The exciting–and curiously deviant–Iron Man 3 leaves lots of questions concerning the future of Marvel's Iconic Tony Stark.
ON CONTINUITY
ARTH VADER (AV): Iron Man 3 is a fun, frantic and fractured look at arguably the most iconic personality in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). As an Iron Man movie it was cool, but we got a little less Iron and a little more man in this third installment of the franchise. The MCU owes everything to Iron Man, Tony Stark and Robert Downey, Jr. This movie is the first big Marvel movie effort to drop in Marvel's vaunted Phase II, the first post-Avengers cinematic release and this film took a very strange turn for the Golden Avenger.
THE PONTIFICATOR (TP): Marvel has been pretty good with continuity within the movie universe they have created and this film is no exception. If you stuck around after the credits, then you saw the tie-in to the Avengers movie(s). Now if we are comparing it to the comics for continuity and accurate portrayal of the material, then there are a few areas where this film falls short... specifically, the Mandarin.
CASTING, DIRECTING AND ACTING
AV: It's been said once, if not a thousand times, Robert Downey Jr IS Tony Stark. Honestly, if anyone out there happens to be reading this blog and you don't at least know who Stark is, even just by earlier movies, stop here because NONE of what we have to say will matter to you. Marvel movies are nothing if they're not deep characterizations–and IM3 delivers. Curiously, Jon Faveau did not direct here and I, for one, noticed. 
TP: Everyone is back, and everyone did what was expected of them. Robert Downey Jr is Tony Stark, there is no question. Don Cheadle was given the opportunity to showcase why James Rhodes should be considered for his own film. It remains to be seen if he made the case well enough. Guy Pearce has established himself as a movie bad guy and just added to that legacy with his role as Dr. Killian. I expected Ben Kingsley to blow me away as the Mandarin, but instead was disappointed my expectations weren’t met... while at the same time Kingsley delivered within the role he was given.
AV: As THE premiere hero of Marvel's 'technology age' of comics, Iron Man is all about tech and SFX. This movie offers some very cool effects shots I will call out two of my favs. First, the Extremis villains are fantastically portrayed on screen. Watching limbs regenerate and hyper-intense molten skin shots were great to establish a sense of villainy–more than just another super-villain or tech robot. It's so well done, the effects feel understated and thats some of my favorite kind of SFX.
Next is the 'armored legion' of remote controlled Iron Man suits at the movie's finale that are a fitting tribute to (Tony) Stark's incredibly cool genius as an inventor, scientist and arms dealer-turned- power magnate. Watching almost four-dozen Iron Men onscreen at once.. well, it was enough to make me plotz. Pontificator?
TP: Although they were excellent as expected Vader, I also feel that there was an opportunity missed here to do something above and beyond, to push the envelope to a place we haven’t been yet. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t displeased with the effects... in fact I was very happy to see all the different armors although I wish they could have went more in depth with the differences between the types of armors. The tidbits they showed were just enough to wet my whistle, but I wanted to be dowsed in armor envy.
TAKING A DEEPER LOOK
AV: There were a few things that I took issue with in the film. First, I hated the fact that the Mandarin was essentially a joke. He's just way too cool a character (in the Marvel comic world) to laugh-off and make into some sort of dopey prop. Sir Ben Kingsly did a stellar job as a reluctant world-class terrorist – but it was still very disheartening.
Next, why is Stark blowing up all the armor? I love the story arc showing us how Tony is 'letting go' of the Iron Man persona and making the story more about Tony than about Iron Man, but seriously WHAT THE HELL? Are you kidding me? It's insane. Sure he can make more but… ugh!
Lastly… surgery to remove the arc reactor? Again, the storytelling aspect offered great symbolism but come on! That's why there's an Iron Man in the first place. I felt VERY much like Marvel was writing off Iron Man (yes I did read in the credits that "Tony Stark will return) but this was another huge mis-step to me. I'm not alone here am I Ponty?
TP: No Vader you're not alone. There was misuse... and missed opportunity. That about sums up this film. The Mandarin was a chance to really do something spectacular, and instead it was simply a plot point to take us somewhere else. That somewhere else we were taken was to another missed opportunity in the form of Extremis. Surprisingly they stayed pretty accurate with what it does and how it works, but to not have Stark incorporate it into his tech, as he did in the comics, was probably (and quietly) one of the biggest missed opportunities of recent filming. It was a chance to take the special effects a notch higher. It was a chance to springboard in the upcoming Avengers film. It was a chance to take the character into a new direction... something that would have added more punch to this film. It was interesting of them to play up Tony Stark more and show us more of the man inside the armor, but I went to see that man... when he’s IN the armor, with every expectation of going somewhere we didn’t go before. Unfortunately where we were taken wasn’t anywhere I wanted to be.ON SEQUELS:
TP: I would have been content if this was an Iron Man trilogy... and they moved on to other characters and more Avengers movies. If they wanted to, they could make many more Iron Man films than just the next, but to do so (and do it well) would mean they would have to really dig back into the source material and come up with something broader in scope, but narrower in vision... and that would take an effort that I’m not sure Marvel would invest in.
RATE IT!
ARTH VADER Rates Iron Man 3: All said, I really liked this movie. A loaded story that featured a lot more Man than Iron but that was ok (who wasn't delighted by Tony's interaction with the kid or the Tony Stark: Spymaster sequence where he uses his inventiveness to fashion a deadly arsenal out of stuff from Home Depot?). While it left me with tons of questions–what's the future hold for Iron Man/Stark? How did Pepper get surgically cured from a gene-altering injection? Why were the Iron Men so easy to take down?–but I gotta say, as ever, I was blown away.
Lots of humor, lots of great story and dialogue and a ton of Easter eggs for the fans (how about the giant "A" left standing in the rubble of Stark's house… West Coast Avengers anyone?). This movie is worth double the admission price –yes, I did it see it twice on opening weekend. All told, Iron Man 3 Repulsor blasts his way through to eight (8) glowing, white-hot busted blocks.
THE PONTIFICATOR rates Iron Man 3: A good film with great effects and maybe a little too much comedy, I can’t help reflecting on those areas and missed chances to make this film even better. It was entertaining and fun, and in the final analysis, this is the true measure of why I even go to the movies. Even through all of this, the movie was able to uni-beam seven (7) armored blocks.
Iron Man 3: 7.5/10 Busted Blocks
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