Iron Man 3 Review: You Know Who I Am
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Iron Man 3
Director: Shane Black
8.5
Where to Watch Iron Man 3?
Phase 2 begins with the ending of the series that started it all, Iron Man. This was a very important movie for many reasons. Firstly, this was the first movie to be released after Disney bought Marvel so it no longer has the Paramount logo and just starts with the Marvel Studios. Secondly, this is the first movie to come out after The Avengers and so the hype was huge for this one.
Thirdly, we had no idea if we would see Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man after this movie. While The Avengers had been a huge success, typically characters only had three movies. Trilogies were the most common form of series and especially for superhero films there were typically only three. The Dark Knight trilogy had just wrapped up, Spider-Man had a trilogy, and so did the X-Men, why should Iron Man be any different? Now obviously this wasn’t the only reason audiences thought this as Robert Downey Jr.’s contract was up, so even Marvel wasn’t sure if he would come back.

Given that, this movie certainly gives off the vibe that this is the end. It has many moments that seem to indicate the conclusion of Tony Stark’s story. There are so many moments, particularly at the end that seem to set up this as the end for his character. Watching this now can give this film a weird vibe because on the one hand, you feel as though this is a send-off to the character but then on the other you know he is back two years later for Avengers Age of Ultron, so it ends up just feeling like a fake-out ending.
With that being said I quite enjoy this film and think it hits in all the ways it intended to. However, my one complaint would be that I wish Tony had defeated Killian because if this had been his final film, I wouldn’t want his final villain to be defeated by Pepper. Don’t get me wrong I like Pepper and I like that her character gets to be in a couple of action scenes I just wouldn’t want her to defeat the big villain. She gets a moment in Phase 3 where she really gets to shine, but we will talk about that later.
To get back to what I like about the movie I think it was a brilliant move by this movie to ask the question, who is Tony Stark without the suit? For years, playground debates have argued that Iron Man is only a man in a suit who can’t hold up against any other heroes. This movie challenges that concept completely by reminding audiences that Tony Stark is a certified genius.
To this point, he is probably the smartest character we have met yet except potentially Bruce Banner. So this movie shows that he can still be a hero without his suit. This is probably the first MCU movie that basically requires you to see the last film. Up to this point even with Avengers, you could skirt by without seeing the previous films. Here, if you haven’t seen The Avengers you will be missing out on things. Tony’s PTSD from the Chitauri invasion is evident and you can see it is consuming him.
Instead of talking to Pepper or Rhodey, he dives into his work creating as many suits as possible to protect in his words” the one thing I can’t live without”. This obsession with being prepared for imminent threats will continue for Tony in the following films. I like to see that Rhodey gets more action in the film with the Iron Patriot armour playing a part in the villain’s plot similar to Iron Man 2. The villain reveal to me wasn’t a big deal and when I saw it, I did find it funny.
I wasn’t familiar with the Mandarin so it being switched to Trevor Slattery wasn’t a bad thing and I actually found that Ben Kingsley did a great job with both roles. Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian was good though he wasn’t the most creative villain that has been in these movies. He is another anti-Tony Stark similar to Justin Hammer.

I will talk about it in more in the next couple of reviews but I like how all the sequels address what happened in The Avengers and how characters had to react to the events. I already addressed Tony’s PTSD but it will compliment the others’ reactions that we will see. Another cool thing is seeing Iron Man fight someone with superpowers. Up to this point, his movies had been him fighting tech-based villains and in this one, we get to see how he fairs against supervillains. My favourite scene is definitely the airplane rescue where Tony has to use his smarts to catch all the falling civilians before they hit the water.
All in all, this is my second favourite of the Iron Man films and one of my favourite MCU sequels. I think it does a good job showing a different side to Tony Stark and manages to balance being a finale to the character while leaving the door open for more adventures. So round out the Iron Man trilogy with the film that reminds you that even if you take away his suits he is Iron Man!