Iron Man 3, in my eyes, is the film that officially kick starts this year's film and prepares us for a summer of entertainment. This is a valiant opening and if this film is to judge for things to come, we are in for a treat.
The potential threat for failure that this film had was if it didn't learn from the mistakes made in the past, of course I am referring to the previous installment in the series, Iron Man 2. I completely despised this film as soon as I had finished watching it and have never actually gone back to view it again. I felt it lacked everything that made the first film not only a great super-hero film, but a great film period. But what amazes me is that this film actually shares similar elements to the second film but what is the difference here is that Shane Black completely nails them.
First off I will start with the plot. It was one of many factors that drove this film so far forward and helped it to explore depths that were touched upon in Iron Man. One of the stronger aspects within the narrative of this film was the rise and fall of both Tony Stark and Iron Man as one which could have easily been a failure if not handled in the correct manner. Luckily, Shane Black knows exactly what he is doing behind the camera and with the succession of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, only strengthens his directing credentials.
I enjoyed the balance of comedy, action and drama within the storyline and never did it feel forced or dragged out. Shane Black has proven that he has an eye for making sure that his film can cross genres without any implications and I got the sense that this was the follow up to Iron Man that I had truly been waiting for.
One of Iron Man 2's main flaws was that the comedic element in that particular film wasn't handled well at all which came as a surprise considering that Jon Favreau returned to direct. As well as this, he found that perfect balance in the first film and that was one of the aspects that I have loved about Iron Man.
Shane Black truly captured the demise of Tony Stark, from start to finish I was utterly gripped and not only was this an entertaining movie, but throughout I had a strong sense of foreboding. Handling character arcs, relationships and dialogue between characters is something that Shane Black truly mesmerizes me with as his style and attention to detail really come into play here. Just like in his previous directorial outing, this was something I took away from in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and thought that he does such a subtle but smooth job of making every scene interesting and meaningful. You truly get that sense that reconnecting with Downey Jr once again was fine choice on both parts and they have a strong connection that certainly shows on screen.
New additions in Stark's technology and advancements in the research etc were done to a tee and again, was something I highly regarded. They served a strong purpose to the direction that the film was taking and wasn't just something that was saying like "Hey! Look at the new gadgets Tony Stark invented!". Of course, Stark's demise sees him go from everything to absolutely nothing in what seems like a heartbeat and the way this is portrayed is executed perfectly. The tone that the film sets is again perfect for the movie that I was looking for and the pacing ties in with this, making for a fast, action packed roller coaster that also has heart and emotion to it.
The action sequences for this film were unbelievable, like nothing I have seen from the Iron Man films. Shane Black again totally nailed this aspect by fixing a minor problem I had with previous films in the sense that the action scenes never really felt on a grand scale. What I mean is that they always seemed to be tight battles between Iron Man and a villain as opposed to expanding this onto a larger scale. This is something that Shane Black must have taken into consideration and he implicates this ever so well. The crafting of these scenes are beautifully shot and the director of photography is also to thank here as everything from the lighting, to the framing, to the cinematography was exquisite.
As well as the action being stepped up a notch, the whole premise seemed to highlight that there was much more at stake this time round. That was indeed another problem I had with Iron Man 2 as I didn't necessarily feel that the bar was raised from the original and that Tony Stark was truly tested more physically and mentally. This was a key element of the narrative this time round and was one of the stronger reasons why I enjoyed the film as much as I did. Finally, I felt that Tony Stark was in real danger and that he was going to be put to the test if he was going to survive this horrible ordeal.
Which brings me to the performances in the film, starting with Ben Kingsley. He completely blew me away yet again. Not that I am surprised by any means as he is an outrageously diverse actor that has featured in many films that I love and admire. He played the part ever so elegantly and his method of acting comes across so natural. It was if the character he was given to play was specifically designed and written for him, which I can't possibly seeing anybody play it better than him after watching the film. As for Guy Pearce, I enjoyed his performance as I always do and I particularly appreciated the drastic change that his character underwent as the plot went on. Robert Downey Jr is incredible which again is no surprise as the role of Tony Stark seems as if it was meant for him. Now this is a debate in its own right but I honestly can't see anybody else playing Tony Stark better than Robert Downey Jr. Now that's not to say that nobody can play it well, but I personally feel that no actor can hit every aspect and have the same effect on me as Robert Downey Jr does. As for the rest of the cast, no honorable mentions but I felt that everybody did a good job and I was overly pleased with the acting displayed in the movie.
Arguably my favourite aspect of this film was actually the twists and turns that the movie took. On paper, the plot seems fairly simple and free flowing but as the film goes deeper and deeper, secrets are uncovered, characters are put in deep situations and the whole stories direction completely shocked me. Going in, I didn't expect to be constantly guessing what would happen and at least half of the time be wrong, Shane Black executed this ever so well and not for one second could I take my eyes off the screen in the danger of missing something vital. Also, respect has to go to the writing as I felt it more than made up for the errors made by Justin Theroux in Iron Man 2. Much more depth were given to these characters and I actually connected with them in the sense that I cared what happened to them which was something I certainly did not in the previous film.
Overall, I was blown away by Iron Man 3 and only had good things to say about it. There isn't an aspect that I can think of that disappointed me in anyway as it came to a solid conclusion and everything touched upon at the beginning of the movie, was wrapped up by the end. If this is indeed Robert Downey Jr's final portrayal of Tony Stark in an Iron Man film, what a formidable end we have been given.
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