Iron Man 3 (2013) Review by Shivom Oza – ‘Stark’ly Delightful!

3/5 Stars

The third installment in the ‘Iron Man’ series, ‘Iron Man 3’ revolves around how Tony Stark battles the dreaded Mandarin, and tries to prevent him from causing havoc.

Even for someone who is not a big fan of superhero/adventure/science-fiction movies (me!), ‘Iron Man 3’ is immensely enjoyable. The film is all – Robert Downey, Jr., as expected. His one-liners and his affable charm, which works wonders for the franchise, have been utilized to their fullest yet again. While it is a visual spectacle, the 3D once again dilutes the impact (a trifle!).

The plot continues from where ‘The Avengers’ ended. A much-troubled Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has been going through a rough time with his girlfriend, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), owing to his unrequited obsession with his Iron Man suits.

Stark recollects an incident from 1999 in Bern, Switzerland, when he, along with a scientist Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall), ignores feelers from the crippled Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) about creating Advanced Idea Mechanics (a terrorist organization), which in turn will manufacture viruses.

As it turns out, Killian joins hands with a dreaded terrorist Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), over a decade later. In one of the bombings orchestrated by the duo, Happy Hogan, the security chief of Stark Industries, goes comatose. This enrages Stark, who issues a televised threat to the perpetrators and even lets out his address in the media so that the terrorists could get him!

If I tell you more about the film, you’ll cry ‘spoiler’! So, let’s cut this short and get down to how the film fares. There are a couple of jaw-dropping twists in the plot, which manage to make the film engaging enough over its 130-minute-duration.

The action scenes are very well choreographed and Tony, along with War Machine (James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes), do a great job pulling them off. The entire team behind the visuals (cinematography, VFX, editing etc.) has done an awesome job. Some of the scenes, especially the one in which Mandarin attacks Iron Man’s Malibu mansion, are absolutely breath-taking (despite the irritating 3D).

Robert Downey, Jr. plays Robert Downey Jr., and the rest of the cast members do well in their limited parts. Director Shane Black and Drew Pearce reinvent the audacious character of Tony Stark with this film. The entire track between Stark and Harley (12-year-old Ty Sympkins) is absolutely delightful! Watch out for the little boy, who does a wonderful job in this small role.

There’s a small funny bit after the end credits roll. The problem is that the credits roll for about 5-6 minutes. So, you’ll have to wait for that long. Besides the fact that you should go for the film anyway!

Shivom Oza