Movie Review: "Iron Man 3" Takes An Unexpected And, Possibly, Unwelcomed Turn.

Iron Man 3

Director: Shane Black
Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, and Ben Kingsley.
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief suggestive content.

The summer movie season of 2013 has officially begun. First out of the gate is Marvel's Iron Man 3 which acts more as a follow-up to last year's The Avengers as opposed to Iron Man 2. Audiences were thrilled and vastly entertained last year when Iron Man teamed up with other Marvel heroes to complete Marvel's Phase One. Now to kickstart Phase Two, writer and director Shane Black has taken the Iron Man reins from Jon Favreau to complete the Iron Man Trilogy. After seeing this latest installment and having given it a lot of thought, I must confess that Phase Two may be off to a shaky start.


It's no secret to my close friends and family that my most anticipated movie of this summer is Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. Nevertheless, having thoroughly enjoyed the previous Iron Man films (yes, including the second one) and The Avengers, I was thrilled to begin my summer with a character I really do love. Robert Downey, Jr. is back as Tony Stark and it must be second nature for him to play this character because he is so good doing it. There's no problem with what Shane Black decided to do with Stark's character. The jokes are all hilarious, yet Black does well in exploring the effects of what being Iron Man has done to the man inside the suit.

There's a new threat in the world who appears hellbent on bringing America to its knees...The Mandarin played by Sir Ben Kingsley. After one of the Mandarin's attacks threatens his world, Tony Stark publicly provokes the Mandarin to come face him even if it's at his home. Bad move, Tony. The Mandarin brings the fight to Stark's backyard leaving Tony damaged and without most of his expensive gadgets. From there, Stark must find out how the Mandarin is staging all of these attacks and how he can stop him.

The first half of the film is great. There are a lot of laughs, great action sequences, and a real threat in Ben Kingsley's villain. Then the twists start coming. A couple of them can be determined before they happen, but there is one shocker that, for me, completely wiped out all of the good things this movie had going for it. It is difficult to express my true feelings and frustrations without going into spoiler territory, and I do not want to ruin the movie for anyone. There may be those who will be just fine with how things play out in the second half of the movie.

I can appreciate it when a filmmaker wants to be unique and give you something unexpected, but I feel that the surprise should not ruin what you have been spending the last 60+ minutes to build. I had a hard time trying to enjoy the rest of the movie after a certain revelation came to light. There was a great action-filled finale that is fun to see on the big screen, but I still felt a little empty inside. I believe director Shane Black had a great opportunity here and instead decided to turn it into a joke. I am referring to something specific here, but again, I don't want to spoil anything. I will admit that I may have to watch it again to see if I can get over what bothered me since I'll know of it ahead of time. Bottom line, you do not want to leave an anticipated summer blockbuster feeling a bit disappointed and underwhelmed. That's how I felt leaving the theater today.

RATED:  B-