is one heck of an understatement. Grossing over 1.5 billion dollars worldwide and receiving rave reviews from critics, it was the final piece of the puzzle for Phase One of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, effectively capping off Marvel Studios’ successful run that they have been having since 2008’s ‘Iron Man’ first set up the massive universe they had created. So now, with ‘Avengers’ out of the way, the big question now for Marvel is… what’s next? That’s where Phase Two comes in; starting off with ‘Iron Man 3’, the third entry in what is arguably the star franchise of Marvel Studios (seeing how the two Iron Man films are the highest grossing films in the Cinematic Universe, not counting the Avengers). This time around, Jon Favreau isn’t behind the camera and in his place is Shane Black, the writer of the first two Lethal Weapon films and director of the cult hit ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’, a film that also happened to star Tony Stark himself, Robert Downey Jr. Can Black deliver with Marvel’s first ‘Post-Avengers’ flick?
After the events of ‘The Avengers’, Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has been dealing with anxiety attacks, nightmares, and sleep deprivation because of his experience during the Chitauri invasion of New York. But while Tony is working to get his personal life back on track, America is caught up in multiple terrorist attacks that have been committed by the terrorist leader known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). After the ordeal becomes personal for him, Tony sends out a threat to the Mandarin, who responds by directly attacking him. Now on his own without the help of his suits or his technology, Tony must now rely on his ingenuity to rise from the ashes and take on the Mandarin and his army of soldiers who are enhanced with a formula known as Extremis.
‘Iron Man 3’ is similar to ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ in how it’s a character-based story. We see how Tony’s experiences in ‘The Avengers’ have changed him as a person. He’s not really the playboy billionaire that he was in the last two films. He’s realized that he is just a small part of a bigger universe. Black, co-writer Drew Pearce, and Downey Jr. convey this very well in the film, which is darker in tone than the previous films. More importantly, this film proves that the solo superhero films can still work, even after a film like ‘The Avengers’. ‘Iron Man 3’ is a Tony Stark movie; it puts him on his own where he has to use his own skills in order to survive. To quote producer Kevin Feige, ‘He can’t call Thor, Cap or Nick Fury, and he can’t look for the Helicarrier in the sky’. It would be awesome to see those guys in this movie, but if this film proves anything, it is that we can wait for ‘The Avengers 2’ in 2015.
Let’s talk about the villain, the Mandarin. More importantly, let’s discuss the big twist in the middle of the film that revolves around him. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for those of you who haven’t seen the film yet but I feel that I need to address this twist because of the controversy surrounding it. The bottom line is that if you’re a fan of the character in the comics, you’re not going to like this twist because it involves a drastic change to the character. Even as someone who is not a comic book reader, I wasn’t big on the twist at first but when you think about it, it actually works pretty well from a story perspective. However, this is undeniably a huge change that won’t please everybody and if you don’t like it, that’s understandable.
Robert Downey Jr. is once again excellent as Tony Stark, dialing back on the arrogance that was a bit too much in ‘Iron Man 2’ and coming off more charismatic like he was in the first ‘Iron Man’ and ‘The Avengers’. Gwyneth Paltrow is also great again as Pepper Potts; the chemistry between her and Downey still works great and this film also gives her more to do than in previous films. As for Don Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes, the camaraderie between him and Downey is far more improved than it was in ‘Iron Man 2’ and as a result, he’s much better here than in the previous film. In regards to Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin, I can’t really talk about him that much considering the major character twist but I will say that Kingsley handles the character changes very well. Finally, we have solid performances from other members of the cast, including Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall as scientists Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen (though the latter could have been given more to do).
It’s hard to top ‘The Avengers’, but ‘Iron Man 3’ is a key example of how solo superhero films can still work compared to the multi-hero films. It’s a film that puts its focus on the one thing that it should be about; Iron Man, more importantly Tony Stark. It shows how the events of ‘The Avengers’ have changed him as a person and proves that he can still save the day even without the help of Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, and/or S.H.I.E.L.D. Granted, the way that the main villain is translated to the big screen will not go well with everybody, but it worked in terms of story. I can’t really say this gives us a clear idea of what Marvel has in store for us for Phase Two, but I certainly can’t wait to see what comes next.
Rating: 4.5/5
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