Movie Review: IRON MAN 3

IRON MAN 3 has the second-highest gross for a weekend, only behind THE AVENGERS (2012), and for good reason! We had a little get-together at the Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley with The Fellowship of the Geeks and some new friends and loved the movie.

I know that there are some fanboys and fangirls out there that are or will be totally horrified at this movie. I’ve always said that you should go into these things with this in mind. A movie is a totally separate entity from a book, comic book, or previous movie. There are too many variables, so get over it, watch it as an individual piece of work, and enjoy it on it’s own merits. With that in mind, enjoy the ride!

There is very little action in the beginning because there is an emotional set-up that has to be made. Tony is going through some mental issues after the whole Avengers-wormhole-aliens thing and he’s rethinking his life. I liked this part of it. For two movies, it was all about the suit and very little about Tony Stark. Yeah, you got to see him as the billionaire playboy and you got to listen to his snark, but now, you get to see him as a human being. And I really enjoyed it.

One of the great things about the first half of the movie was watching Tony Stark interact with someone who wasn’t a superhero, villain, or rich and famous. He meets a kid named Harley who likes to build things, too, and the relationship between the two is fun to watch because it would seem that Tony has met himself in a younger form. A great part of the story!

Colonel James Rhodes brings more to the table this time and I’m very pleased with what he has to offer. Action Flick Chick mentioned in her ‘12 Reasons Iron Man 3 Is Awesome’ that Robert Downey, Jr. and Don Cheadle have a great “buddy cop vibe” and I can’t agree more. Plus, you get to see that he’s just as good in the suit as Tony.

Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts? She starts as a damsel in distress but after this? No more. That’s all I have to say about that because you need to see it to see what I mean. And it’s awesome!

Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin should get an Oscar for his portrayal of . . . . well, not The Mandarin per se. You’ll see what I mean. There is a definite plot twist and I liked it though it goes against Iron Man back story and I’m okay with that.

Guy Pierce as Aldrich Killian is over the top. I almost didn’t recognize him in the beginning, but his character is the one you want to watch out for.

As for plot and storyline, I don’t know what everyone is getting worked up over, but then again, I am a very forgiving movie viewer. If there were any plot holes, I either didn’t pick up on them or I did and pushed them aside to enjoy the movie. That’s just the way I roll. As for the ending, I believe it is very open-ended and could be the end or the beginning of the next Marvel Phase 2. We’ll just have to see.

Action sequences are amazing and the true thrill rides that you would expect from any Marvel movie. I really don’t think anyone would be disappointed here. Though I did enjoy the first half with Tony’s emotional set-up, it could have been paced a little faster and with that, I give the movie a 4.5 out of 5 or a 9 out of 10.

In closing, I’ll never tell you to go or not go see a movie. In the end, that is up to you. But, I hope you’ll appreciate what I enjoyed or did not enjoy about the film.

Have you seen it yet? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook at /galaxycalleddallas.