'Tis the Season - Iron Man 3 (2013)

Director: Shane Black

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyenth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 130 minutes

It's time for some Christmas action film reviews! Whenever you see that 'Tis the Season banner, you know what you're in for. Just letting you know dear reader. Anyways, let's get to it.

Most people look at Iron Man 3 as being the supposed final Iron Man film and the first film in Marvel's cinematic wave of phase two films that included Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man. However, some of us action fans may look at the film as the reteaming of star Robert Downey Jr. and his Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang writer/director Shane Black. Black is an action aficiando's dream come true as far as R-rated bad ass screenplays come (Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight).

It's surprising that Black took on a PG-13 / $200 million budgeted film like Iron Man 3 because it would restrict his usual foul dialog and force his action scenes to be tame and non-violent. I'm sure Black got the job because of his previous relationship with Downey Jr. before he became the highest paid actor on the planet; but it is still surprising to see Black go from comical R rated action film to comical R rated action film to the third installment of the biggest blockbuster franchise around. However, I think that Black knocked the film out of the park despite the restrictions it placed on him as a filmmaker. Iron Man 3 is both one of the best superhero films of the last few years and my favorite of Marvel's phase two films. Black found a way to make a studio approved film that incorporated all of his artistic traits. Kudos to Mr. Black for sticking to his guns and setting a Marvel movie at Christmas time.

Iron Man 3 proves that the third time is in fact the charm.

Iron Man 3 finds Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in a reclusive state after the events of The Avengers. Tony is a little freaked out that gods and aliens have shown up because it makes him feel small in the grand scheme of things. He has also developed post traumatic stress disorder after risking his life to save New York in The Avengers. Therefore, Tony has spent all of his time creating new Iron Man suits and experimenting with a new suit that he can call to his body whenever he needs. It's nice to see a character as cocky and full of himself as Stark experience so many problems in one film.

The plot kicks into gear when a terrorist named the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) starts bombing countries all around the world. When the Mandarin strikes the Chinese Theater in L.A., Tony taunts the Mandarin and even gives out his home address if the Mandarin wants to come speak to him. Therefore, the Mandarin and his men attack Tony's home and set out kill him. Tony barely escapes with his life and his suit after the attack and wakes up in Tennessee after programming JARVIS to set a flight course to the location of the previous Mandarin attack. It is now up to Tony to use his wits and brains to stop the Mandarin and to get his life back.

Iron Man 3 is one of a few films to have earned over $1 billion at the box office; which is quite an achievement. If one takes a look at the list of $1 billion or over films, some of them tend to be pieces of crap that didn't deserve that money (Alice in Wonderland, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Transformers: Age of Extinction). However, Iron Man 3 is a very good blockbuster that is deserved of its massive box office take. It makes me happy to know so many people across the globe saw this film and exposed themselves to the man that is Shane Black in the process without probably knowing it.

Ah, you gotta love some good ol' subversive Shane Black Christmas cheer.

One of Iron Man 3's greatest strengths is that it still works as a Shane Black film. It incorporates all of his filmatisms: Christmas time, black and white buddy humor, a snarky protagonist with the world against him, narration, and gun centric action. The film feels especially similar to Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, mostly due to Downey's inclusion. It is also interesting that Miguel Ferrer from RoboCop plays the Vice President and William Sadler from Die Hard 2 plays the President of the United States. I don't know if Black had any part in their casting, but it is awfully coincidental that two antagonists from two memorable hard R action films from Black's heyday in the late 80's and early 90's found their way into Iron Man 3. If Black was responsible for their casting, then I tip my hat to the man for reminding us all of the glory days of 80's and 90's action.

