Iron Man 3 Reviews

This is what superb and exhilarating entertainment is all about. A two-hour adrenaline-rush. One hell of an awesome and spectacular adventure. It's the best Iron Man movie yet. Director, Shane Black succeeds perfectly with his direction, writing and mixing it up with real world events and villains. It's The Dark Knight of the series. It delivers some fantastic dialogue, intriguing plot-twist, sharp humor and incredible non-stop action sequences. Aside from its darker tone it still manages to be a load of fun to watch and is absolutely a must-see. A wickedly funny and explosively action-packed roller coaster ride. An unforgettable and utterly satisfying conclusion to the series, it hits all the right notes. It's endlessly enjoyable and thrilling from start to finish. The all-star cast is truly amazing to watch. Robert Downy Jr. is at the top of his game once again, delivering humor, charm and confidence. Downy Jr. adds new depth to the character and shines him in a different light and makes it work perfectly and has wonderful chemistry with Paltrow and Cheadle. Don Cheadle is terrific. Gwyneth Paltrow is fantastic. Guy Pearce is excellent. Ben Kingsley is brilliant. Pearce and Kingsley are outstanding villains and look like they are having a blast. Marvel works their magic once again by hiring grown-up actors and filmmakers to do a man's made superhero film.

When Tony Stark's friend and bodyguard is seriously hurt during a series of bombings, he swears revenge and becomes the target of a mysterious terrorist known as The Mandarin. Shane Black takes over the helm of the Iron Man franchise and rekindles the partnership with its star for the hugely enjoyable post modern noir Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. It shares the sardonic wit and banter of that film and injects a lot more humour into the story, concentrating more on the character of Tony Stark than his super-powered alter ego. Separating the two makes for a more satisfying story arc than the gizmo-orientated second instalment, especially since Iron Man is one of the few superheroes that are rather less interesting and entertaining than their "secret" identities. Unsurprisingly the set pieces are extremely well done, but the human angle makes them rather more suspenseful and the finale involving a cadre of customized suits schools Michael Bay in how a robotic action free-for-all should be done. The pacing is perhaps a little uneven and the inclusion of a kiddie side-kick questionable, but it has some great moments and the twist in the tale revolving around The Mandarin is a great idea. A quality summer blockbuster.

The best parts involve RDJ bantering. He's a great banterer. I could watch him banter all day. Fly around and blow stuff up? Meh.

Very good! Tony Stark's somehow loveable arrogance and wit translates well into film.
This is a film that non-comic fans can enjoy too.

Easily the best of the Iron Man films

Maybe by watching this a second time and having lower expectations then i may enjoy it more, however this was a major disappointment in my opinion and i wanted the humor and sarcasm that was delivered so brilliantly in the first one. It was certainly more darker and you see Iron Man more as a human as he struggles with whats happened in the Avengers. may re watch!

'Iron Man 3'. Biggest disappointment of 2013 to date. Terrible writing throughout. What the hell did they do to the Mandarin?

In general, I found the writing incredibly weak. I mean, OK, we get it, he's having an identity crisis, he's more man than machine, but good lord, they really dragged us through a lot of crap, explicitly, to convey that.

The humour, and there's a lot of it, failed for me way more often than it worked.

Is it me or does the entire premise of this film rip off 'Batman Forever'?. Think back to that 1995 Schumacher film when 'Edward Nygma' approaches 'Bruce Wayne' asking him to check out his new invention, but 'Wayne' denies him. 'Nygma' then goes off filled with hatred for 'Wayne', reinvents himself as 'The Riddler' and becomes his arch nemesis.

Now look at the start of this film. 'Killian' approaches 'Stark' about his new company, 'Stark' denies him, so off he goes filled with vengeance, recreates himself as a nemesis to 'Stark' and the Iron Man hero, using his company alongside a new experiment. Notice any similarities here?.

I'm no Iron Man fanboy, I don't know all about the Iron Man lore, but that still doesn't detract from the fact they really fudged up 'The Mandarin'. The whole setup for this guy is really well done, it really is. We see lots of news footage, stock footage, hand held camera footage of the character as it buzzes around various TV stations. Its all been created in the same vain as reality, obviously in recent years with Osama Bin Laden and various other terrorist propaganda, what you would (and still do) see every night on the news. Footage of him with his extremists, firing guns, preaching, making statements etc...

