Iron Man 3 Review

   Iron Man 3 Review:

     

   

Iron Man 3 is like combining Die Hard 1, T2: Judgment Day, and Iron Man! I was right that Extremis would be involved, but I’m not giving spoilers. There’s some good action and nice character development (Everyone knows its after the events in Avengers.) We learn a lot about how Tony Stark regains his faith in others, how he relates to his suits, and how he deals with threats around him. The threat this time is threefold.  No spoilers, but lets just say it’s the three big ones: Mandarin, a rival industrialist, and a former associate.

   The biggest obstacle though is Tony Stark himself, a little stressed (Shall we say…) from the events in Avengers. He comes to the realization early on that he can’t deal with every threat, and theUS government doesn’t think he can either.  So, not only is everything he loves at stake, but also his confidence. Major themes here include trust, man vs. machine, man vs. self, and of course…in plenty of explosions and fights, man vs. man. There’s plenty of that Tony Stark humor too, that makes me proud to identify (probably most.) with Iron Man aside from his dependence on technology.

    Oh! And I was right about another thing! There’s betrayal…but it wasn’t who I expected the movie to pick. People who have read Extremis should see it right away. That’s the only hint I’m giving! Needless to say though, Iron Man…well, Iron Man is Iron Man! His machines are part of who he is, which also play a role in how he sees himself, grows, and deals with terrorists/bad guys. If you take it all away, he’s still Iron Man. He can’t be everywhere physically at once, or deal with every threat at once, but he has connections anyway! Some really good comments on the nature of terrorism and its inherent relationship to the media. It essentially does what Die Hard 4 failed to do which is: make a good action movie about modern threats to society/digital crime/terrorism, and do it with style. With Tony Stark! Move over John McClane!

    But, at its core for me was the theme of man vs. machine. Will machines exist to serve us, or take away our humanity in the interests of particularly “modern evil”? (Terrorism, media, corporate greed etc…) I don’t know…I think as a disabled man, I pick up fairly easy on the man/machine symbiosis! Sounds heavy but, the movie put it all on the line and eventually Stark himself reveals the answer! A fun movie that definitely raises the stakes. In my view, it might even influence modern action movies outside of the superhero/sci-fi genre. It really plays with the psyche of the character and in the end we come full circle. No doubt he’ll be ready for Avengers 2 as cocky and high-tech as ever! Highly recommended and fun!