Film Review: Iron Man 3

So now it comes to this. Iron Man started off beating the snot out of terrorists and confronting the Iron Monger. Then he was challenged by Whiplash, and made to face a number of personal challenges. Lastly, he helped save Earth from an otherworldly invasion, and he personally passed through a wormhole to deliver a nuke to the Chitauri mothership. Where does Iron Man stand after all this?

The third Iron Man film pits Tony Stark against more challenges, which ultimately straddles the breaking point for the character. The man proves to be a wreck to start with - a definite far cry from the suave narcissist we saw in the beginning of the first film - but now his personal life, his body, and his mind all pay the price for all of Iron Man's burdens. In this (final?) round of heroic challenges, Iron Man confronts the Mandarin terrorists, who ultimately target him personally. In one of the biggest action scenes of the movie, Stark's home is demolished in a torrent of missiles. That's just the beginning: from then on, the film traverses across all of the US as Stark works to find answers, is made to fight more bad guys, confront bigger challenges, and ultimately thwart the enemy's endgame. By that point, the stakes are raised really high, and it builds up to a lengthy, explosive, all-out climax.

There is definitely a ton of action and quality special effects to behold here. At the same time, the action and drama is finely-balanced with the same style of comedy and wit that's gone into the first two films. Overall, the tone, pacing, characters, and concepts of Iron Man 3 is very much consistent with the other films. All three are pretty much on the same level in terms of consistency.

And that's a huge relief, considering that in most superhero franchises, the third films don't usually fare that well (remember X-Men: The Last Stand? Or Spiderman 3? Or Superman III?!). IM3 doesn't quite sink that low, thanks not only with its purposeful execution, but also with its strong basis in characterizations and storytelling. As indicated above, there is a lot to be said about the character and his progression across the three films. This third film effectively completes his transformation, resolves some long-standing issues, and still manages to pull out a few impressive twists.

There are still problems, however.  Many fans have expressed their outrage over the treatment of the Mandarin's character.  I personally thought it was a brilliant, entertaining, and well-executed twist, but it'll leave many hardcore fans feeling cheated.  The level of believability with this film is also pushed to the limits, as Tony seems to hop from one Iron Man suit to another at a whim, and insanely powerful bad guys pop in and out at the story's convenience.  These stand as minor nitpicks for me personally, but they might break the film for certain viewers.

This film is competently-made with good photography and editing. Acting is as great as ever, and the writing is generally good. This production has plenty of fine-looking sets, props, costumes, and special effects. Music is pretty cool.

Iron Man 3 is as satisfying of a conclusion to the Iron Man franchise as it is a satisfying summer blockbuster. I say "conclusion" because it makes these first three films feel whole and complete as they are. However, as a post-credit message asserts, Tony Stark will return. If so, he'd certainly be welcome, especially in Avengers 2, but even if an Iron Man 4 never comes, this third film does its job admirably.

4.5/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good)