VIDEO: The Schmoes Know Review IRON MAN 3

KRISTIAN: The summer is officially here, and it’s marked with the return of Tony Stark and his Avenger alter-ego, Iron Man. Going into “Iron Man 3” I was pretty excited; the franchise needed a fresh jolt and director Shane Black appeared to be the man for the job. I loved his “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (also starring Robert Downey Jr), and the chemistry between director and star could be the key to reinvigorating the Iron Man legacy. And for the first half of this film, it certainly did. In a near-perfect set-up, we get caught up with Stark’s ups and downs since the events in New York (depicted in “The Avengers”), and we meet one of the more menacing screen presences in recent film history: Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin. The humor, action and plot development set us up so well for what could be the best “Iron Man” yet…and then a twist happens. No spoilers here, but it took the wind out of the sails…whether fanboys love it or hate it, I can respect the bold attempt but simply don’t think it pulled it off. The action sequences late in the film help right the ship…there’s everything from incredible mid-air heroism to Iron Men bailing out their creator in more than one instance. It’s a feast for the eyes from start to finish, and Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are solid contributors. As an “Iron Man” film, with all that character has done to establish Marvel as the comic book film kings, I found the third installment enjoyable but a bit of a let-down. However, as a fun summer movie experience, it’s a great ride that gets our season off to a hot start.

SCORE: 4/5 Schmoes

MARK: Following last summer’s epic “The Avengers” is like trying to follow the Rolling Stones at Wembley Stadium…how can anyone top what just happened? It’s a daunting task for sure, but if there’s one guy up to the challenge, it’s Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr returns to his iconic rock-star/scientist/tinkerer role…and he’s brought his pal Shane Black to direct. Everyone else is back too: Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts (now officially his love interest, no teasing about it), Don Cheadle as Rhodes and Jon Favreau as the comic-relief body guard. This movie gets off to a hot start as the jokes come flying fast even as we learn not all is well with Tony’s post-Avengers mental state; however he better recover fast: the evil Mandarin is making some classic comic-book villain tv appearances and looks to be a formidable opponent. Guy Pearce’s slimeball is also lurking around with a mysterious new technology…it’s a lot to handle, but Black’s direction ties it all together marvelously for almost an hour. But then it takes some twists…and turns…and stumbles. Some bold gambles with the story direction aren’t my biggest problem; it’s that they appear to also take the heart of the movie out of the equation. The characters who seemed so real and three-dimensional revert to being your run-of-the-mill heroes and bad guys. Some eye-popping action sequences at least make this a worthy summer endeavor for movie fans, but it felt like “Iron Man 3” got such a big lead in the first half, it was content to run out the clock late in the game. Like Tony Stark himself, maybe we all have a little bit of post-Avengers traumatic stress syndrome.

SCORE: 3.5/5 Schmoes