Wednesday 8 May 2013

So I saw Iron Man 3...

Most people will have noticed the hype and utter craze surrounding the release of the third installment of the Iron Man story so I went along to give it a watch.

Being a massive Marvel fan (sorry DC you’re cool but my heart belongs to them) I knew I had to go and see this film, however I was a little dubious at first, this was mainly due to the film #2, which in my mind left a lot to be desired. This was probably because of the villain and lack of story, but I’m not one to be put off easily. For those of you that haven’t seen Iron Man 2 (and evidently live under a rock) the villain was Whiplash, who had basically no back story so was a bit confusing and had pretty shitty powers. This was joined by the compromising of Tony Stark’s character because of the way he was shown in his relationship with Pepper. I personally (remember it's an opinion) just think that in film #2 Tony wouldn't have been the sort of boyfriend they portrayed him as so that his cheeky character and lack of any ability to show emotion was over looked. Simply to get gushy romance stuff involved, and who wants that in a superhero film!? Don’t misunderstand me here, I love Pepper, she is awesome, strong (like seriously I want to be her, she's ma fave) and when their “ship” name is Pepperony, a pizza topping, it must be love. My issues with the Iron Man franchise was pretty much fully rectified in Avengers Assemble where Tony was as bad ass and sassy as ever also his interacting with other characters was more what I imagined him to be like. They even managed to include Pepper and it not be disgusting, romances should not be the main focus of a superhero film.

 The story line in #3 was amazing right from the start, it begins back in Tony’s playboy days and shows how perhaps being an utter man whore might come back to bite you in the ass (and not in the good way)! Without giving spoilers away the bad guy, The Mandarin, threatens the life of Tony but now his weakness is showing, the one woman that could make him succumb to a socially acceptable relationship, Pepper. Needless to say Tony isn't best pleased about this and ends up having to run off and save the world, as per.
The villain in this piece is an old Chinese man that seems hell bent on destroying America for its lack of morality. He makes a brilliant bad guy obviously to make up for the crappy last one, he’s creepy, powerful, pretty psychotic and has a twist to his character (little hint for you there oooh).

There’s a lot more complexity in Tony stark’s character too, his relationship with Pepper plays a large role (but not so big that it ends up being a mushy mess that makes you want to vom all over their faces) but he is also thrown into unknown territory where he needs to learn to go back to basics and trust a rather unlikely ally (another little taster). It had everything, with the added bonus of the typical Marvel humour which is always appreciated... oh and of course the appearance of Stan Lee.

What made this film so great was its ability to draw you in with huge, climactic action sequences but evened out with a deeper more substantial story that keeps your attention. Many films don’t manage to get an equal mix of both these things, it’s no easy feat.
Over all the film was pretty powerful, fun and had a fucking awesome soundtrack, well done Marvel! This film is perfect for all levels of superhero fan, even if you don’t consider yourself a fan at all, it’s comedy, fantasy, action, slight romance anything you could want in a film. If you haven’t seen it yet I urge you all to do so, now ... like right now!

Oh and don’t forget to hang about until the scene after the credits, especially if you enjoyed Avengers Assemble (and one more ooooh eeer).
There you have it, my views on Iron Man 3 ... it was freaking epic.