Movie Review: "Iron Man 3"

When the product of a successful icon such as Iron Man gears up to claim revenge on his newly acquired nemesis The Mandarin, moviegoers flock theaters with highly set expectations to relish in the badassary that is Tony Stark. Tony (Robert Downey Jr, The Avengers, Sherlock Holmes) is back again to save the world and particularly The United States from evil and destruction. That’s about as thick as the story really gets, however that’s all the audience really hopes for in a movie from the seemingly desperate for approval Marvel Comics empire in this “let’s make a quick dollar” sequel to the very solid original Iron Man. With stellar co-stars Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow, Shallow Hal) and Colonel Rhodes (Don Cheadle, Crash) a trio of fine artists helps maintain the film’s longstanding reputation with high regards and bring the movie to an affective yet endearing closure.

(c) 2013 | Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures

An entirely too slow start to the movie finally takes wind 45 minutes in, leaving potentially disappointed viewers out in the freezing cold during what is supposed to be the most crucial part of any film in order to earn attention. With impressive cinematography intact, the film reels in the audience with its shiny new ‘marks’ [models] of Iron Man via a little too much overutilization of special effects which compromises the clarity of its ambitious intentions to the point of a “look Mom, watch what I can do”-esque fault. The stunning high-definition sound takes what could have been a bunch of loud explosions and crashing noises to new extremes, allowing me to appreciate the hard editing work that glued everything together with a thematic balance. Featuring the same witty screenwriting that Iron Man fans have grown to love, the movie keeps an action packed vision while dishing a humorous tone all throughout. Lastly but certainly not least, there’s the ending (which I’m not at total liberty to divulge) that will leave viewers blindsided with the only question of “Why?”

I give this Iron Man sequel 4 out of 5 stars. In total, the movie deserves to be enjoyed by anyone willing to stick it out through a slow first act because it does engage an audience through its thrilling second and third acts. Go see it and enjoy. Buy it if you wish support the cast and crew for all their hard work and devotion.