'The Mandarin' is envisioned just like this and it all looks very realistic, threatening and intimidating, Black and his team really do make this villain look good, like he's really gonna be a hard underground nut to crack for 'Stark'. But then out of nowhere the whole setup is thrown out the window because the character is fake, a front, a big setup created by 'Killian' to cover himself and his experiments. Neat twist? yes, very much so...good idea? no definitely not, not for a franchise like this. A franchise where a villain like 'The Mandarin' is very popular and people wanna see 'The Mandarin', not a puppet creation.

A film like this hinges on its villain, usually the villain makes the film. In this case they made a great looking villain with Kingsley (despite his rather odd drawl) but they threw it away. Plus you also gotta ask yourself who would actually agree to act or play a villain to cover someone else? surely common sense would dictate that you're only gonna cause a lot of trouble for yourself? even if you didn't actually do any of the things you claim, you're still gonna be in the shit for being involved with terrorism. Just doesn't make any real sense to me.

Must admit I liked Kingsley's little performance in the reveal sequence, a kind of typical drunk, drugged up British hippie, but it just made a mockery of the whole film. Makes you feel you're watching a spoof not a serious adaptation.

Nice little touches of humour throughout as we have come to expect from this franchise and Downey. The small team up with the little kid isn't as cheesy as it sounds and offers some nice dialog, although one sequence seems to be pretty similar to a certain John Candy/Macaulay Culkin film from many moons ago.

On the whole the film is really quite average in my opinion. I didn't think that much of the whole 'Extremis' idea and the way characters looked when they went all ballistic. The visuals and ideas kinda looked like something from a hammy sci-fi flick to me, it all felt a bit 'X-Men-ish', a franchise I never liked. I still don't really get how this regenerative power causes people to have such extreme heat power, its suppose to help them heal no? so why the heat?. Plus I really don't see how 'Stark' manages to kill most of them when they can regenerate so easily, when 'Savin' is killed, why couldn't he regenerate from it?. The Extremis soldiers seemed so much more powerful, they could easily take down Iron Man suits as shown by 'Pepper Potts'.

The finale is on impressive scale but messy really. Lots of Iron Man suits flying all over the place, difficult to make out what exactly is going on, Extremis henchmen/women leaping all over the shop. It all sounds cool and the idea is cool but like some other superhero comicbook flicks it becomes a fast blur of CGI, an incoherent, badly lit, chaotic brawl between metal suits and CGI people. Plus I gotta ask, why didn't 'Stark' just utilize all his Iron Man suits together originally? before 'Jarvis' went offline, and why does 'Stark' keep running around without his suit?! just stay in it you fool!.

I must say I'm disappointed with this trilogy bookend. The first film was superb, the second (in my opinion) was clearly not as good as the first but still a solid action film. This third entry has lost me completely with bad plot decisions and untidy action sequences (something which the made the first so good, it was very clear without excess CGI mess).

So the question is...was this all just narration, a therapy session for 'Stark' to get some previous history of his chest with 'Banner'? or is that it? no more Iron Man films and no Iron Man for 'Avengers 2'?.

Iron Man 3 bests its predecessors in terms of character development and pathos, but (memo to director Black) it all proves unnecessary without coherent (and numerous) actions scenes. After all, this IS an action flick. The visual effects are not exactly on par with IM & IM2 and the climax looks a bit cartoonish. The cast is fun to watch and Downey Jr. nails it, like always. Hopefully we get a sequel because it should not end like this.

Iron Man can't lose. He's like America (fuck yeah): arrogant with first world problems that are miraculously solved despite glaring plot holes (where were all those other suits before? how does he heal Pepper so quickly?) He has nothing to really fight for in this installation except Pepper who is as flat as GOOP's enviable abs. She gets a few badass moments, but there's still nothing remarkable about her character or their relationship that make the story anything more than a stale "saved by the love of a good woman" story.

The movie's saving grace comes in Tony Stark's soul-searching journey with the kid. Despite most of the movie being out of the suit, the man himself in all his panic attack glory makes the superhero a bit more human.

