Film Review: IRON MAN 3

IRON MAN 3-Beau Behan (BeauBehan.com)

Starring Robert Downey, Jr. , Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley

Directed by Shane Black

PG- 13, 130 Minutes, Action, Adventure

Shane Black, who directed Iron Man 3, certainly knows the power of that one-line punch, delivered by Tony StarK (Robert Downey Jr.):  “The mask and I are one and the same.”  Really?

The film begins with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) explaining how his arrogance gave birth to one of the maladjusted villains in the world. In 1999, during a conference, he alienated a long-haired, genius nerd by the name of Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who has not forgotten Stark’s selfish behavior. Twelve years later (present day),  there is a menacing terror that is sweeping across the world. The American soil is not spared. A bomb explosion in a stateside shopping mall happens, and it is now known to be the work of the ‘The Mandarin’ (Ben Kingsley) or his terroristic network. Tony Stark, fuming with anger and with that same conceited behavior (in 1999) recklessly volunteers his home address, and challenges The Mandarin to come forward for a “duel”.

Stark’s prologue, “I’ll leave the door unlocked”, sets the tone for the next scene, when it shows the vulnerability of his residence. It gets attacked by hostile helicopters, firing missiles in every conceivable way to submerge his cliffside mansion. At this point, his iron-man suit manages to protect his paramour, Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow), and he, himself, finally manages to escape this atrocity and gets re-united with his buddy, Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle).

What ensues in this aftermath is simply the well-planned execution of a well-planned screenplay both by Shane Black and Drew Pearce—the ‘Iron Man’ being unmasked .

As the story line unfolds, the brilliance of the screenplay raises the par on excellence. We have known Tony Stark as an eccentric billionaire who only thinks of and for himself. It may even be argued that he has exhibited that narcissistic personality disorder. However, with Iron Man 3, Stark’s disposition changes; his altruistic concerns are real; he is experiencing more of the anxiety attacks. Stark, the ‘Man’, is now personified as a human being like the rest of us and separate from the iron-clad man. The unmasking then builds up to the characterization of a better-rounded ‘real’ person. With references to Downton Abbey, Croydon and repertory theater, the Man displays a great sense of humor. The romantics amongst us are not left behind even, especially, when Stark gets misty-eyed telling Pepper, “Things are different now, I have to protect the one thing that I can't live without. That’s you.”

Iron Man 3 is full of high-octane entertainment. It has the resounding decibels of a superhero being unmasked to that fine core of mellifluous and likable persona.