Iron Man 3 - The Final Installment

Today I had the great pleasure of seeing the third Iron Man movie, a perfectly delightful experience and only my second 3D experience if we don't count Disneyland. The movie is good, and as a recent fan of the franchise i was impressed by this movie, and feel that it is definitely a great improvement on Iron Man 2 and may even be better than the first installment. The film features the same cast as the previous installments, adding Guy Pearce as the films villain, and showing the events which take place after The Avengers, referencing these events, yet the film acts as a stand alone film, and doesn't require knowledge of the events referenced.

The film is a good sequel and manages to act dually as a sequel and the final in a trilogy, yet also as a stand alone film, which manages not to be too referential, and is understandable for those who may not have seen the others in the series. This post will be the last in my Iron Man trilogy, and i will try not to break my rules on finishing off trilogies, however i may write a spinoff post about the avengers! The film itself is the perfect example of how to finish off a trilogy, as it ties up all the ends, leaving a satisfying conclusion and finishing off the story arc of the main character, whilst leaving the options open for Iron Man 4 or The Avengers 2.

What is very exciting about this post is the fact that i saw it in 3D, and am thus able to comment on the effectiveness of the 3D effect, here it is rather effective without being over the top or in your face, there are for instance no moments in which objects obnoxiously fly out of the screen slapping audience members around the face, yet the effect is used to add depth, and is used effectively, yet not obnoxiously. There are moments when the 3D is very effective, such as a number of moments involving holograms and explosions, yet they are moments which would be unremarkable, and would not strike the audience in a 2D screening, yet which are simply stunning and remarkable is 3D.

The villain is pretty stunning, and this trumps the first two for this reason only, this is the first film in the series in which the villain is not simply a larger version of Iron Man, and instead we are given a villain who is more imaginative, and there is a clever twist in there too! We are also shown the rise of Don Cheadle's character into Iron Patriot, complete with a paint job, and we have a great buddy cop feel at the end, with war machine and Iron Man teaming up, this is also the first film in which Pepper Potts is placed right into the middle of the action, and which we are given not just a damsel in distress, but a real fighter, plus she gets to don the suit, which is pretty cool.

Now we come to the negatives, of which there really are not many, despite being a little convoluted and borrowing some plot points from The Amazing Spider-Man, the films script retains the funny witty dialogue from the previous films, yet has more heart and is darker than its predecessor, the film also benefits from it(s continued refusal to go to New York, and has the finale taking place in Miami instead, which is a nice change. Overall a great movie and a great story and a satisfying and fun conclusion to a strong superhero trilogy. Rating: A-

Tony Stark: I can't sleep, and when I do I have nightmares. Honestly, there's a hundred people who want to kill me. I hope I can protect the one thing I can't live without...