By Melissa Antoinette Garza
This was the first of the Iron Man series that I had not seen in theaters. I meant to and had looked forward to it, but it was for whatever reason, something my husband and I had skipped.
In all honesty, I wasn’t as impressed with Iron Man 2 (2010) as most people. I wanted to be. I really wanted to like it but I found the villains bland and the evolution of Tony Stark’s character a negative rather than a positive.
Still, the first is one of my favorite all time super hero movie and Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) is right there with it. Not to mention, I adore Robert Downey Jr. I’m one of the few people who went to theaters to see In Dreams (1999), and despite the negative reviews, I enjoyed it. I’ve been a fan of his since I can remember. I’ve loved everything from Tuff Turf (1985), Less than Zero (1987), Soapdish (1991), Chaplin (1992), – the list literally goes on and on. I even enjoyed his lighthearted movies like Heart and Souls (1993) and Chances Are (1989) to his slightly pretentious and over-the-top films like Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006) and The Singing Detective (2003). If he’s in it, I’ll watch it and most likely enjoy it.
I remember how excited I was when I first heard that he was going to portray Iron Man. I always thought his personality and on-screen presence would fit perfectly with being cast as a super hero. He brought the right amount of sarcasm and wit which is clearly why the film was such a success.
In this film, a lot of that snarky attitude has returned which is great, but it still isn’t as good as the first. It doesn’t drag like the second one did, and the villains are far better, but there are still elements to the movie which fell flat.
Essentially the plot surrounds a crazy scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) who rightfully felt slighted by Tony Stark in 1999. Killian is back and he’s a villain who together with a “terrorist” known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is causing explosions and chaos.
SPOILERS: The film lost me when it exposed The Mandarin as an actor working for Killian. Killian needed someone to take credit for the explosions because they were actually caused by him while working on a cure for the loss of limbs. Killian has this chemical that when injected can be used for regrowth. Some people reject the chemical and explode. The patients used have also become super villains. They just look like they’re part lava inside.
My issue is how stupid Kinglsey’s character was. To be fair, he was a drug addict and was bribed with more drugs but the events he took credit for were insane. It would have made more sense if Kingsley was smarter and taking credit to gain notoriety. Instead of a villain, he just was pathetic and simple. Even though he was a patsy, he could have been a patsy with depth, especially with Kingsley behind the portrayal.
Had Kingsley played the part with an element of seriousness and intelligence, he could have been a force to reckon with in future films. If he were a maniac that despite not being responsible for the explosions took credit to go down in history books, and then was upset that he was no more than a joke while in jail – that could fester making him a formidable opponent for Stark.
Instead, we have a character used for laughs that isn’t funny.
Also, there’s this side story with Tony Stark suffering from anxiety and PTSD. While I think it’s brave for any superhero tale to tackle a subject like this, it really didn’t go anywhere. There was no arc. When using a real disorder, I think writers should be a little more careful than to act as though the party is cured by the guidance of a child.
Despite my grievances, the acting all around was fantastic. I love that Gwyneth Paltrow can go from damsel-in-distress to badass in seconds and be believable the entire time. She is such a great actress and her portrayal of Pepper Potts is fantastic. She has made the character so strong and assertive, and that carried nicely over to this movie.
Even the child who helps Tony is a good actor. Though, I disliked the character as the film was trying to make him a young Tony Stark (and maybe the comics do that too – I’m not sure), it was just a strange direction that didn’t really work.
There were a lot of laughs and the conclusion was decent. The movie did go by quickly despite being over 2 hours. I would suggest watching it though I wouldn’t jump through hoops to buy it just yet. Wait a few months when it’s half the price it is now and then grab it for your collection.
Scared Stiff Rating: 6.5/10
