IRON MAN THREE
Hollywood knows how to make action blockbusters, they invented the whole thing. By virtue of brevity, that line alone would have sufficed for an Iron Man Three piece.
While the previous Iron Man movies have been entertaining in various degrees, oscillating with part two lingering near the bottom, I believed that the franchise solely exists because of the character of Tony Stark and the way Robert Downey Jr plays him and that the more they try to milk him, the movies will only go downwards, I mean my interest level in a wise cracking arrogant man can only be that much: two movies.
< This was thought after walking out after seeing Iron Man 2, which I cleverly remembered; ok I stop now>
But someone seemed to have thought the same back in Hollywoodland, but too late buddies you can’t change Tony Stark, but then you can give him panic attacks and make him Woody Allen in an Iron suit, and yes it does work. Believe me.
Iron Man Three begins in Switzerland in the year 1999, before Tony Stark became the open super hero that he is, which contributes to how the evil of the past comes to torment him and added to that are the memories of ‘back-from-hell’ <something which Tony refers to as the New York incident, we can just call it the Avengers>
So when insomniac Stark, doesn’t know what to do with all those suits he has created, America is attacked by a villain known as the Mandarin ( Ben Kingsley) which also playfully underlines America’s growing pre-occupation with the rise of China. The Mandarin wears Chinese robes and sits amidst of what seemed to me dozens of cycle brand agarbathis and repeats a poor joke about how fortune cookies were an American invention. Ben Kingsley is terrific. But wait.
This is a Marvel production and their efforts in providing entertainment are not subtle, but the effort itself is laudatory, with Iron Man Three they have already an assembly line of blockbusters waiting to come up and sum it up again with Avengers 2; so all these movies will basically vary depending on which director is chosen and how he perceives a super hero film should be.
Although Marvel will never hire someone like Chris Nolan to do a deep dark tale of introspection and morality, they will probably hire someone like Shane Black who has in no doubt given one of the funniest summer blockbusters in recent times. This is what I feel the best in the trilogy and the one of the best Marvel had to offer.
Yes yes, there are undying relentless henchmen who due to science may not be what they seem…um…not saying more, super cool action sequences, buddy camaraderie and some touches of idealism and inspiration to drive the plot along.
And finally for students of apparel, there in Gwyneth Paltrow in a sports bra reprising as Pepper Potts.
This summer has begun.
The Lowly Laureate 