Iron Man 3 (2013)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: 'Iron Man 3' is the sequel that Iron Man 2 should have been, as it takes a similarly interesting character premise (this time Tony's PTSD after the events of The Avengers) and crucially takes it seriously.
  Yes rather than turning the central arc into a distasteful running joke, writer/director Shane Black allows plenty of time to delve into the character stuff that consistently makes these movies so good as he gets Tony at his most vulnerable and builds him up from there.
  That's an interesting thing to do after the rousing joy of the New York battle, but it works largely because Robert Downey Jr delivers a very successful serious performance that proves he can do more than just quippy bad-ass, but also because Black does a great job of bringing the arc to the forefront.
  In fact, it's arguable that the film works better than the first film in that respect as the third-act is a proper pay-off, and when you couple that stuff with more snappy humour (mostly in the right places this time) and some truly spectacular action, in the end you've got yourself a great sequel that does right what Iron Man 2 did so wrong, and may actually wind up the best of its trilogy.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Typical Shane Black... he makes this fairly basic plot completely incomprehensible. I mean the villain twist is fine, but the plans and motivations of the guy behind it all are so weak that it does actually begin to seriously undermine the entire thing.
  
  VERDICT: A great character-study that builds a proper arc for Tony and - crucially - takes it seriously, Shane Black's 'Iron Man 3' has its issues, but for all of those, I still think it's the best of its trilogy.

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