I enjoyed it and thought RDJ was great as expected, but Iron Man 3 was just more of the same ol' same. The CGI was on point, probably better work in that department than in the first two films, but other than that the film was cheesy to me at many points. If you have seen it, you probably know what I mean; moments like that bring down the film in my opinion and make them borderline childish. Hopefully this is the final film in the franchise because I don't see any future films going anywhere but down.

Taking over the director's chair from Jon Favreau, co-writer/director Shane Black makes a return from a brief absence for this rousing third adventure in the Iron Man series, and the first entry into Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Set some time after the events of The Avengers, Tony Stark is back in California, and dealing with the aftermath of the events in New York, namely by being restless, sleepless, and prone to occasional panic attacks. To put himself at ease, he devotes himself to making more Iron Man suits, much to the frustration of his lover Pepper Potts.

Tony's issues come to a head when attacks from a terrorist cell leader known as The Mandarin destroy his personal world, prompting him into an unbridled quest for vengeance.

The primary inspiration for this film comes from the Extremis storyline from the comics, which was also used in bits and pieces for the previous two Iron Man films. What I really liked most about this film is how it tackles the issue posed by Steve Rogers in The Avengers about what is Tony without his armor and toys.

This is the darkest of the three films in the series, and it has some great moments of tension and drama. It's still got that trademark with and humor though, which does help, because had this been done like Nolan's Batman films, then I'm not sure it'd be fun to endure. But it is fun, and the levity and darker material actually blend surprisingly well.

The script is pretty decent, but not without its faults, namely trying to juggle plot threads, one too many characters, as well as how come The Avengers aren't in this. The handling of the antagonist is actually something I'm okay with, but I'm sure that it won't please everyone. For the most part though, even with its faults, this is some really decent stuff, and a blast to watch.

The effects are top notch, there's some impressive action scenes, and a good mix of character and pathos. It's also really well shot, and the music is fine, but it bugs me that there's no AC/DC. The post credits stinger, and the retro-inspired end credits montage make for a really nice icing on an already delicious cake.

The performances are pretty terrific, and I really legitimately think that RDJ should be given some awards consideration. Paltrow and Cheadle are both getting better and more comfortable with their characters, and Ben Kingsley is a scene stealer. Guy Pearce is quite menacing, and I like how they got Miguel Ferrer and William Sadler, even if they underused them (along with Rebecca Hall).

All in all, this might not match the level of epic that The Avengers did, but it's nevertheless a very worthy film, and, while it may not be quite as good as the first one, it proves better than the second.

An amazing, fast paced, Stark-centric start to Marvels cinematic universe phase 2. Robert Downey Jr. is at his best here, and this movie answers the question left open in the Avengers; Take away the armor and what's left? This film is all about whats left. It's about Tony and his personal journey. The action is spectacular with a finale fit for a king, the twists are smart and extremely thought out, and this is one more extremely good movie in the Marvel basket.

If it isn't as good as the original "Iron Man," it's close, so give it credit. "Iron Man 3" comes to us steeped in the baggage of "The Avengers" and the disappointing "Iron Man 2," but against all odds (and with Director Shane Black replacing Jon Favreau) the franchise and character feel alive and fresh again. Slick action, outstanding effects, great twist, and just the right amount of biting political satire cement "Iron Man 3" on a par with it's 2008 franchise kick starter, as well as the best entries in the Marvel film cannon.

I was very entertained, and some of the plot's greater sidetracks were its best moments, such as the time spent in Tennessee. the film was cluttered with far too convenient coincidences, and many of the film's explanations for events were over-simplified and rushed. pepper's entire story arch was a mess, and the mandarin and war machine were overwhelmingly underused and misused. on mandarin, you can add me to the throng that is disappointed in the twist with his character. if you're going to go "super-power" anyway, just give us what we were expecting with that character. it would have made for a MUCH better climax. and even with the direction they took, kingsley was underused and should have been given a greater build up to the twist. i never really felt that he did enough on screen to feel the weight of any threat he would provide. on war machine, he didnt need to be there. i love cheadle so im glad he was, but was an essential non-factor. i would have loved to see him more involved, with more meat to his actions. i love rebecca hall, but her character was probably the most pointless of all. as far as the real villains? underwhelming to say the least. they barely seemed like a threat, and the explanation as to how and why they even do what they do was uninspired. i am however very interested to see if we get more of AIM, and how they will be used.

