I had the opportunity of going to Iron Man 3’s World Premiere Week-end, which was a week before the US premiere (yeah, this review is late). So I took it. And I don’t regret it at all.
First of all, Iron Man 3 was THE BEST Iron Man of the series. No kidding. Plain and simple, the best. Yet. Until Now. So far. Of all time. Yes, it is.
If you remember the fail that was Iron Man 2, start forgetting. Because the new one is a good solid movie that will keep you stuck to the theatre’s chairs for the whole duration.
Action? Bruce Willis is jealous right now! 10/10. The good thing is even though there were tons of special effects, that didn’t intrude whatsoever in the action part of the movie, meaning it wasn’t just brainless explosions and lens flares (although there were some of both). It felt like real action, scripted, credible, in the sense of the Marvel Universe
Humor? It had it. 9999/10 The best of the series at this chapter, as far as I can tell. My opinions are, of course, subjective. You might find it different.
Script? Good writing. I don’t know if they changed the writers (I guess you can see that on IMDB) but this was definitely an improvement. All the characters were better built, and the contrast and perfect mix between action, drama and humor was definitely compelling. Top score: 10/10, although there is one plot twist that may anger hardcore Marvel fans (Iron Man fans, that is), but I simply loved it!
Characters? It already had them, there wasn’t need for questioning this, since the cast is great and they do their job very well. Both Robert Downey Jr. (I want to be this guy when I grow up, if I ever manage to do that – for crying out loud, I think he didn’t manage it either 😀 ) and Don Cheadle are great actors, and Ben Kingsley is magnificent, both terrifying and hilarious as the Mephistophelian (and later on Eddiemurphyian) Mandarin. Yes, I just created an adjective inspired by Eddie Murphy’s name. And yes, Ben Kingsley is funny. As Eddie Murphy used to be. You should see him in Iron Man 3.
Also, the president of the US was white in the movie (I don’t quite remember if he appeared at all in the previous installments). I wonder what Barack Obama would have to say about that. 🙂
And another cool thing was The Patriot, which was Colonel Rhodes (Don Cheadle) in his Iron Man suit, which was painted in the american flag’s colors. It looked like an Iron Captain America (without the shield). It was sort of like a reference to Captain America (and probably was meant to promote the next CA movie).
If you stay until the end of the credits (which are awfully long, the caretakers were waiting with brooms and mops in hands for us to leave the cinema) you get a bonus scene, which is a funny dialogue between Tony Stark and an Avengers character. I won’t tell you which one, in order to raise anticipation. 🙂 But be aware that the caretakers will really look at you in a creepy way. This is your moment of proving you are really an Avengers/Iron Man/Marvel fan! 😀 Good luck!
On a final note, I read some feedback about the Chinese version of the movie. Apparently there’s extra stuff which aimed to appease the Chinese public, but failed miserably, because it also featured promotional crap. Also, The Mandarin was a guy named Man Daren (seriously, WTF?), in order to not offend the Chinese people. I can’t go into many details because it would spoil some things for you, but I kinda feel sorry for the Chinese public, because this reduces considerably the great Iron Man 3 experience the rest of us felt. If you are from China and by any chance are reading this article, you should try and watch the international version, if you find a way, although I know the hype is huge and probably many people will go to see it in cinemas. Or you could wait for the international BluRay and order it from Amazon or another online shop. There should also be retailers in China itself that will distribute the International Version, I suppose.
Anyway, everybody feel free to share your opinions in the comments section below (I will ALLOW SPOILERS in the comments, so BEWARE! If you did not see the movie, but want to see it at some point, better avoid the comments section for now – I have yet to implement a spoiler tag or something).
The rights for the movie posters in this article are obviously owned by Marvel, but I don’t think they’ll be angry with me for using them, since those are promotional anyway, and obviously my opinion of the movie benefits them. 😀 Not that I’ve been paid, although I wouldn’t mind the gesture. Marvel? Are you there? :))
See you soon!
Indru the Writer
I can only say that for me was funny as hell and a lot better than expected.
Downey Jr. was the same Downey as in all previous installments, no other actor will be able to replace him if ever. Maybe it was a bit more sparkling, a more effervescent than before, enjoying a lot the whole shit. The scenes with the kid and “Man Daren” were fabulous.
Guy Pearce was OKish, it could have been better IMHO as the bad guy.
Jon Favreau is … Happy Hogan, even if the 3rd installment is not directed by him anymore and he served only as an executive producer. It was “weirdly funny Happy Hogan” and it’s clear that the man has some loose screws.
Pepper Potts rocks and I mean it. Raising from flames and kicking Aldrich’s ass dressed like that (not even a side boob visible) is something even for Marvel.
Kingsley, Ben Kingsley. I believe it’s the first time I see him in this kind of role even if he played before in a few dark comedies. IT WAS JUST FABULOUS!
10/10 confirming that’s a long time since I enjoyed a >2h movie to the fullest. Actually, I was asking myself why the hell they didn’t make it longer, having the feeling that it was only 90 minutes long 🙂
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2013/05/12/if-robert-downey-jr-is-tony-stark-where-does-that-leave-iron-man/
The poll results are surprising, if you ask me. Tony Stark is Robert Downey, it is kinda hard for another actor to replace him because he will either try to look and feel like Robert Downey, which will make him seem fake, or he’d do the exact opposite, which will defy the very nature of the character that is Iron Man / Tony Stark in this movie franchise. My verdict: Iron Man can be played by someone else, but not in this franchise. A re-boot or something, like they did with SpiderMan, would be the logical choice in case Robert Downey gives up, but it will never be the same again.
I also saw the movie before the US premiere(suck on that, America!) and enjoyed every last bit of it at the cinema. Except the post-credits scene, because i was kind of forced by the caretakers to leave the premises before the scene played out. But the caretakers can suck it because i saw the scene in the comfort of my own home, via dailymotion.
This movie did three great things:
– kept Tony Stark out of the armor for a fair amount of time, thus giving Robert Downey Jr the opportunity to shine in a lot of hilarious scenes and also in some dramatic scenes(eg: the panic attacks )
– made good use of all the Iron Man armors via the remote control tech invented by Tony. I really liked the presence of the Hulkbuster armor and of another cool looking one that I think is named Asgardian Destroyer.
– made Pepper Potts a bad-ass character.
I also liked the irony in re-branding War Machine as The Iron Patriot. This is the american way, taking something and making it a national treasure and a symbol. But what do you when the great american symbol tries to kill the US president?
@Indru: the movie was co-written and directed by Shane Black, the man responsible for Lethal Weapon. The guy hasn’t made a movie in ages, but this one was pretty damn great!