Director: Shane Black (also known for directing Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)
Taglines:
"Unleash the power behind the armor."
"Prepare for a heavy metal!"
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WHAT I WAS EXPECTING:
There has been a steady buzz that this will be RDJ's final stint as Iron Man (but i'm hoping that it wont be the case) so I was expecting a kick-ass story, mind blowing action scenes, some good ol' Stark humor, and lastly, an over-all better movie than the first two Iron Man films.
WHAT I FELT WHILE WATCHING:
I guess that's wishful thinking. More than half of the movie was boring. I felt a certain kind of awkwardness in relating to the characters, like it's the first time I met them, which to me is weird because Iron Man is my favorite superhero movie, thanks to RDJ. So to watch this without feeling any kind of excitement or any emotion for that matter is a horrible feeling on my part -- like im being disloyal to the franchise. So I forced a few laughs here and there. The biggest excitement I got so far was the time when I was about to take my first bite of my Big N' Tasty burger, YUM!
The first few scenes were bland. And seeing Guy Pearce in "pathetic nerd" phase was just so cliche that it made me wince.. seriously, can't they think of a better formula for a villain other than a scorned geek? What a waste. I wouldn't even dwell on the Mandarin/Killian storyline coz i'm not a comic book geek, so I don't care if they messed this up.
There were several good parts, but unfortunately, it's not enough for me. I'm not hard to please with comic book movies, but in this case, it just felt that the production team didn't exert as much effort as they have had in the first film, maybe they got lazy because it's possible that it's the last installment? I don't know.
Some characters are blatantly underdeveloped that I don't even care what happens to them.
The jokes fell flat most of the time.
Editing is all over the place. Like watching a reality show.
I also felt that the movie was lagging at some points, with uninteresting scenes/interactions (I didn't like Rebecca Hall's character. As boring as watching a plant grow. Action scenes are sparse in the first half. And it's just so ridiculous for Tony Stark to give his address as an invitation for Mandarin's attack and yet not even prepare for it. Jarvis: "this suit is not ready for combat yet" -- seriously? He may have been enraged by what happened to Happy, but to invite a terrorist to his home without any serious battle plan was kinda contradictory to his obsession with safety to protect Pepper. So that part was just silly to me. Unless I missed something.
And I understand that the theme of this movie is basically Tony Stark as Tony Stark -- with the Iron Man armor more like a side dish than the main course. So they have this scene in which Tony builds things from scrap materials, invade The Mandarin's hideout ala Jason Bourne and attacking the guards with home-made gadgets, for a moment, a flashback of Home Alone came to mind. LOL. Whether that's a good thing or not, i'm not sure. It was just comical to me, that scene. A grown-up Kevin trying to be Jason Bourne in a Tony Stark body. hahaha.
Anyway, not to totally piss on this film, RDJ as Tony Stark is still awesome, and the main reason why I love Iron Man. He's turned a bit darker (thankfully not Nolan-dark) but he has retained his humor and charisma so that's a plus point. The effects/CGI is fantastic and seamless. The music has a nostalgic vibe and made the film somehow relatable and personal in that aspect. Ben Kingsley is adorable. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts is one of the highlights of the film, like in the previous films, although in here I think she became more than cute, and levelled up to a fair amount of functionality and kick-assness lol. The scene with the Iron Man battalion was awesome! It's refreshing to see different Iron Man designs, there's one that even looked like Juggernaut lol. Tony Stark's bromance with Jarvis and Col. Rhodes is sweet and entertaining. :)
WHAT I FELT AFTER THE MOVIE:
Seeing that post-credit, I felt numb. THAT WAS IT? <--- My exact reaction. So not only did they slap me with that so-so third installment, they also have the nerve to spit on my face with that irrelevant post-credit clip? Okay. If there's ever a fourth RDJ Iron Man film, I'll just download it!
THE VERDICT:
Despite of my complaints, this is not a total failure of a movie.. The effects are solid, there is more development with Stark and Potts, and seeing those suits and Iron Patriot pretty much made up for what the movie lacked in characterization, substance, and plot.
Still, after this hot mess of a popcorn film, I would strongly suggest that Iron Man be sold for scraps to the junkyard. (i'm just kidding, i truly love RDJ as Iron Man.. would love to see more of him)
MY RATING: 3 /5 It's still a watchable film for the general audience, but personally, I think I wasted ticket money. I could have watched that at home. Won't be too much of a difference.
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