What Can I Do

BeautifulBallad took in an advance screening of Iron Man 3, directed by Shane Black, last night, April 29. This is the third film in the Iron Man series and the first of Marvel’s Phase 2 which picks up a few months after The Avengers’ battle in New York City.

Tony Stark, haunted by his near death experience in New York City, has become obsessed with creating Iron Man suits, in order to protect himself and those he loves. This need or “distraction” as he Tony would call it has such an impact on his everyday life that begins to cause a rift in his relationship with girlfriend, Pepper Potts.

To make matters worse a new terrorist is on the loose, The Mandarin. The Mandarin’s plan is to publicly execute the President before Christmas Day. When the terrorist’s plot hits too close to home, Tony takes things into his own hands and seeks revenge. In the process he learns there is more to this villain than meets the eye and that sometimes a person’s past will come back to haunt him.

As a standalone film, Iron Man 3 is worth seeing on the big screen. The story is a bit slow in the beginning but once things get underway the movie becomes engaging and entertaining. The veteran cast (Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Don Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts) brings their “A” game once again. The newcomers, Ben Kingsley (The Mandarin), Ty Simpkins (Harley), and Guy Pearce (Aldrich Killian), bring to life a slew of different characters that you can’t help but like. Scenes between Tony and Harley definitely had me rolling with laughter.

However, as a continuation of The Avengers I found the film to be a bit underwhelming. There were many points throughout the film where one can’t help but ask, “Why weren’t the Avengers called in for this?” or “Why is Iron Man doing this on his own?”.

Overall, I found the film to be incredibly enjoyable and a good stepping stone for the next few films in Marvel’s Phase 2 series. I do have two pieces of advice to those who plan to see it. Firstly, do not pay to see it in 3D. The 3D was done in post production and does not add to the film. Secondly, stay through the credits. As with most Marvel films, there is a post credit scene that is a must-see