It is not very likely that I will remember anything that happened in this movie years from now. Still, Iron Man 3 is filled with intense action and wonderful acting on the part of Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man 3 tries to ride on the same formula that made the Avengers so successful by balancing moments of intensity and comedic relief. Iron Man 3 is dark enough to not need to try this balancing act but nevertheless comedy is added when it is not welcome and the result is upsetting. This movie would easily be a 5/10 average action movie, but because of RDJ's phenomenal acting it is a solid Marvel movie.

*This review may contain spoilers* Handing over Iron Man to Shane Black was a good move. The Batman films have forced the Superhero film to grow up somewhat, The Avengers took it that bit further and found the perfect balance and the rest is history. Iron Man 3 is a grown up Superhero film that some might find hard to adjust to. Tony Stark the Movie might have been a better title but then when you have Robert Downey Jr. as your lead, you don't want to see just 5 minutes of him and then a whole load of CGI. I have to say though there were elements I didn't care for, the whole 'Starting again' story-line I thought was a bit tired and also the inclusion of a Child just for the sake of it (or to appeal to a younger audience - like they're not already interested). Mostly though I found it to be a breath or fresh air. Keeping the action to a minimum and then including all of the Iron Men in one big fight was a brilliant idea. Saving the falling people was also pretty cool, as was Iron Potts. Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall provided some excellent supporting characters with Kingsley just edging ahead and nearly stealing the show. I really hope we see more of him, I'm sure we will. The big question is What happens now? Is Iron Man just going to be in the Avengers now or will he get another film, it is hard to see where he can go from here.

This movie, like the first two, is exactly what escaping into a great movie is all about: great action, solid laughs, and jaw dropping effects throughout!! Fun! Loved it! Love Tony Stark!!

The first "post-Avengers" film from Marvel Studios (another Thor movie is on the way later this year, as well as another Hugh Jackman "Wolverine" picture) features Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) dealing with the events of New York City, in which the Avengers repelled an alien invasion. Stark was so traumatized by the events that even the mere mention of the words "New York" sends him into a panic attack. He finds comfort in designing new iron man suits (of which there are many), but girlfriend Pepper Potts (Paltrow) can only be ignored for so long. Suddenly, there is a new threat to the world in the form of Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), a terrorist of "Bane"-like proportions. Mandarin seems to control an army of super-powered soldiers who can generate some sort of intense thermal heat within their bodies (their powers include super-strength, speed and regeneration). It's quite an intense challenge, to say the least.

If there's one thing these Iron Man films have in common, it's that Tony Stark has been more interesting outside of the armor than in it, and the build up to the big, computer-effects driven fight scenes is more entertaining the the fight scenes themselves. This, perhaps more than anything, exemplifies "Iron Man 3", where the climactic battle is a little underwhelming when compared to the journey to that point. Well, there's another thing these Iron Man films have in common (so it's two things), and that's humor. This might be the funniest and fun-est of the three films, and there are several "wtf" moments where it's clear this film doesn't take itself very seriously (as opposed to something like, I don't know... "The Dark Knight Rises"). And really, I have to think Mandarin is a little jab at Bane, and the Dark Knight Rises in general. Look, you liked Iron Man and Iron Man 2, you will probably like Iron Man 3. There aren't any major deviations from the others. It's a good, fun action movie.

A competent, entertaining sequel concerning Tony Stark, fresh off his heroic efforts in "The Avengers", and how he battles anxiety as well as a new villain, terrorist The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). A considerably better film than it's predecessor, the reason this movie works is because it's much less convoluted than "Iron Man 2" and isn't focused on setting up "The Avengers" like that movie did. New director to the series Shane Black (of the fantastic "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", also starring Downey Jr.) wisely takes a deeper look at the humanity of Stark, by the process of stripping him bare and making him ask himself if he really needs the suit. It is not a fantastic superhero movie but it is a solid one, with a great cast and some of the best stunts and setups constructed in the series. Downey Jr. is his regular terrific self, and Kingsley makes for an intriguing villain with a clever little spin attached to his character that could easily split the fan base. Recommended.