Massive! Epic! Explosive! Spectacular! All good words for this highly anticipated sequel which I admit I had built up some pretty huge anticipation for. Not one bit of disappointment though!
I'm just going to assume that everyone has seen Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, which are pretty much pre-requisites to see Iron Man 3, so I'm not going to catch you up. Iron Man 3 begins where The Avengers left off - Tony Stark is back home and trying to deal with the rather overwhelming to anyone events that befell him in New York at the end of The Avengers. Yes folks, for once Tony Stark is not brash, bold, arrogant, egotistical and confident 100% of the time anymore. Only about 70% of the time with a few issues that could be categorised as Post Traumatic Stress. On the plus side, Pepper Potts has moved in with Tony full time as well as being head of Stark Industries.
The film opens with a flashback to happier times where Tony has some interaction with a promising botanist Maya Hansen (new to the IM series Rebecca Hall from "The Town") who is experimenting with modifying the DNA of plants but can't quite get it to work 100% of the time. Flash forward to today, when Pepper takes a meeting with an old friend, Aldrich Killian (new to the IM series Guy Pearce) who wants Stark Industries to invest in his program of modifying the human brain's DNA to enhance our potential. Pepper gives a firm "No" and sends him on his way, but newly promoted to head of security Happy (Tony's former bodyguard played in all 3 by Jon Favreau) is suspicious of what Killian and his cocky offsider are up to. Following them lands Happy in a very unhappy place though, as an explosion rocks Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and leaves Happy in a coma.
The explosion is one of a very large number of explosions in this movie (the most I've ever seen in one movie by a long shot) and they are linked to international terrorist The Mandarin (new to the IM series Ben Kingsley from "Ghandi") who has a very public agenda to wage war on the United States and particularly the President. Definitely a comment on the Osama bin Laden style of modern terrorism. Enraged, Tony makes a very public invitation to The Mandarin to "come and get me" which, wouldn't you know, is taken up! Tony ends up on the run, bereft of all of his systems and toys and very much alone as Iron Patriot (the former War Machine character with a new coat of paint and name) is off doing chores for the President.
Tony has to work on tracking down The Mandarin and does so by checking out a previous bomb site in a small town where the puzzle pieces start to come together with the help of a young local boy with some cool tricks. From here on in, the action just ramps up and ramps up even more as Tony's fleet of Iron Man suits eventually start to come back online and get in on the fight with the baddies.
The film works really well because it sticks to classic plot elements such as purely personal revenge. The stakes are really high for all involved, with the baddies trying to strike fear into the US with the aim of increasing their army of enhanced super-soldiers who make for fearsome, near invulnerable henchmen. Tony's stake is revenge for Happy and to rescue Pepper who sadly falls into the baddies hands. There are also a number of excellent twists which I won't reveal at all. The commentary on our perceptions of terrorism is also thought provoking.
Performances here are all really strong, with the returning players getting really comfortable in their skin. Robert Downey Jr can do vulnerable as well as brash. The newbies are great, with Ben Kingsley and James Badge Dale intimidating as The Mandarin and super soldier Savin respectively, and Guy Pearce in beautiful contrast between golden and glowing appearance and slimy inside. Rebecca Hall's role is fairly small but interesting, and Ty Simpkins is very endearing as cool kid Harley.
There is an absolute tonne of action and special effects this time around, but it's balanced out by the same blend of humour and heart that have made the previous ones so popular. I would say that it is a total waste of money seeing this movie in 3D, as it was not filmed in 3D but added later in post-production and adds very little other than a bit of depth here and there. Not worth the money or headaches for those of you who suffer. However, in 2D this movie is sensational value for money. Heaps of fun, still way cool and a great comic book movie. See it soon! And yes there is an end of credits scene as with all Marvel movies. Debateable whether it's worth sitting through the 10 minutes of credits though since it surprisingly doesn't lay any clues for future Avengers starring films.
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