Iron Man 3

The eagerly anticipated third installment of Iron Man was by far the most poignant.  Displaying a more sincere and emotional Tony Stark who, in reaction to the extraterrestrial army he faced in The Avengers, finds himself battling severe anxiety attacks and a compulsive desire to keep himself and Pepper safe.  Work becomes therapy for Tony and as a result confines himself to his laboratory building an army of Iron Man suits.  When a new, more menacing enemy enters the scene terrorizing America and striking at Tony’s best friend, Happy, Stark makes it his mission to bring him to justice.   This IMAX 3D movie is full of adventure, special effects and, of course, the snarky comedy that has become synonymous with the brand.  It will not disappoint, unless you are hung up on details.  I initially walked away from the movie satisfied.  Then I thought about it and here is my conclusions- be warned- this is wrought with spoilers:

Item 1- from the trailers I thought the Mandarin was going to be BAD.  I mean, B-A-D, take no prisoners, kill your whole family, snatch a toy from a toddler playing in a sandbox-type bad.  I was just a bit disappointed that he was a harmless fun-loving actor fronting for the glow in the dark fire guy who reminded me more of a character from M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable than a superhero villain.   

Plus, I was made aware that one trailer for Iron Man 3 indicated that the Mandarin was going to have some kind of tie-in with Captain America as it showed his shield was tattooed on the super villain’s neck.  AND the Mandarin was supposed to have a special power with some rings… neither detail was explained or addressed in the final cut of this movie.

Item 2- Tony gets his heart fixed!  Can he even still power an Iron Man suit?  My comic book fiend friends say yes and that this twist is true to the original story line but I have got to say that I’m still a little hesitant to believe.  Particularly since the ending scene, you know the one after the credits, did not allude to Tony Stark returning.  Which leads me to Item 3…

Item 3- the final scene was funny but not what I waited all the way through the end credits to see.  I’m certain there is going to be an Avengers 2 so why didn’t the writers use this opportunity to start piquing our curiosity?  This was nothing like the endings of Iron Man 1 or 2. 

So, while the movie was worth seeing in the theaters with great effects, funny lines, and amazing actors, the story lacked the cohesiveness of a franchise and to me, lent very little, if anything, to the next Avengers movie. 

3.5/5