Iron Man 3 (2013)

With the success of Marvel cranking out superhero after superhero movie it’s becoming increasingly difficult to remember the chronology of all these films.  Though after a brief search on the interwebz I did find this nice infographic.  This just leads up to The Avengers, and it is in the aftermath of the events in New York that Iron Man 3 begins, and we find Tony having recurrent nightmares and panic attacks following his fall from the wormhole.

To be sure, it’s a vast improvement on Iron Man 2, which had an hour of meandering before Fury finds a bored Tony; this is despite the fact that there isn’t as much Iron Man action as I might have expected.  Not a problem though as the story works well within itself and there is certainly never a dull moment.  We see a Tony who is as resourceful out of his suit as he is in it.

Guy Pearce is reassuringly brilliant as Aldrich Killian, as is Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery aka The Mandarin.  Both bring their A-game and lead Tony Stark a merry chase.  Of course RDJ continues to prove that there is no-one else who could embody Tony Stark and is still the ideal mix of cocky, suave and action hero.  Pepper Potts also has quite a major role in this outing, Gwyneth Paltrow has made this character her own; and she has seriously worked out for this film.

I’ve only seen Iron Man 3 the once and as I was concentrating on the plot I didn’t notice the direction too much, which tells me that it was capable without being spectacular.  Shane Black has only directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (which I’ve not seen) before this, so maybe it’s too soon to know what kind of director he’ll be.  DOP John Toll has been fairly active and has helped bring the likes of Braveheart, The Last Samurai and Cloud Atlas to our screens; so I guess Iron Man 3 was in safe hands as far as lighting/camera goes.

Another solid entrant to the Marvel Movie Universe; fun, funny and very entertaining.  But, well, you know, that’s just, like, er, my opinion, man.