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*****
After the painfully mediocre ‘Iron
Man 2’, Shane Black stepped aboard to take on, what appears to be the final
part of, the ‘Iron Man’ franchise. The ‘Iron Man’ films have always been the
better partners, in my opinion, of the other Avenger’s films, and this is
mainly down to Robert Downey Jr., an actor who can take on both the comedic and
tragic angles of Tony Stark, and this film is no different. Set in the
aftermath of ‘Avengers Assemble’, Stark is sick with anxiety that he can no
longer protect Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) as much as he would like after becoming
aware of the presence of aliens and something much bigger than himself at the
end of the aforementioned ‘Avengers’ film. This is how we meet Stark –
sleep-deprived, obsessive and experiencing anxiety attacks when ‘New York’ is
mentioned. But the world, more specifically America, needs protecting once
again, this time from terrorist lord, The Mandarin, who is strategically
blowing up key bases throughout the world, with the President next on the list.
The first thing to say is that
this doesn’t feel like a superhero film – it feels much more human than that.
Sure, Stark comes up against super-human threats, but for me, the film felt
more like a character study of Stark as he comes to term with what happened in
New York and the events unfolding around him, placing those he cares about at
risk. Downey is a very likeable screen-presence, probably why ‘Iron Man 2’ was
just about bearable, and here he makes the wayward Stark so personable that it
really tugs on the heart strings. Downey has one of those faces that makes you
believe in anything, and here I truly believed in the inner turmoil he was
going through – in the scenes where he has the anxiety attacks and wants to run
from the world, we are left in no doubt that Downey is an acting great. He and
Paltrow have a very natural on-screen chemistry, which makes their relationship
believable and obviously worth fighting for.
The supporting cast are also
excellent, with Ben Kingsley donning a dodgey wig and beard, and Guy Pearce
having a whale-of-a-time as fellow science-nerd, Aldrich Killian. His
transformation from flash-back 1999 Killian to present day is truly remarkable.
Rebecca Hall makes an appearance as old flame Maya, but her character is
essentially pretty pointless and a bit wet. James Badge Dale is perfect as the
maniacal right hand man, and Don Cheadle is back as War Machine… or Iron
Patriot, whichever you prefer.
However, there are moments of
comedy, that have previously annoyed me in the films (The ‘Puny God’ bit in ‘Avengers’
wasn’t funny – it was just stupid and irritating), but here it kind of works.
No one in the screening laughed out loud at any point, but some of the comments
did put a smile on my face. There are also moments of unashamed silliness and
over-the-top patriotism, but an aside from Stark and the film falls back into
place again. As popcorn-blockbusters go, you can’t really get better than this –
it isn’t just loud noises and girls their underwear, there are genuine undertones
of mental illness, sustained threat throughout, great acting and a hero to root
for.
No prizes for working out who the
product sponsor was, though.
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