First thing's first, I gotta say, it's just awesome to be back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After last year's amazing Avengers, all I've wanted to do is see what happens next. And here and there we get some fun references in this. But mostly, Black wants and gives us a self contained story. Based on the Extremis arc in the comics, 3 basically introduces Cinematic Universe patrons to Maya Hansen and Aldrich Killian, and their attempts to create and harness the Extremis virus to tap into the potential of the human brain to activate areas that could essentially turn people into superhuman soldiers. Unfortunately, it has literally explosive results, which are utilized by The Mandarin as terrorist attacks all over the globe--one of which places Happy Hogan in the hospital, and makes it personal for Tony. Tony's brashness then lands him in hot water as he threatens The Mandarin and gets his house, pretty cars, and pretty suits (to a lesser degree) blown up, as well as endangering Pepper's life. Without any help and a long way from home, Tony's forced to rely on his wits and will to get to the bottom of the mystery behind who The Mandarin really is, where to find him, and what his connection to the Extremis program is.
To give credit where credit is due, Shane Black and co-writer Drew Pearce really try to emphasize story over fan-service here, which becomes incredibly controversial (I'll get to that later, I promise). In a moment of pure brilliance, we are seeing Tony, a seemingly invincible character, as we've never seen in 3 movies, being put through the ringer to the point where it doesn't matter if his suit's on or not--we still fear for his life. And this is a significant challenge, because where can you really take a character that has beaten an entire army of aliens and giant metal space eels, and still make it seem like he's in danger? Somehow Black and Pearce manage to pull it off with a very menacing threat to Tony and the gang, so major kudos for that. It's also very interesting and understandable that Tony would have PTSD, given the events of The Avengers, and it adds a lot to his character and how he's changed since the first Iron Man.
The performances, for the most part, the anchor of the movie! Downey, of course, owns the screen, whether he's delivering the snidest of remarks to a 12 year old kid, or trying to overcome a villain who can physically best him, we are dealing with a master conductor at work, leading an equally powerful ensemble. Downey knows this character inside and out, and after 4 movies, still manages to make him interesting and funny through self-discovery and continuous evolution. Right below Downey is Guy Pearce, who brings an incredibly twisted, sinister approach to his portrayal of Aldrich Killian. Unfortunately, not everyone in the cast is given their due. Gweneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts is really underutilized here only as a damsel in distress. This is a real pity given how enjoyable it was to see her in Joss Whedon's vision during Avengers. Don Cheadle is also not given as much to do, other than to play the buddy in the buddy cop duo of Stark and Rhodey. The Iron Patriot suit itself is used quite nicely, but sadly not its pilot. And lastly, Rebecca Hall is pretty wasted as Maya Hansen. There's a decent (albiet predictable) twist with her character, but at the end of the day no one really cares much about her because she's reasonably 2-dimensional overall.
Now let's get to the elephant in the room: Sir Ben Kingsley. People will be lining up to see Iron Man go toe-to-toe with The Mandarin. And what they'll get is a great performance...with a very very disappointing payoff. Sadly Shane Black's interpretation of The Mandarin is very disappointing. Many were saying that Kingsley's performance would be on par with Ledger's sinister Joker from The Dark Knight. We get a glimpse of how that could be possible--excellent vocal intonations and a pure ruthless look in his eyes-- only to have it ultimately ruined by the final direction of where Black takes the story and The Mandarin character. On one hand, it is a very ballsy move to take a beloved superhero arch-nemesis, and take the focus off of him to complete the story you want to tell (and it's not a bad story overall--plus Black gets points for sheer commitment to it). But it's definitely at the cost of taking a classic character and, well (excuse the vulgarity) pissing all over it. Which leaves me conflicted overall, because you set up a good character with a great performance only to ultimately disappoint with a twist that's slightly stupid. I admittedly like my fan-service.
Now the action and VFX in this movie is fantastic, as we do get a TON of really excellent, edge-of-your-seat sequences. Everything kicks off with the explosive destruction of Tony's Malibu penthouse, then we later get some great fights with Tony against the Extremis soldiers WITHOUT his armor, to another fantastically brilliant scene where Tony's only got a repulsor guantlet, and uzi, and rocket boot on that Black manages to make incredibly unique and entertaining, and of course 2 really showstopping finale sequences involving an Air Force One rescue and "Operation House Party," with Tony's army of suits. And for the record, the Mark 42 kicks so much ass!
Additionally, the movie has some very funny moments, which only become funnier because of our familiarity with Tony's character. The entire back and forth between Tony and a kid who helps him out in Tennessee is incredibly fun--particularly in how much of a lovable ass Robert Downey Jr. can make Stark. There's also some really great sight gags, like a ginormous random stuffed rabbit, and a hilarious nod to A Christmas Story. If Black is good at anything it's snappy one-liners and moments of goofiness that work in an action movie.
However for each of these brilliant scenes we are treated to the occasional stupidity. Aside from the character of The Mandarin, the movie is pretty guilty of some severe plot holes. For example--Tony Stark, in Iron Man 1 built the Mark 1 Iron Man suit in a day, in a cave with a box of scraps. In this, he has more resources at his disposal around Home Depot, and yet, the best he can come up with are a few trick smoke bombs and a taser? You've gotta be kidding me. Also, we can deploy a million Iron Man suits to attack an oil tanker, but you can't call just 1 to pick you up and take you somewhere when you are stranded the way Tony is in the movie? Huh? On occasion, Black also has a tendency to really slip a lot of the cheese from 80s action movies into the film. One particular scene at the end, when a character comes back from the dead for one last hurrah is so predictable and cheesy, that it simply reminds you of villain moments in the Lethal Weapon franchise. At one point, when I saw Rhodey and Tony sneaking around a shipyard with guns ready, I even immediately thought Riggs and Murtaugh. This makes for a different feel than we're used to with the Iron Man franchise, which both works and doesn't work. It works that we get to see Tony getting out of situations without having to rely on the Iron Man suit all the time and sets it apart from the other movies. But at the same time, this is not Lethal Weapon we're talking about here--nor is it 1984. We, as an audience in the 2000s, came to see Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man--not Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man: The Buddy Cop star doing all the things people do in a cheese fest 80s action movie.
But I digress. Things like the plot holes in the above paragraph are but minor quibbles that are forgivable in a movie that has more pros going for it than cons. And while I take issue with a few things--especially The Mandarin-- I only do so in the sense that I am a biased fanboy and tend to be over-educated in comics and thus over-critical when elements are overlooked. Because on the whole, thinking about it, this is definitely a fun, entertaining movie. It's not perfect. It's not as good as The Avengers, or even the first Iron Man. But there's a lot to love and a lot that will put a smile of enjoyment of your face when you see it for yourself--particularly in the acting, the humor, and a fairly interesting, capable story.
Also stay through the credits for a very funny cameo ;).
Til the next summer blockbuster hits, folks!
Overall Rating: B+
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