Review of Iron Man 3 (2013) by Pseudoscopic — 04 May 2013

THE GOOD: Iron Man 3's first premise was to have characters not only stepping out of the shadows, but back into the shadows as the aftermath of The Avenger's eats away at a once over proud Tony Stark. His struggle throughout adds so much more development to the character and truly makes him feel more human than the vain main-man we are used to seeing.

The villain aspect, albeit untrue to an extent, is still refreshing for someone who knows about the comic equivalent but isn't a complete fanboy that will pick holes. Everyone to their own, but I would much rather see a film that surprises me than one where I'm given the outcomes I expect.

Generally, cinematography, sound and every other technical aspect are what you would expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or any other high budget movie for that matter; from loud, intense action sequences to the slower moments filled with emotion.

THE BAD: I can't completely justify their treatment of the villain being a comic book fan, although refreshing and unexpected what infuriates me the most is the plot holes/unjustified use of references to 'The Ten Rings' in previous movies.

Although Tony Stark was, for the first time since the opening sequence of the first movie, emotionally human again, they jam packed this film full of Robert Downey Jr's humour even in moments where it wasn't necessary. I know he has a charm that suits Tony Stark perfectly and don't need to be reminded of it every second of every movie, even in potentially life threatening situations. I understand heroes are bad***, but they are meant to be relate-able too.

OVERALL: This movie is definitely worth a go, even for the sceptical comic book fans as this isn't an adaptation of a single comic storyline, but more of a different interpretation of the character and the foes he faces.

With the premise of rotating characters to and from the shadows, let's not forget that Iron Man 3 is living in the shadows of 2012's comic book movie explosion, I think expectations may have been set a little high but Iron Man 3 tries it's best and delivers as much as possible.