Back in 2007 a brave producer rocked up to Marvel Studios and asked very nicely if it would be ok if they could go and play with one of their B-Grade comics and turn it into a film. Luckily for Marvel they knew a good opportunity when they saw it, having hit it big with A-Listers Spiderman and the X-Men over the last decade and knowing that superheroes done properly were basically a licence to print money they agreed into letting someone loose with Iron Man. This will go down in history as one of the smartest cinematic decisions ever made.
Without this leap of faith and without it being treated as a serious entity on its own there would never have been the grand story arc that brought us to last year’s Avengers. No Hulk, no Thor and no Captain America. Thankfully we now find ourselves on Iron Mans third outing and at the beginning of what Marvel are marketing as “phase 2”.
So where do we start. How do you come up with a plot for a film that gives us an enemy that has to be taken seriously but that isn’t too threatening that he needs the rest of the Avengers gang to help him out? Well to be honest I don’t think you ever can but they try and get around this by saying that it’s an American problem not a global problem. Now this is all fine and dandy but if that were true why doesn’t Captain America show up in his understated red, white and blue spandex onesie and his big indestructible pizza tray shield to assist?
Apart from the occasional problem like that I can safely report that “three” seems to be that magic number when it comes to this franchise. It’s an absolute fun fest from start to finish. Written and directed by Shane Black, the gentleman who wrote the first two Lethal Weapon films. Directed Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer in the criminally underrated Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and also found himself the as the radio operator and first victim of Arnold Schwarzenegger rescue team in Predator. Shane Black seems to work on the principle of less is more when it comes to Hollywood projects and his mantra of only being prepared to put his name to but this seems to work well for him.
Shane, having taken over the directors’ chairs from Jon Favreau, who held the megaphone on the first two instalments and does return again as Hogan, commits to this task with almost spinal tap intensity. This mission statement seems to have been turning everything up to eleven and in doing so this almost has the size and scale to come across as a direct sequel to the Avengers. The script is well written and has some great moments. One of the funniest moments in the entire film is given to a henchman and is almost treated like it’s a throwaway line. However I will say this, there is a character in the film called Trevor Slattery who steals the film. You won’t find him listed as having a major part or find any promotional material with his name on but believe me when I say he is the key to the entire story. His Hamlet was the talk of the town in Croydon and as fate would have it just happens to be a Liverpool Supporter. Now if that doesn’t intrigue you or peek your curiosity into wanting to see this fine piece of bubble gum theatre then nothing will.
As well as the aforementioned Mr Slattery we also have Gwyneth Paltrow returning as Pepper Potts. Thankfully this time around Pepper gets a lot more to do than just play the damsel in distress. Potts not only gets to kick butt, she also saves the day in the big action set piece at the end of the film. Also returning is Don Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes, aka War Machine or The Iron Patriot. The names are not really important. What is important is that it’s a shame given the quality of the actor that he isn’t given more to do. Steven Soderbergh once said that if you have the opportunity to put Don Cheadle in your movie, you put Don Cheadle in your movie.
So, what of the plot I hear you ask? Well, dear reader, it basically breaks down like this. Marvel’s Iron Man 3 sees the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist that is Tony Stark suffering after the events of The Avengers. Sleepless nights and anxiety attacks are haunting him and even immersing himself into producing wave after wave of new Iron Man suits doesn’t seem to help. His problems only seem to get worse when a terrorist called the Mandarin, played by Sir Ben Kingsley, starts hacking into the American TV networks and happily broadcasts death and destruction on every channel. Iron Man’s predicaments then go from bad to catastrophic when a disgruntled scientist come technology guru Aldrich Killian, played by Guy Pearce, also puts Stark well and truly in his crosshairs. After calling the Mandarin out Stark finds himself becoming ground zero and having his personal world destroyed. With his back to the wall and stripped of most of his tech resources he is left to rely on his resourcefulness and cunning to get to the bottom of the Mandarin and Killian’s plans to save those who he cares for and loves. This culminates in a huge finale that almost has too much happening on the screen for you to take it all in. There are a few artistic liberties taken with the some of the characters seen on screen in this film and I should imagine that the treatment one individual in particular gets will have fans of the comics seeing red and baying for blood.
This film marks the fourth and potentially last time that Robert Downey Jr will play Tony Stark. His contract has now been fulfilled and he is now free to walk away if he wants to. I really hope that he doesn’t as he has become synonymous with the role and I can’t think of another actor that could step into the shoes he’s left behind. Marvel could always just throw money at the problem in the hope that it goes away but seeing that RDJ had a back end deal that made him an estimated fifty million dollars from The Avengers. It is more likely that the Iron Man fan base will play a major part in his decision. Either that or several begging letters from Marvel, Disney and Joss Whedon. As the credits roll, one of the last things to appear on screen and just before the obligatory end scene you get with all Marvel films these days is a caption that reads “Tony Stark will return.” Make of that what you will. It’s going to be the summer of 2015 before we do and we get to see the culmination of “phase 2” with The Avengers 2, which again will be written and directed by the aforementioned Joss Whedon. Before then we have another Thor and a Captain America movie to wet our appetites and get us in the mood. Given that the summer blockbuster season for 2015 already has JJ Abrams Episode VII pencilled in there won’t be many franchises that will even come close to making the same impact as Luke, Leia and Han but if the next two years are handled properly Marvel may just pull it off…..
Twitter Review:
Phase 2, Phase 2, all shiny and new. Iron Man has come to save the day, international help & concerns not required.
#ThreeIsTheMagicNumber
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1300854/?ref_=sr_1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1Y3P9D0Bc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7Ec-kH2fwo
