Friday, May 3, 2013

Robert Downey Jr: The MVP of Marvel - An Iron Man 3 Review





A few weeks ago, I heard a rumor that Robert Downey Jr. may be stepping out of the Iron Man suit and my heart was broken.  In my mind, no one could replace him as Tony Stark; I mean he is Tony Stark!  Then I thought to myself, why would he come out and say something like that...does he not like the movie?  Has he burnt himself out on the character?  Will his performance not be on par with the last two Iron Man movies or the Avengers?  All my worries were put to rest the minute Iron Man 3 started. 

I am a huge fan of the first 2 Iron Man movies.  I love the way Downey portrays Stark. It is his humor, arrogance and heart that truly makes Iron Man the superhero we all know and love.  To me he is the MVP of Marvel because, frankly, without the success of the first Iron Man, would Marvel have the dynasty it has today?

You can always argue that sometimes the third installment of a movie franchise is not a good idea. Storylines are stretched and characters are watered down in order to cash in on fans, e. g. Spiderman 3.  Iron Man 3 does none of that.  It is a fresh, new installment that is completely satisfying to the fans that have been there since the first movie and are faithful followers of the Marvel Universe. 

We pick up right after the battle in New York with the Avengers.  Tony is having a hard time sleeping and seems to be suffering from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).  Now that he has been exposed to other worldly dangers and survived falling through a wormhole, he’s worried that he can’t protect the one thing he has learned he can’t live without, Pepper.   The threat in Iron Man 3 is not alien, but a terrorist that has his sights set on America and ultimately Iron Man.  I don’t want to give anything away in this review.  You owe it to yourself to stay as spoiler free as you can for this movie.  The reveals and the story are so well done that spoiling it for any viewer would be very un-fangirl-like for me, and I just don’t want to take away an ounce of entertainment from anyone who is going to see this movie.
 

Iron Man 3 was directed and written by Shane Black (director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and writer of Lethal Weapon).   He breathes new life into the series while staying true to what makes it work.  The action sequences are fantastic.  Not only did I hold my breath during the destruction of Tony's home, I had real emotion at some of the scenes as they were playing out.  The movie constantly surprised me and kept me on my toes.  The humor and one-liners were some of the franchise's best and it can be argued that it may have the best one-liners ever uttered in a superhero movie!  I will not spoil it for you, go see the movie and leave your comments to be discussed at a later time.

The rest of the cast does a great job. I particularly loved Ben Kingsley's character, The Mandarin, who portrayed the perfect villain, but, in the end, it is all Downey all the time!   I wish they had kept the name War Machine though; Iron Patriot just didn’t do it for me, perhaps if I was part of the focus group for that one! Lol Inside joke in the movie!

Some of my friends who are comic book fans had a few issues with the villain and some other themes throughout the movie, but overall they said they still enjoyed it.  Sometimes I’m glad I don’t know too much of the back-story of these Marvel characters. I like the movie versions and I wouldn’t want to have the argument with myself of comic Marvel Universe vs. movie Marvel Universe. 

Anyway, it wouldn’t be a Fangirl Adventures review if I didn’t gush a little bit about how handsome Mr. Downey is in every scene of this movie!  The bloodier and more banged up he is, the hotter he gets and Dawn and I loved his dance moves.  Shake what your mama gave you Robert, shake it!!  lol

Overall, I give this movie a 9 out of 10 stars and it restored my faith that Robert is in no way done with the Iron Man character or franchise. He will be back and with a new, clean slate!

Make sure to stay all the way until the end of the credits, you will not be disappointed with the gem that Marvel has left for patient viewers.  :)

Till we meet again,
Lisa

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