Movie Review: Iron Man 3 (2013)

Shane Black may not have a lot of movies under his directing belt, but he does have a lot of credentials with writing action movies, and with more directors seeming to contribute their own writing skills to the movies they direct it makes since as to why this seems to be the most action packed of the three Iron Man movies. I also like the other dimension brought to Tony Stark's character. Unlike many movies I feel this one finally got better with the third addition.

Summary: Tony Stark is living on top. He's building more suits, living in a huge mansion, and he's finally been able to step up and commit to Pepper. A terrorist known as the Mandarin is threatening to ruin what he has built though, and after he has torn down much of his world, Tony has to begin to rebuild, and seek retribution for what has happened to him. This will of course come with some much needed help from Colonel Rhodes and a kid he meets along the way to revive his role as Iron Man, and also rescue Pepper.


Acting: Robert Downey Jr. seems to have gotten in step to his character, Tony Stark. He is the face of Iron Man, and at this point he probably is even the base of the personality for most viewers of the movie. With the new additions of anxiety attacks, and his growing closeness to Pepper, we do see some shifts in his persona, though there are some good parts thrown in to remind us that he is still very egotistical.  Gywneth Paltrow really hasn't had a huge role in the previous Iron Man movies besides just Tony Starks assistant, who we know will grow closer to him. Finally though they've made some progression in their relationship and they are bedding together. Pepper though gets a lot more dimensions in this movie, maybe even more so than other women in superhero movies, and adds a nice dynamic. Don Cheadle's Colonel Rhodes adds a nice hero companion to Iron Man's side, but his parts are very small, and while Cheadle is a good actor there is not much to really look over here. Guy Pearce is the nemesis, and he is sort of a stereotypical bad guy that seems to be popular. Crazy, nice appearance, but power has went to his head. What's more cool is what he turns into.

Cinematography: The way the movie is shot is very action packed and it captures it well. Also, the CGI is well done, and even when you know a scene isn't real there is still something that brings it enough to life that it could blend in very well with being a real scene. Each scene runs just about right as well. No scene runs too long, and none too short.

Plot: I believe of the plots I've seen so far this allows for the most growth. There are nice moments wrote into the movie to show the progression of Tony Stark thinking outside of himself, like when he sets the suit up to protect Pepper instead of him, and the anxiety he gets over past disasters. A lot may hate the inclusion of the kid though because in some ways that is always a risky addition to a movie since very few kid actors can actually act, but he does bring out a side of Tony that we might forget is still there had it not been for his part in the movie.

Iron Man 3 proves to be the most action filled, and entertaining of the three. Robert Downey may enjoy playing Iron Man a bit much, and he surely lets that be something that shines through on screen. It'll be interesting to see where Shane Black goes with his directing career after this. After The Avengers this movie may feel a little disappointing, but it's a good way to continue to show case the members as a follow up to continue the characters.

Rating 8 of 10.