Story
Taking place sometime after The Avengers, Iron Man 3 follows Tony Stark as he struggles to get past the stress the Avenger War has caused. As he deals with his personal demons, a terrorist leader named The Mandarin is using this time to instill fear in the United States by using a strange new explosive that does incredible damage. Tony must face his demons and rise up to try to stop the Mandarin least he lose everything near to him.
Review
While I am not that into comic books, nor have I read a single Iron Man comic, I have to say that I have become a huge of of the movies. At least the first one and Avengers. I was not much of a fan of the 2nd movie mostly because it lacked a real intimidating villain and some of the scenes were just way too convenient for my liking. I did like seeing Tony evolve as the Iron Man but the movie for me was nothing special. So with a love for the first Iron Man, a meh to the second, how did the third one hold up?
Well right away I really got into the Post-Avenger Tony. The writers could have easily passed up the chance of incorporating the Avenger plot into the movie but they kept it very close to Tony and I felt this was a huge step in character development. Seeing Tony struggle with the memories of the invasion including dealing with the knowledge of aliens, gods, and super humans was really fascinating. It was a total plus for this film.
Included with his personal struggles comes his dealings with Pepper, his girlfriend and assistant. Each film in the series really shows their bond as well as how strained they’ve become during this post-Avenger period. I have always enjoyed seeing the two of them interact.
Moving forward, we come to the storyline. The story follows a terrorist named The Mandarin as he tries to teach America a lesson. He does this by using a new weapon that causes a small but deadly explosion. The only problem is no one is able to determine what kind of weapon this is! Tony Stark, already under a lot of stress, decides that enough is enough and challenges the Mandarin directly which leads to a vicious fight for survival
Now Tony must rebuild not only himself as a person, but as Iron Man as well.
The acting is superb. Everyone plays their roles beautifully – from Pepper being the stressed, worried, but strong-willed girlfriend, to Tony as he is breaking down mentally and emotionally while still keeping that smart-ass attitude, to the villains who keep themselves coming off as a legit threat throughout the entire movie.
Fantastic action sequences perfectly placed throughout the film gives a balance between drama, comedy, and explosions, and the ending was very satisfying.
If I were to have any complaints, it would be that there are some moments of “Oh, that’s convenient”. It happens maybe a few times but not as bad as I’ve seen it in other films.
I love the humor, I loved the action, I love seeing Tony Stark struggling as both Iron Man and as a human mortal. It really sucked me in and entertained me from start to finish.
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to be entertained by a good story, character development, comedy, and action.