Iron Man 3 Downey Rocks and Paltrow Pops

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I was supposed to go see Oblivion today. My daughter Meg insisted that it would be money well spent because Tom Cruise shines in the film. But when facing the fact that Iron Man 3 was showing as well, it was no contest. That and the fact that Max (Meg’s significant other) was super excited about the film weighted the balance towards Team Downey and Paltrow.

I have seen all the Iron Man films and loved each and every one. But, third time lucky on a sequel that’s actually better than its two predecessors. That’s not to denigrate what director Jon Favreau accomplished with the first two films, but Shane Black‘s production was action packed mayhem that left you gasping.

Iron Man 3 sees Pepper Potts (Paltrow) and Tony Stark (Downey)  as a pretty solid couple. We have Stark narrating a sequence of events that start back in 1999 at Bern, Switzerland. Stark is attending a New Years Eve celebration and he “blows off” scientist super-geek Alldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) and this “inconsiderate” action comes back to haunt Stark later on.

*On a side note here; is there anything that Guy Pearce isn’t in? The boy from Ely, Suffolk, England seems to be in everything recently.*

Super villain Mandarin (Ben Kingsley in a role so far removed from his award-winning Ghandi it’s not even funny) is terrorising the world and worse than that, he’s controlling the television stations as well. When Mandarin harms Happy Hogan (Favreau) Tony takes it personally and not only does he taunt Mandarin on the “live” news, but tells him his address. 

Proving to be too much of a temptation, Mandarin attacks Stark’s home and blows it into the sea.

One of the best things about Iron Man 3 Ben Kingsley.
One of the best things about Iron Man 3 Ben Kingsley.

Don Cheadle is  back as Colonel James Rhodes aka War Machine aka Patriot Man. Rebecca Hall plays ex-girlfriend (one night stand) Maya Henson who, like Aldrich Killian, shows up to “haunt” Stark in the present.

This film was a real run-a-way express train of a film. It featured more action and explosions than the first two films in the series. It featured a villain that seems indestructible, as well as his minions, and had some brilliant bits of humour as well.

For the first time in ages, I actually heard an English audience laughing out loud! I was so shocked, I almost dropped my popcorn.

With a run time of 130 minutes (2 hours and 10 minutes) the film moves so quickly that it doesn’t  feel that long. Iron Man 3 has it all; pacing, action, great performances, brilliant plot and great story.

My only complaint came at the end of the film when it almost seemed like Shane Black looked at his watch and went, “Shit! Is that the time? We’d better wrap this thing up. Now!” The details of the ending will have to be “un-revealed” (no spoilers from me friends and neighbours) but suffice to say, it had a rushed feel to it.

So while I sit here drooling for the new “Avengers” releases that are upcoming, I’ll re-live the film I saw today and rate it at a 5 our of 5 stars for delivering an Iron Man that allowed Downey to rock it like never before and Paltrow to pop her part (sounds rude doesn’t it?) up into the stratosphere.

Don’t wait for the DVD or VoD, watch it now! This is a big screen experience you don’t want to miss!

Iron Man and Patriot Man.
Iron Man and Patriot Man.
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Author: Michael Knox-Smith

Former Actor, Former Writer, Former Journalist, USAF Veteran, Former Member Nevada Film Critics Society (As Michael Smith)

43 thoughts on “Iron Man 3 Downey Rocks and Paltrow Pops”

  1. Pingback: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005): A Gay Buddy Film | MikesFilmTalk

  2. hahaha your sunburned forehead did make me laugh though xD It was depressing descending into grey rain clouds I must admit! and the cold was a bit of a shock to the system coming from 20 degree heat to like…10 🙁 I’ll take chauvinistic men over rain and cold any day!

  3. Sadly you missed our one day of summery type weather, I got a sunburned forehead that is now peeling! *grumble*

  11. no worries .. i spend half my time fixing the typos, spelling, omissions, and a dozen other things on my blog. it keeps me humble though.

  13. Heh no bother, don’t be so hard on yourself ! I figured it would be something like that but then my comic book knowledge aint so great and no one else said anything – I thought I might be missing a reference. 😛

    But yeah, Ben Kingsley was my favourite thing in this – fun review 🙂

  14. No, it’s called me being a F*****g idiot! I re-edited this puppy twice and missed the change on the next reference to Mandarin, while writing the review, auto spell attacked and I didn’t notice…twice…Thanks for pointing that out and I’ve now sorted it. No joke…

  17. Funny you should mention KKBB because Max (my daughter’s fella) also highly recommended that… It is now on my list! Glad you liked the review and that I didn’t spoil anything! 😀

  18. Reblogged this on Films and Things and commented:
    AHHHH SO EXCITED!!! Finally going back to rainy old England tomorrow so am off to the cinema on Tuesday 😀 I could scream I’m so excited!

  19. Damn I caved -_- great review and you didn’t give anything away 😛
    I’m so excited for Tuesday I could scream! I haven’t seen RDJ in 3D since the atrocity that is The Avengers!
    If you like Shane Black’s style, check out Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang if you haven’t seen it already…obviously it has Robert Downey Jr in too 😉 I own *almost* all of RDJs entire filmography save a couple of really bizarre ones and KKBB is a close third to Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes 😀

  21. I’m a BIG Guy Pearce fan too. So, lots of good people in this movie.
    This summer is shaping up to be one of the best summer for movies in a long time. I’ve spotted at least ten pics that look pretty good.

  25. Good review, glad you liked it I just saw it myself and thought it was very good, did have a few flaws but nothing devastating 😀

  26. It is nice to see that she has a great sense of humour… although having said that, she’d have to working with Downey! LOL Thanks mate!! 😀

  27. Great “Iron Man” review. Paltrow guested on the “Tonight” show last night with Jay Leno and she was absolutely FUNNY!!!

  32. Hey thanks for pointing out my idiotic boo-boo! No, I didn’t triple check this bad boy and manage to miss it each time! LOL It is now sorted thanks to you keen eye! I hope you enjoy the film when it hits a screen near you! 😀

  33. I can’t wait to go and see this when it releases next week! Good review!

  34. Pingback: Iron Man 3, 100% & Shitfest 2013 | filmhipster
  35. Pingback: Iron Man 3, 100% & Shitfest 2013 | filmhipster

  37. I’m glad you enjoyed it – I can’t wait to see it next week when it’s out here in the US. But I should point out that the villain is Mandarin, not Mandrake. =)

  43. Ooh I’m going to see this one. Love the whole series (except Thor which really stunk).

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