Iron Man 3

IRON MAN 3

Jeri Jacquin, Movie Maven

Jenise Jacquin, Film Brat

Opening in theatres on Friday from director Shane Black, Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios comes the next installment of the most anticipated IRON MAN 3.

This film continues with the life of Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), who is suddenly even more aware of his mortality. Having a life with Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) now seems much more important. However, his past is about to play catch up with him.

Some years back Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) tried to speak with Tony about work he was doing. Put off by the beautiful Maya (Rebecca Hall), Killian is left out in the cold.

Now Maya shows up on Tony’s doorstep to talk about research he barely remembers.

The world is in chaos with The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) on the loose. Things are blowing up and the world is being threatened by a madman! When one such explosion hits close to home and affects his friend Happy (Jon Favreau), he has no choice but to step back and find out who The Mandarin is.

Now President Ellis (William Sadler) and Vice President Rodriguez (Miguel Ferrer) are being targeted and Tony needs help from the smallest, Harley (Ty Simpkins) and most unexpected, Iron Patriot (Don Cheadle) people.

It’s going to take everything he’s got to stop a madman!

Other cast include: James Badge Dale as Savin, Stephanie Szostak as Brandt, Dale Dickey as Mrs. Davis, Xueqi Wang as Doctor Wu and Paul Bettany as Jarvis.

FINAL WORD FOR FILM BRAT: Downey’s performance was great. I thought that he portrayed a softer side of Tony Stark in this film with a more grown feel without giving up playfulness. Paltrow finally gets a chance to be a badass and nice to see the relationship between them grown with the slight twist of the role reversal. Cheadle is in the film but nothing really stands out about his performance. He’s still as gullible but as patriotic as ever.

Pearce is so creepy, even though he did get hot later, is still creepy. Kinglsey is my absolutely favorite character. I didn’t like him in the beginning because I thought his character was awful but then it turns around and is well put together. The whole idea is well planned and executed.

I give IRON MAN 3 it a four out of five.

FINAL WORD FOR MOVIE MAVEN: Once again Robert Downey, Jr. gets to wear the CGI wardrobe of this superhero. Fans will not be disappointed in his performance. In the first two films there is this careless and carefree Tony Stark but with this film a more adult character. It seems he sees the affects of his actions more clearly. Not that he doesn’t still make mistakes from time to time – just little silly ones that make us love this character.

Paltrow as Pepper isn’t taking anymore of Tony’s shenanigans! Knowing that sometimes Tony needs a tough upper hand taken with him, she is the woman for the job. In this film she gets a chance to see what its like to live in the metal skin of a superhero.

Cheadle gets to wear a more colorful suit this time out but I’m not quite sure what his role in the film actually was except a backup for Tony. Nothing wrong with that but here he seems to not be smart about his choices. Kingsley as The Mandarin gets to really go all out here and I can’t say more than that without spoiling anything (and I hate spoiling things!). Just know as much as I adore Kingsley – this film reminds me why.

Pearce as Killian is hard to talk about here. Not that his role isn’t a good one but – it honestly reminded me of Jim Carrey’s role in BATMAN FOREVER as Dr. Edward Nygma. I guess I just couldn’t get past that enough to enjoy the character.

I give IRON MAN THREE three and a half tubs of popcorn out of five. The film runs 130 minutes and although personally I could have found 15 minutes to cut out I’m sure fans will be happy. If you are a glutton for punishment feel free to sit through the 10 minutes of credits for the 3 minutes of something extra.

In the end – unleash the power behind the armor!