Features Film

REVIEW: Iron Man 3 (Mostly Spoiler-Free)

Extra Spoiler-y Bits (and Random Musings)

Iron Man army2

What’s up with Shane Black and a) setting his films at Christmas, b) the word “ficus”, and c) having people who are tied up or otherwise helpless smack-talk their captors? Not that we’re complaining, but it’s weirdly specific, a bit like Rian Johnson‘s having people respond sexually to the weather (see: Brick, Brothers Bloom, Looper). The fact that this time around, the ficus explodes and the smack-talk scene ends with the last guard simply dropping his gun and saying he always thought his employers were weird just goes to show Black’s own inventiveness.

Those near invulnerable, red-glowing Extremis-augmented agents are very Terminator-esque. Especially in the Tennessee bar sequence.

Unfortunately, we didn’t see the Chinese version, so no eight-minute extra scene for us. We’ll just have to wait for the Blu-Ray.

Shane Black manages effortless cool in the same way that Tarantino does, but Black seems less smug about it.

Doesn’t William Sadler‘s President look a lot like Mitt Romney? Plus the whole emphasis on national security and oil is very conservative.

This time around, the armor seems to have a bit of a personality of it’s own, and we’re not just talking about JARVIS. The climactic battle begins with Tony controlling his army of armors like a mix between a general and an opera conductor, and ends with him jumping from armor to armor in mid-air as one set is destroyed or another becomes more convenient. We weren’t able to keep track of all the different models – we caught the names Heart-Breaker and possibly Igor  -, but there’ll probably be a feature on this sometime in the near future.

Pepper finally gets to be a bit of a badass this time around, and yes, she does get to wear the armor. However, there were many questions left open as to what the future might hold for her.

The know-how and can-do attitude Tony displayed in the scene where he MacGyver’s together an assault kit to raid The Mandarin’s base reminded us of him assembling the first suit in Iron Man. Ah, good times.

Three words: Barrel of monkeys.

Fare thee well, arc reactor.

Stick around after the credits to find out exactly who Tony’s narrating his story to.

 

Well, that’s our coverage of Iron Man 3 finished. We hope you enjoyed it as much as you enjoy the film itself. Sound off with your thoughts on the film in the comments section below!

About the author

Robert Wallis

You can also read Rob's work at www.ofallthefilmblogs.blogspot.com.