Random Thoughts-Iron Man 3

Hey there folks! It's been awhile since I talked about a movie I had seen in theatres. As you know I don't go often. But I did see this one and I wanted to tell you what I thought. I promise, no drawn out plot breakdown. Short, sweet, and spolier free (I hope).

First let's go back a bit. First, I was never a loyal Iron Man fan in the comics. I did see the first  movie and ended up enjoying it much to my surprise. I missed the second movie, but I saw The Avengers and Tony Stark was easily my favorite character in that film. I am not a hardcore Iron Man fan, I am going in as an average movie goer. So, what did I think about Iron Man 3? It was really good!

First of all, I liked how the movie doesn't ignore The Avengers movie. In fact when the movie begins Tony Stark is dealing with issues directly as a result of that film. Very nice touch. As I said I missed the second film but I never felt particularly lost with this one. I was able to catch up and learn what I needed to pretty easily. This movie seemed to have a bit of a dark tone to it, which is ok but honestly I would have liked something a little more comic book-ish, like The Avengers was.

The plot isn't bad,  but I do have one gripe about it (don't I always?). The movie seems to want to make the villains a surprise so bad, when it's really no surprise. At least it wasn't for me. I mean does every movie need to have a surprise twist villain? Just establish the villain and move one. Especially the final reveal of the movie which was so tacked on, the movie could have worked just fine without it.

Also while Ben Kingsly was surprisingly good as the terrorist here I had mixed feelings about what eventually happens to him. Not to give anything away but it felt like the writers took a step back with that character to give themselves an out which you are either going to think is hilarious or really dumb. Honestly I am veering into the really dumb category. It was well acted but it changed the whole tone established in the first 2/3 of the film which was kind of omnious and dark. I can't say more without spoling it but it may have been the films biggest mistake.

The supporting cast was solid, no arguments there. Jon Favreu was good, Don Cheadle was good. It's funny but everytime I seem him in a movie I end up really liking him. I will admit that that was  the one area I really missed not seeing the second film, but as I saId I wasn't totally lost or anything. But the best was Gwyneth Paltrow who was just fantastic. Again I don't want to spoil anything, but she doesn't play the classic damsel in distress and actually gets in on the action. Ok, one small spoiler. The scene where she wears the Iron Man suit was awesome!

Tony Stark was great in this movie. I have always been a fan of Robert Downey and this movie is no exception. This could easily be one of my favorite characters ever given all the baggage he has here. Like I said they didn't forget the events from The Avengers, and we see a Tony Stark suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. It's a solid performance and there are no complaints here.As for the main villain, Guy Pearce was ok. Rebecca Hall wasn't bad either but I wish they had developed her a bit more.

And of course the most important part, the action. I was very satisifed with the action scenes here. They were noisy and moved fast but not at Michael Bay levels where it just becomes to much. There is one scene involving an airplane which is very well done.The final battle is satisfying enough, and the way the movie ends it really feels like an ending. A lot more satisfying then the way DKR ended.

I do feel the plot could have been tighter here and there. The villains powers are not explained well enough and several new characters are introcuded but not developed well. But this is all nitpicking. So would I recommend the movie? Absolutely, while I can't say if it was better or worst than the second film I can say it was never boring, had some light moments, and the plot was never so confusing I couldn't follow it. I did wonder why Tony didn't contact the other Avengers given the nature of the story, but it's cool. The final battle is satisfying and I can say that I am happy I saw it.

Let's hope The Man of Steel is as decent!