Iron Man 3

Word on the street (and, by street, I mean Entertainment Weekly) is Robert Downey Jr. might not be back for any future Iron Man endeavors, and that is definitely a shame if it turns out to be true. When these moveis lean toward the mediocre, Downey Jr. is the one who saves them from themselves. It's hard to believe anyone will be able to fill his shoes and fill the character with the perfect mixture of charm, wit, humor and cockiness. Downey Jr. is perfect for Tony Stark / Iron Man, the way Harrison Ford was perfect for Indiana Jones and Heath Ledger was perfect for the Joker.

My feelings about Iron Man 3 are so mixed that I barely even know where to start. Director Shane Black takes over for Jon Favereau here and I think that was a good thing. He injected a much needed dose of adrenaline into the series. However, at times, it's maybe a bit too hectic. I think Black had a lot of great ideas, and maybe he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to do this again, so instead of streamlining all of his ideas, he more or less decided to put every single one of them into this movie. Iron Man 3 takes place after series of events that took place in The Avengers (and the characters talk about those events A LOT... too much) and it finds Stark suffering from anxiety after his near death and unable to sleep. Instead, he's been tinkering with a new suit that comes to him and forms onto his body when he beckons. Soon, he has a whole lot to worry about other than his insomnia. A mysterious terrorist calling himself The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley, having an absolute ball) begins making serious threats against the president. Plus, a swarmy scientist (Guy Pearce) is making a play for Stark's lady Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

That's about as much plot as I'm willing to get into. The plot is long and confusing and I seriously have no idea how any of the ten or twelve small children who were in the same theater as me had any idea what was going on at any point. Although I guess it doesn't matter. The plots of these movies take a major backseat to the special effects and the action sequence. And while it takes a good 45 minutes to get to any action sequences, each one is bigger and crazier than the one before it, until we get to that final chaotic scene which is so over the top it's almost ridiculous (okay, it's totally ridiculous and I have yet to decide if that's good or not). So, the plot is long and meandering. It takes us back to the 1999 and Stark's encounter with a brilliant botanist (Rebecca Hall) and it takes us to the middle of nowhere, Tennessee, where Stark forms a sweet but completely unnecessary bond with a small fatherless boy. It takes us from houses being destroyed to over the top battles on deserted boats. All the while there are three things that are holding this whole crazy ship together.

Okay, maybe four, if you count Gwyneth Paltrow's abs which are seriously RIDICULOUS. I have literally not been able to think about anything else in the last three days. Those abs are definitely getting me through my latest attempt at planks. But I digress.

Robert Downey Jr. is the shining star here, as he almost always is. He brings so much to the role of Tony Stark that, like I said, it's impossible to picture anyone else in the role. He sort of phoned it in during that last Iron Man movie (or perhaps that script was just such a mess that he didn't know what else to do), but he's definitely back in top form here. The second this is the direction by Shane Black which, while a bit crazy at times, is also refreshing. You can tell he's having the time of his life, that he feels the unadulterated joy of making a movie like this and that sort of energy is seriously contagious. The final is Kingsley, who steals all of his scenes as the Mandarin. Without ruining anything or saying too much, there is a plot twist involving his character which I vehemently hated and nearly ruined the movie for me, but Kingsley at least plays it well. He plays it better than any other actor could. He goes for it, completely and totally, the way very few actors could, and possibly no one else could pull off.

These few saving graces bring Iron Man 3 to a place just above mediocrity. It's definitely no where near as good as the first, but it is better than the second. If it's the end of the Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man age, I think he deserved a little bit better.

Grade: C+