No matter if you are die hard DC or a Marvel maniac when it comes to the comics, you have to admit Marvel studios has ruled the cinematic universe for the last decade. With only The Dark Knight Trilogy coming from DC that can match the quality and entertainment of the Marvel products, the arrival of a new Marvel film is almost always highly anticipated.
Phase One ended in spectacular fashion with The Avengers last year so the daunting task of kicking of Phase Two was handed to everyone favourite Playboy, Billionaire, Philanthropist: Tony Stark. A very safe bet I have to admit, the Iron Man films by them selves have been really successful but the choice of Robert Downey Jr all those years ago as the man in the can was a masterstroke.
One complaint people had with Iron man 2 was it seemed to tread into familiar ground, after all it was another man in a suit as the antagonist. Something the Superman franchise suffered with, he hardly ever went up against anyone who could test his muscle, it was always someone thinking their way trough the plot. And many an Iron man villain suits up against ol’ shell head, it would be quite easy for this franchise to fall into the same trap.
Luckily this outing has a cocktail of evil to face up against, both physical and mental. With the muscle being handled by the Extremis Virus infused henchmen, an alternate to the Super solider serum. And the Big bad? None other then The Mandarin, here played by Sir Ben Kingsley, a character alluded to in the previous films.
The story begins before the first film, showing the rowdy care free Tony before the Afghan incident that changed his life and establishes his connections to two characters that shape the rest of the film, Extremis inventor Maya Hansen who is subtly played by Rebecca Hall, and A.I.M. founder Aldrich Killian (The excellent Guy Pearce). Lets just say Tony leaves a last impression on both individuals and not necessarily a good one for one of them. Snap back to the present and The Mandarin, who until this film was a behind the scenes kind of leader, is now spearheading his own unique brand of terrorism.
Following the events of New York Tony has not been sleeping and dealing with his own demons, so when one attack affects someone close to him he responds emotionally and irrationally which leaves him wide open to a direct attack from the Mandarin. A lot of this you will have seen in the trailers, so I can say it guilt free of giving anything away, but Stark ends up armour less. So in a stroke of genius we actually get to see more or Robert Downey Jr from that point as it becomes Iron man without the Iron man suits. It’s refreshing to see more of the man that has been the big draw for the series, and put him into new territory. The reason we like him is because he is a genius at the end of the day, what comes out of his whacky brain have been immensely cool, and by removing the suits this allows him to get inventive all over again.
And again, Robert Downey Jr is just damn entertaining to watch as always, this is a character he is comfortable with which allows him to just go for it. The dry humour and one-liners that got the audience laughing was almost always his. Not to say other characters were devoid of humour, Happy Hogan for example, once again reprised by Jon Favreau the former director, has a good few laughs in him. There is one other character that I hesitate to mention that provides some of the most unexpected laughs, but I will have to hold on to that one until I move into spoiler mode.
Speaking of supporting cast, the film is well rounded. Rebecca Hall provides the ghost of Tony’s past and a genius that can nearly rival his too, but Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts is nothing to write home about. Where other characters are back with a new toy or two, the same cannot be said of Pepper who for the most part is pretty boring. She gets a moment or two, for example she does end up in the suit and gets to have a bit of fun with that but other wise it felt a little phoned in.
Don Cheadle, who returns as James Rhodes AKA the War Machine…Sorry, The Iron Patriot, gets a couple of turns to show he can kick ass and take names in and out of the suit, but what is also important is the chemistry between him and Downy Jr. These two work well together, not only can they work together but they can bicker like any real life friends would.
Which brings us to the villains. Guy Pearce really does a lot of the heavy lifting for the Mandarin, and undergoes a hell of a transformation, not only physically but also of character which is extremely enjoyable to watch. Have him backed up by Extremis enhanced war vets now wielding super strength and additional powers and you have something very different for the audience to see. They couldn’t be further from bad guys in metal suits if you tried, literally being just flesh and bone. Add in memorable performance from Sir Ben Kingsley who thankfully steers clear of any specific stereotype you would expect for a character called The Mandarin, and you have a force that can truly test the name of the Invincible Iron man.
Its not perfect, it does have some faults, i mean the story does get a big weak at one point when it wanders into detective mode at one point but is neither clever enough nor complex enough to really be worth wile. I think it best that kind of stuff be left to the Batman should he warrant another outing, an area he has been lacking slightly in the past.
The special effects to bring the villains and the set pieces to life are all brilliant to watch, and it’s always great to see new additions to the armoury. At least Tony hasn’t been idle during the hours he hasn’t been sleeping, creating an army of visually striking armours. If they had been shown more or even put to use more during the finale I would have been even happier, but still it was pretty awesome.
All in all the film delivers in every area. There is something familiar from the previous films to keep the fans happy. There is something new to keep things from getting stale. There is lots of fun to be had with this first of the summer blockbusters. And there is more Robert Downey Jr. and lets face it, that man is just awesome. It doesn’t let Marvel down, and it should be making DC very nervous.
Now for a couple of spoiler related points, scroll down.
Still with me? Good. Now to get into some of the nitty gritty bits. The trailers don’t really delve much into the Extremis side of things, if you have read the comic I imagine you will have a fair idea of what to expect, if not then you are in for a treat. They are some of the more interesting visual elements of the film, as they glow read hot and wield their heat as a weapon against the man encased in metal. If any of you had seen Batman Beyond (Or Batman of the future as it was labelled in the uk) they reminded me of blight as they started to glow orange and you would see their skeletons under the flesh.
As you will have no doubt got from everything that came before this section you will have understood I really liked the film. However that is not to say it was without bits I didn’t like. And the biggest of those was the handling of the Mandarin. He is the equivalent of Superman’s Lex Luthor, Spider-man’s Green Goblin, Batman’s Joker, Captain America’s Red Skull, Thor’s Loki… And the reason I listed so many is because all of these Arch Nemeses got handled so well in the transition from page to screen. The Mandarin did to begin with, televised threats and executions, flowing robes and the ten rings accounted for. Accounted for is not the same however, as the name and appearance are where the similarity ended. Granted it was a twist but one already suited better to the Nolan version of Rha’s al Ghul.
Sir Kingsley delivers the serious and downright evil speeches perfectly, so too does he do out of work thespian given the role of a terrorist. Though brief, his comedic performance was brilliant. But that’s not the Mandarin, they were always a clash of technology versus mysticism, not a name and face for Killian to hide behind. So I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. There is a nice little touch though, as Killian gives his final speech, shirtless, we see that adorning his chest and shoulders are dragon tattoos, which bare an awful similarity to another great villain, the space dragon Fin Fang Foom. But a nod I suppose is all we will get for these two iconic adversaries.
As for Tony? Well there is a strange decision to have him remove his shrapnel and thus the need for his symbolic Arc reactor, not before having all his Iron Man suits self-destruct. So where does that leave him? Beats me. And if word is true that Downey’s contract to play the Iron avenger is now finished, or that he will return for Avengers phase two only, what else can be done? Surely they will not do a Spider-man and reboot him in five years time, so for the foreseeable future its pray that there is more of that same man to fill the tin can.