Iron Man 3 (2013) Review: “Wow! All This Time I Thought He Was A Robot”

Iron Man 3 Review:

Everybody’s got a thing for fallen heroes. It’s why Robert Downey Jr. soared to new heights with his career resurgence as Iron Man five years back. Now, it’s time to tie things up with Tony Stark in Iron Man 3, but at the rate he’s falling, he’s gonna have to climb up something fierce to get his feet back on the ground for his next great leap.

It’s the action blockbuster of the century

You see, after having his mind rended to ribbon after the interdimensional cataclysm of The Avengers, Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) been a little high strung. He holes himself up in his workshop churning out battlesuit after battlesuit and dreading whatever might come next. His now steady girlfriend, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), is running low on patience with his personal projects and in the meantime does her best to run the Stark Company without running it into the ground.

Meanwhile, The Mandarin’s (Ben Kingsley) been hijacking television signals nationwide and is establishing a new domestic threat via random bombings that head of security Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) has accidently walked right into. As Tony deals with setback after setback, his old friend James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) backs him up with his own rebuffed suit of armor – the reassuringly-named Iron Patriot. Together, the two team up against yet another threat in the form of supercharged super soldiers given a strong dose of nigh-invulnerability and experimental instability. Guy Pearce is also in the movie.

Ho yeah!

There’s a lot going on in this film. That’s how final sequels typically go.

But good or bad?

Well, damned good, it could be said – but this final stamp on the Iron Man franchise isn’t without its flaws; Little tiny splitends that might distract from the overall smattering of action and entertainment, but nothing worth crying about.

See, this movie has a lot to get done before the curtains close. Tony Stark has to make his greatest leap yet, Pepper Potts has to take that next step in the direction the films have been taking her, and in the meantime there are subplots a plenty to wrap up.

Culminating his latest work with the Mark 42, Tony Stark proves that he’s been keeping busy in the worst way. The looming anxiety that’s been creeping up since his last outing’s finally hit a crescendo in the form of a panic attack.

Just one of those days.

Now, the old cocksure smirking jack-ass we all know and love takes leave for a good majority of the film.

Taking his place is a new breed of Tony Stark. One who knows all too well that he’s got no idea what’s really out there, but is on some kind of improvised fast track to safeguard himself from it. The ironic truth is that not only is his old swell of confidence gone, but without spoiling anything, you could say that he’s mechanically debilitated from the get-go. It happens in an unsavoury bout of plot stupidity, yeah, but it throws him in with the sharks in ways that we’ve never seen before.

Interesting, right? Exactly what can Tony Stark manage without the all-purpose efficiency of his red and gold safety blanket?

Continue reading the Iron Man 3 review after the jump…