IRON-CLAD FUN
“Nothings been the same since New York,” laments Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) referencing the thrilling final fight sequence in 2012 Marvel’s THE AVENGERS. Iron Man fans could say the same thing. There have been so few great entertainment movies since then we have become accustomed to settling for ‘not bad’ films as good.
Now with IRON MAN 3 we remember why going to the cinema is worth the effort and the expense. A year after we thrilled to the adrenaline packed and oh-so-clever super hero love fest that was THE AVENGERS, finally IRON MAN 3 day has arrived and nobody should walk away disappointed.
Sure you can point out plot-holes and yes, there are a couple of draggy bits but it is still 130 minutes of pure fun for anyone over the age of ten. It’s got the mix of soul-searching and action just right—not an easy thing to do when you think of DARK KNIGHT RISES’ awkward pace. The baddies are scary-unstoppable à la the original TERMINATOR and the conclusion has a satisfying emotional finale akin to ALIEN.
This one is a safe bet for the studios after the critically acclaimed “THE AVENGERS” set the all-time domestic three-day weekend box-office record at $207.4 million. The film went on to gross over $1.5 billion worldwide becoming Disney’s highest-grossing global and domestic release of all time.
“The exciting thing about IRON MAN 3 is not only is it the culmination of the first two films but it’s also a follow-up to ‘Marvel’s The Avengers,’” says producer Kevin Feige. “It’s one of the first situations where you have a movie that is the sequel to two different films.”
“Early on in the film you see Tony is wearing the Mark 42 and the last time we saw him he was in the Mark 7 and we quickly learn that Tony has been very busy between the time of THE AVENGERS and IRON MAN 3.”
The terrific fun begins from the opening scenes where we learn all is not well in the Stark world. In 1999 during Tony’s partying days the mistake he makes in ignoring two brilliant scientists Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) and Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) have come back to haunt him, or should we say taunt him, in a dangerous way.
Whilst Tony is off playing with his suits, the Government assures citizens James Rhodes aka “War Machine” (Don Cheadle) wearing a red, white and blue Iron Man suit offers the country protection without the character flaws.
Enter terrorist Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). He likes blowing up things and creating chaos. As he says in his supremely brilliant evil-overlord voice, “You will ‘neverrr’ see me coming” and, believe me, you won’t.
Taking terror to the highest degree, even the President’s plane is attacked creating a spectacular air rescue which involved, in its filming, sixty-two airplane loads and over 500 hidden parachute jumps by the Red Bull Skydiving Team. After challenging the Mandarin our hero finds his world and all his toys destroyed including his suit. He crash lands in a backwater town where he hunkers down to locate and identity the Mandarin.
One nuance of Kingsley’s Mandarin that remained a mystery until he arrived on set was the voice of the character. Kingsley came up with the voice in the same way he approaches all of his roles; letting things manifest organically. “The voice just came out of me one day when I was working. I was upset and just rampaging around my hotel room,” explains Kingsley. “The front desk called my room because of the noise and I just came out with a few Mandarin expletives in response and they stuck.”
The rest of the film incorporates the twists and turns and the trademark off-beat humor franchise fans have come to love. There is a load of new technology and suits and some laugh-out-loud scenes with smart-ass kid Harley (twelve-year-old Ty Simpkins).
Next off the ramp in the Marvel franchises is THOR: DARK WORLD releasing October/November. Ever since the first IRON MAN nothing has ever been the same on the big screen. And we thank our lucky ‘Starks’ for that. These Marvel films are entertainment that always lives up to the hype.
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