Another reason I enjoy Iron Man 3 so much is because Black continually subverts the genre throughout the entire picture. Black deconstructs the aspect of the superhero by removing Tony from his suit for a large portion of the film. Therefore, Tony has to learn to become a hero again without his Iron Man suit. Black nails Tony's arc at the end of the film when he declares that he was Iron Man all along even without the suit. Man, can Black write every action film from now on please? Black certifies his takeover of the Iron Man character by nearly killing off Tony's bodyguard Happy Hogan, played by Iron Man 1 and 2 director Jon Favreau, early in the film. Unlike the first two Iron Man's, Hogan is reduced to being in a coma the entire film. It is sort of Black's way of saying, "This is my Iron Man now! Things are gonna change."

Iron Man 3 is most notorious for its very controversial twist concerning the film's villain. I won't spoil it here because it really is a nice twist, especially if you are a geek and care about these comic book characters. When I first saw this film in the theater, I did not like the twist and even went on to profess my disappointment with the film. However, I have come to love this film more and more with time. I am perfectly fine with the twist now and have accepted it at this point. Besides, it fits perfectly with Black's goal of deconstructing these well known super characters into regular human beings that are just like us.

Now this is what I'm talking about.

Robert Downey is a treasure, people. Even though he is literally the biggest star on the planet next to Jennifer Lawrence, Downey owns these movies and does a great job in them. It helps that Stark is essentially a super powered rendition of Downey himself, thereby making the character oddly reflexive and natural for Downey to play. He does a fantastic job at the comedy, drama, and even the action scenes. My favorite scene of the film is when Tony tells off the Mandarin in front of the paparazzi. Tyler Bates underscores the scene with a soft rendition of the triumphant Iron Man theme as Tony looks at the camera and says, "So I've decided...that you just died pal."So bad ass. Stark also has a great character arc in the film as he transformers from a victim of PTSD and self doubt into a confident and successful hero again. After four turns at the character, Downey is going to make recasting Iron Man near impossible.

Iron Man 3's action scenes are all a lot of fun and varied. Stand out set pieces of the film include the helicopter attack on Tony's house, Tony's sneak attack on the Mandarin's hideout, the awesome boot and glove gun fight, and the big finale featuring loads of iron suits flying around. Even though these scenes are tame and lack the gore of Black's previous filmic gun fights, at least they incorporate the creativity and ingenuity of an exciting action scene. Every action scene is unique, different, and a lot of fun to watch. I also have to give Black even more praise for incorporating gun wielding henchmen towards the end of the film. It's not a Shane Black film if people aren't shooting guns at each other at one point. The few moments of Don Cheadle and Robert Downey Jr. running around the dock with pistols will probably trigger memories of Lethal Weapon for some.

If there is anything that I really don't like about this film though, it is that the Extremis storyline doesn't quite work as well as it should. There is just something silly about a human being shooting fire out of their mouth while wearing a buttoned up shirt to me. I also really dislike the inconsistency concerning the deaths of characters with Extremis powers. Some Extremis henchmen explode and die immediately while others can take more damage and walk away just fine. This inconsistency with the Extremis henchmen's powers makes their deaths or survivals come off as a cheat to the audience. Even with these errors, Iron Man 3 is still a well paced film that is never boring for even a second regardless of plot holes.

Lethal Weapon much?

Shane Black's Iron Man 3 is probably the closest a PG-13 Marvel film is going to come to being a film a-la the action of the 80's and the 90's (unless Disney picks up their balls and does a new hard R Punisher or Blade film). The humor is great, the action scenes are clever, the protagonist is likable and bad ass, and hand guns find their way into the film too. Black does a great job leaving his stamp on a big budget blockbuster and delivers one of my favorite superhero films of the last few years. I think that the film mainly succeeds because it is a fairly small scaled story that only becomes massive in a few choice scenes. Therefore, I highly recommend this superhero flick to all action fans!

Rating: 8/10 - A fun and clever superhero film that avoids formula and chooses to subvert everything from the hero to the villain. One of the best Christmas action films too.

Franchise:

Iron Man (dir. Jon Favreau, 2008)

Iron Man 2 (dir. Jon Favreau, 2010)

Iron Man 3 (dir. Shane Black, 2013)