Thursday, May 2, 2013

Iron Man 3 Review: A Tin Man's Heart.



I think we can all agree that “The Avengers” was an act nobody wanted to follow. This could have easily ended up as a colossal act of hubris by Disney by riding its best talent too hard until it broke. I can count on one hand the number of threequels that were any good, and only one that was actually great (Toy Story 3). But once again, Disney hired a talented director out of left field and let him do what he does best. The man is Shane Black, and he is responsible for one of my top tree favorite films “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” Everything that made that movie great is firing on all cylinders in Iron Man 3. The unrelenting hilarious banter, overly intricate plot twists, and satirical subversion of tired action beats. All of these qualities keep it far above the realm of mediocrity which, sadly, 2 had dipped its toe into more times than it should have.

The story is much more compelling this time around and it actually manages to deliver the overdone “this time it's personal” monologue in such a quiet and matter of fact kind of way that I hadn’t marked it off as cliche until I sat down to write this thing. When the central villains take the stage, which for the third time features a violent renegade reined in by a corporate interest, The plot shifts into high gear and only slows to a jog once for the 60 minutes left. Which ends up being a perfectly fine direction, but I could have honestly watched Tony breaking down physically and emotionally in his basement for another half an hour. Those have always been my favorite parts of the series, Stark just trying to get a grip on his own head.


But this can't be a mini series and thus certain characters get the short shrift. Rhodes comes off as an after thought for the most part and Pepper, while still getting in on some choice action scenes, still boils down to a damsel in distress. But what you get in return is pleasantly surprising. The twist involving Ben Kingsly's “The Mandarin” is brilliant and Tony's strangely un-accented friend that he makes in rural Tennessee shares the best banter I’ve seen since...well, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.”

What sets 3 apart from the others is its careful attention to the finale, I think we can all agree the first couple left much to be desired. Its a breath taking daisy chain of destruction connecting its two best set pieces that magically turns forty minutes into what seems like ten. Thankfully there's still plenty of that old Black dialogue magic left in the bag so the near unrelenting action never suffocates the film's easy charm.

That's the word I’d use to sum up Iron Man 3, charm. It's charming. Its the closest I’ve seen to a straight up marvel action comedy and I’m glad it was allowed to stick so closely to its talented comedy guns. It feels like the film Black wanted to make rather than the Avengers preview Favreau was forced to make. So yes, this is my favorite Iron Man and one of my favorite comic book movies in general. Its got kinks in its armor, but they just give it character. If this is the way we have to say goodbye to Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark than so be it. It was one hell of a retirement party


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