IRON MAN 3 – TONY STARKGROWS UP
I have been asked any number of times on sets in NY if I am related to Robert Downey, Jr. My response is always, “I wish. Then I’d be starring in movies in L.A.” Well, Iron Man 3 makes me REALLY wish I was related, since it was all I ask my movies to be – and evidently, the feeling is shared by most of the movie-going public all over the world. The Iron Man series is, to varying degrees, hours of excitement and fun. Since my husband and I went home after seeing IM3 its opening weekend and decided to watch the other two, I was reminded that IM2, like many movie trilogies, is not as good as IM1. However, IM3 is, in my opinion, better than the first. IM3 pits the brilliant industrialist Tony Stark against an enemy who is seemingly impossible to find with a vendetta against the US. When Stark’s inamorata, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), ends up in his enemy's hands, the only suit he has fails him, and he is basically on his own to save her. He is helped along the way by a youngster (played by the charming Ty Simpkins) he meets in a small town, and eventually by his military friend (again played by Don Cheadle). The truth behind the villains (played by the fabulous and unexpected Ben Kingsley as well as the smarmy Guy Pearce) leads to the phenomenal final battle and Tony’s realization of what is important and who he really is. I admit to wanting all of Tony’s computer toys to be real – it is one of my favorite parts of the movies, watching him manipulate his Iron Man suits and the rest of his life through virtual computer screens all around his head, with computerized equipment that seems to be alive (a ridiculouslyadvanced version Johnny 5 from Short Circuit). There were some CGI moments that did not work for me (one thathad him saving people falling from a plane), but for the most part I justsettled in and let the movie take me where it wanted. Also, we saw it in 3D, and it was well done enough to really make me feel like I was in the middle of the action.But what impressed me the most in this movie was that they made Tony Stark, who in the world of the movie was regarded as a superhero, very human in his reactions to what happens in his life. The writers of IM3 allowed him to react to what happened in The Avengers movie, to the threats to the earth by people and creatures from another dimension, how the fate of so many rested on his and the fellow members of Shield’s shoulders. In IM3, Tony Stark refuses to speak with anyone about what happened, can’t sleep and has panic attacks when he lets his mind go toward thoughts of New York or someone brings it up. It affects his ability to be the Iron Man the people expect, the one who is always there to get the really bad guy, and the one who needs to be all he is to save the only thing in the world that really matters to him, Pepper. An audience member has to suspend disbelief to watch a comic book hero come to life. But for all its fantastic pyrotechnics and great feats of “superheroness”, an unusual amount of IM3 seemed like any other love story, where an ordinary man has to rise above some sort of haunting personal memories to save the girl. Without his suit, he had to remember who he really was, what he was capable ofon his own, without the computerized hunk of metal that usually surrounded him. There was one point where I actually turned to my husband and whispered, “MacGyver,” as he took all sorts of random parts from a garage to make devices to defend himself and try to get to Pepper. This movie brought Tony Stark down to his basic self, stripped him down (metaphorically) and made him look into himself in a way that a self-absorbed famous rich guy does not usually do (at least in movies). So that when he donned the suit once again to save the world from the bad guys, he seemed stronger than he everwas before, without any new computerized upgrades to “Jarvis.” The end, which is potentially a game changer (if you don’t consider there is already an Avengers 2 being written), seems more poignant and possible because he has gone through so much emotional growth, as well as the usual physical potential for doom, throughout the movie. He keeps his promises and appears to be a hero as Tony as well as in his Iron Man persona. Can’t wait to see what happens next.
