The blockbuster season begins with this Friday’s release of Iron Man 3. Already, the latest Marvel production has hauled in an overseas take that surpasses what The Avengers raked in over its opening weekend. Such is the result of high expectations. Now it’s our turn to respond to the hype.
Director and screenwriter Shane Black takes over for Jon Favreau, who delivered the previous two installments. Black penned the original Lethal Weapon, and directed and wrote the well-regarded Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, starring this film’s lead, Robert Downey Jr. The promise of Black’s ability to reinvigorate the series after a so-so second outing comes to fruition, though messily so. Black has made a big, sprawling movie that reflects his action-comedy sensibilities. But some of the dialogue leaps a bit eagerly at its own wit, a little too confident in the laughter-ready lines fed to Downey. And Black, in only his second feature as director, proves more adept at showcasing the action sequences than framing more intimate moments.
As the movie opens, industrialist/reformed playboy/Iron Man Tony Stark (Downey) is in his workshop, creating improved versions of his armor. The obsession with his Iron Man suits ties into a new character trait — he’s suffering through panic attacks in the wake of the final battle in The Avengers, a battle that has Stark worried there may be malevolent forces he can’t stop. With each new improvement upon previous Iron Man models, Stark is determined to control his surroundings and protect his beloved Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) from harm.
The gambit of reaching for existential resonance isn’t entirely successful — especially considering that Stark’s anxiety is sometimes played for laughs. But it gives Downey something else to do besides be charming, and it reminds us that this superhero is, after all, a man.
This focus adds some weight to Iron Man 3’s nonstop parade of action set pieces, some of which are among the most elaborate seen thus far in the Marvel films. This time out, the world is being threatened by the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), a flamboyant terrorist with his sights set on the president of the United States. Connected to the Mandarin — in ways the film is patient to reveal — is the reptilian Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). Killian, in comic-book fashion, evolves from nerdy, unattractive scientist to smooth, ambitious megalomaniac. In the service of Killian and the Mandarin are genetically modified humans with the power to regenerate (and emit incredible amounts of heat).
Killian is a standard-issue, larger-than-life villain — the misunderstood genius whose efforts to improve mankind are fatally entwined with hubris. When the world doesn’t accept what he has to offer, Killian decides to make it pay. In addressing terrorism, Black has Stark say something about creating our own demons, but the line falls flat. It’s not nearly as resonant or thought-provoking as The Dark Knight’s take on what restriction of freedom and ideals society is willing to endure in order to stay safe.
In battle against his enemies, Stark gets to do plenty of ass-kicking inside and outside the confines of his suits, and he relies on his wits more than his brawn in order to outlast his enemies. This, we are reminded, is a man who can build an arsenal of weapons out of a trip to the hardware store.
Black opens up the action and settings, putting Stark in contact with more of the world that he strives to protect. The few surprises that Iron Man 3 offers are satisfying, including the opportunity it gives Pepper Potts to be more than Stark’s love interest, damsel in distress and comic foil. By the film’s end, even though it promises that Tony Stark will return, we sense this may be Downey’s last go-round in the armor. If that’s the case, we should be glad he’s worn it so well.
