Friday, May 3, 2013

Iron Man 3 (2013): Review

With my sister back in town, we went to see Iron Man 3 with our brother instead of me going out with my regular Friday night movie crew.  Sorry guys, but the family took precedence this week.  Anyway tonight the Big Budget Spring Movie Fest begins with the release of Iron Man 3 and I am very happy to say it was a great start.  Iron Man was exactly what I was expecting, it was a fun and exciting experience.
With Iron Man 3 we continue to follow Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr, as he deals with being back on his own and within his own superhero universe after the events of The Avengers (2012).  He is plagued with flashback and appears to be suffering with PTSD.  He deals with this by throwing himself into his tinkering and creation of Iron Man suits.  He is drawn into a battle with a terrorist called the Mandarin, played by Ben Kinsley, and a series of events that started after a drunken New Year's Even in 1999.  Tony is stripped of his suit as he battles to discover the secrete of the attacks and discovers that people have been turned into bombs that incinerate everything around them. The people go all glowing at these moments and it is discovered really early on in the movie, so it is not a big spoiler.  Through this process, he is given aid by a young boy Harley, played by Ty Shimpkins, and the dynamic between the two of them,  curmudgeony Stark and youthful approach of Harley is fantastic.  Also involved in the plot are Iron Patriot (aka War Machine), played by Don Cheadle, Pepper Pots, played by Gweneth Paltrow, and Aldrich Killian, played by Guy Pierce.
Overall, I think that this was a good action film and had enough plot to keep it moving along.  The peril was a bit forced and some of the twists about obvious but it keep the story going.  The action scenes were of a good length and there was enough character interaction in between the action events.  There was lots of stuff blowing up, contrasting colors and cool effects that I enjoyed.  There were a few moments where things looked CG but this was not obvious enough to bring me out of what was happening.  I saw this in 2D so I am uncertain how this played out in 3D but I am assuming that the explosions and things flying out at the audience, specifically the Suits.
I liked the dynamics between the characters and thought that the cast was well selected.  Although no one can stand up to Downey Jr as Tony Stark they were good in their own right.  The only character that didn't seem to fit (and she seemed a bit superfluous) was Rebeca Hall, who plays Maya Hansen.  I think her part could have easily been added without her with just a few lines of dialogue.
One thing that I like about the movie, that didn't really have anything to do with the movie, is that it was called Iron Man 3, there was no pretence to beef up the title with a description. It just stated what it was with the title. I think this went with some decisions throughout the movie telling and that it just gave what was expected.  Fun and excitement.
Throughout the movie, there were the Stark quips and overall they worked and fit.  There were a few that were awkward but this was the minority. Of course there was the cameo by Stan Lee.
The main negatives for me, were the standard negatives that I have been complained about lately.  Firstly, there was the voice over.  I am tired of being told the story instead of watching the storey and do not want to be spoon feed the story.  Second, was the tight shoot action scenes, but I am happy to say that there were also wider shots to show the general explosions of the scenes, so this is not an all encompassing complaint. Thirdly, I did not like how the movie was set at Christmas time and that this time of year was mentioned multiple times, but that it was released in the spring. This is overall not that big of a deal.
This was an action movie that was good, gave me what I wanted, and nicely kicked off the action movies that I will be seeing in the near future.  It acted to gear me up and did not disappoint.  It is a must see for anyone who likes these types of movies.  You know who you are, because you have seen the majority of the Marvel movie library.

There is an extra scene at the end of the movie, but you have to sit through all of the credits to see it.  This takes several minutes.

My Rating: 3

2 comments:

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    1. I am really glad that you liked it. I enjoy posting about the movies I watch.

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