NOTE: SPOILER ALERT
Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as the arrogant yet hilarious Tony Stark aka “Iron Man” in the first sequel to “The Avengers” (the seventh installment in the franchise) – but there are things about it that could count as deal breakers. It is a film worth seeing, being an ideal popcorn picture with huge, record breaking box office potential. The performances from the all star cast are great, the story is where red flags may arise depending on the viewer.
Directed/co-written by Shane Black (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”), “Iron Man 3” finds Tony shell shocked from the events of “The Avengers,” complete with panic attacks on reminiscing of the alien presence that is now very real. When separate from the other members of the team (for some reason), Tony has become almost a complete recluse – working constantly on new models of his iron suit. Once Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) makes this fact apparent, Tony remembers that she is the only one he cares about and wants to protect from the new terrorist leader/dangerous villain The Mandarin.
Except in actuality The Mandarin is just an intoxicated British actor (played brilliantly by Ben Kingsley, granted) which is an extreme let down. Its a twist where the real villain is Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), whose motive is being ignored and disrespected by Stark in 1999. The Mandarin (in the Marvel comics) wore ten rings (as shown in the film) that have different powers, being alien technology of some sort (not shown in the film). Instead there is Killian with an evolutionary serum that make super soldiers that are hard to kill, sometimes explode, and allow him to blow fire.
In the first film, the terrorist group is called “The Ten Rings,” which seemingly suggested The Mandarin’s presence when in actuality that is not the case – nor is he the nemesis of Tony Stark. By the end, Pepper ingests some of the super serum, and herself is transformed into a kind of super hero, with Tony taking out the symbolic core to protect his heart. Seemingly out of the game now, “The Avengers 2” in 2015 may now have to spend half an hour or so on Tony being persuaded to come back.
Also, the much anticipated segment after the credits doesn’t contribute to the next film in the series at all (being “Thor: The Dark World”). All in all, however, it is a fun action packed movie that’s 2 hrs and 10 minutes long that has good ole Robert Downey Jr. being awesome which still makes it entertaining. Along with the special effects, etc. its worth seeing – maybe not for the price of IMAX 3D, but it is a fun watch. The hardcore fans may find it lacking for the reasons mentioned, for that it is the weakest Iron Man film yet – not necessarily of the franchise.
“Iron Man 3” is now playing everywhere in 3D, IMAX 3D, and regular 2D.
