Image Courtesy of Walt Disney Canada
RATING: 3 clever Tony Stark quips out of 5
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle
Let me just start by saying how tempted I was to rate this movie 5/5 simply because it begins with the beloved (by me) 90’s classic “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” by Eiffel 65, and I have a depp affinity for the truly terrible music of my youth. This was definitely the best of Marvel’s Avengers universe movies with a stellar cast and a director/writer (Shane Black) who creates a much tighter superhero movie than Joss Whedon, in my opinion.
In Iron Man 3 movie, the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is back in his So-Cal pad, but he’s still a shaken after The Avengers‘ New York City alien invasion. Stark’s case of post-traumatic stress disorder leaves him tinkering away in his workshop at night instead of sleeping and puts a strain on his relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). Lo, there’s no rest for the weary as a new global terrorist known as the Madarin (Ben Kinsley) sets his sights on the United States of America and it’s up to Stark to save the world. Again.
Let’s start with the good. Paul Bettany as Tony Stark’s computer/butler/best friend JARVIS continues to be my favourite thing about this series; he’s the perfect straight man to the always over-the-top Stark. The action sequences were also really enjoyable. My internal monologue during them consisted mostly of frantic OMGs! which are usually reserved for Game of Thrones episodes. They were much shorter than the ones in The Avengers (which is a good thing), and helped to push the plot forward rather then just having things blow up in vain.
The villains were also very cool. I feel like I can’t say anything bad about them should Stan Lee suddenly appear and have me killed. Just take my word that they are refreshingly different from the aliens and Tom Hiddlestons we have seen in Marvel movies past. One last thing that always made my nerdy heart smile was watching Tony Stark become Iron Man. Sure, he puts on the suit about 50 times in the movie, but it never stops being cool (and every time he does it I wish my own wardrobe could do the same thing).
So what knocked two stars off my perfect Blue-related score?
After the infuriating teaser trailer for May’s Iron Man 3, most people were dying for the longer, more substantial trailer that was promised in today’s feature. Sidenote: When did it become okay to release a teaser FOR THE TEASER? That’s just pure evil.
In Marvel’s new two minute trailer, we see our hero Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) pitted against a masked enemy who has a personal vendetta against Stark. ”Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher,” the villain creepily says in the trailer. ”Lesson number one: heroes, there is no such thing.”
Admittedly, the villain’s voice (though higher pitched) and the comparisons to terrorism kind of remind me of The Dark Knight Rises’ Bane. It also seems much darker than the first two films.
With nearly nothing left, Stark is left to answer the question of whether the man makes the suit or the suit makes the man. The Shank Black-directed film looks like it will offer plenty of explosions, though I hope Stark’s existential crisis doesn’t destroy his infamous wit.
