Iron Man 3 - Spoilerific Review!

***WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF IRON MAN 3. IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR REVIEW SPOILER-FREE, CLICK HERE.***

Yet another highly anticipated superhero movie is upon us, and I finally got to see it at 9pm before almost everyone else - even the Midnight ticket-holders (excluding press who saw it the day before).  Now, when I questioned why there was a 9 pm showing to begin with, a friend mentioned the studios were tired of NYC and the rest of the east coast spoiling the movies online, so we in Mountain/Pacific (and Central) see it when they do. I've also seen mention of "midnight attendance being down", so they offer an earlier option. Whatever the reason, I win (as well as the group of friends I went with.)  Lucky for us: the theater was sparse with people, we had *maybe* 20-25 folks all accounted for (including our own group of 6).  Finally, the lights dimmed and the 3D trailers started: Man of Steel, Star Trek Into Darkness, Thor: The Dark World, and White House Down. Then, the moment of truth: Iron Man 3 began.

***LAST CHANCE: HERE THERE BE SPOILERS. NO? STILL GOOD? ALRIGHT, THEN.***

Casting for me was either a relatively unknown/unimportant character (such as Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian)  or they had been established in the previous two movies: Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow), Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and J.A.R.V.I.S. (voiced by Paul Bettany). I was a little uncertain when I heard Sir Ben Kingsley was being cast as The Mandarin, but I've seen him act (and dominate) in some *amazing* roles.  

As far as direction, Shane Black steps into the shoes of Jon Favreau (who not only continues his role as Happy Hogan, but directed the previous two Iron Man installments.). Black not only took on the job admirably and made it his own, but he did so in such a subtle fashion as to not disturb its prequels. (Think about what a jump it was design-wise between Batman Returns and Batman Forever) The pacing of the movie was one of the most notable changes: the action shots came fast and numerous, never feeling like they were crowbarred in just to keep the story moving.  Any non-action scenes (like Tony blowing off Guy Pearce's future villain character in a flashback or Tony befriending a rural Tennesee kid when Tony's Mark 42 suit is rendered useless during the 2nd act) were still filled with quippy dialogue that helped you forget a guy in an exo-suit wasn't punching bad guys right now.  The big destruction of the Stark mansion was every bit as intense as the trailers suggested. I was also more than a little heart-broken to see Tony's helpful armatures "Dummy" and "Butterfingers" slide out of the collapsed house and into the ocean. (I honestly can't remember if "You" was there...I can't even tell if those are the names he gave them or just nicknames he used in the first film and never again.)  I also regained hope when I watched him drag them out of the water and drive away with them secured on a flatbed trailer. Since Disney wasn't happy about the "Demon in a bottle" story line, giving Tony PTSD after the New York events of The Avengers was equally humanizing for the character.  Watching Tony battle through his fair share of panic attacks gives more pathos than the comic book character ever deserved, but Robert Downey Jr. can't help but inject a little heart into every role he's given. 

The plot was largely adapted from the Extremis 6-issue story arc from 2005/2006.  I'm more lenient with changes from the source material because I understand that there are things on the comic page that just aren't do-able in a movie whether it be for budgetary reasons or the idea doesn't translate well. The Extremis is still touted as a "hack for the body's operating system", allowing for enhanced strength and healing properties, though still unstable (a tainted batch turns more than a few folks into human bombs). Plus the idea that the Mandarin was a focus group-inspired, psychological compilation created by Killian to "give evil a face" was pretty brilliant. I don't know that you could successfully portray The Mandarin in an Iron Man movie without the term "racism" being bandied about.  

As if a battle-ready madman weren't enough, Tony also has to deal with people from Killian's organization - Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) - who volunteered to be injected with the Extremis serum. Those fortunate enough not to explode (literally and spectacularly) from the body rejecting the serum were set against Tony, Rhodey, Happy, and even Pepper in a ploy to help Killian control the supply and demand of unstoppable weaponry and super-soldiers.  Their enhanced speed, strength, and ability to internally generate enough heat to melt metal (and pretty much anything else they came in contact with) was a pretty cool effect.

The *BIG* scene of the 3rd act was beautiful dance of action and pacing. Each shot neither lingered too long to allow me to wonder what was going on elsewhere nor moved to fast to be a high definition "blur of motion". The arrival of all of Tony's remaining armored suits was incredible: each one serving a different purpose. Tony jumping from suit to suit in an attempt to fight the  amazingly agile and super-powered Killian was a real treat. Iron Man 3 was every bit the adrenaline-pumped action movie I needed to kick off an amazing summer of movies.

Once the credits started rolling, I couldn't help but notice not a *single* person in the theater stood up to leave. Congratulations, Marvel: it only took 6 movies in 5 years to properly train the general public. (I think it's gotten to the point where people are disappointed if there *isn't* a post-credit scene in a movie.)  Now, some of you may have seen the post-credits scene already.  I know when I was offered the chance online a few weeks ago, I took it. I had forgotten about it until it started, though: I was expecting a Guardians of the Galaxy teaser.  But what are you going to do? 

Since its opening, I've heard a lot of negativity about the movie, putting it in the same boat as "Spider-man 3".  I respectfully (mood permitting) disagree and I will vehemently defend this movie any day of the week.  All-in-all, it was a great experience and now comes the long and arduous wait of getting to own it so I can watch it whenever I want. Fortunately, there are plenty of summer blockbusters waiting around the corner to distract me until then. 

Thanks for reading.