“You can take screwdriver or any toys, but it's something no one will ever take from me.I am Iron Man”
Two lines from the movie, spoken by the inimitable Robert Downey Jr, kind of sum up what has turned out to be one of the fun-nest super-hero movies in recent times. If you enjoyed Avengers, Iron Man 3 will rock you once again.
So, how did Iron Man become the coolest super-hero of our times, for a generation that has grown up worshipping Batman, imitating Spiderman, and applauding Superman. Even the Hulk had a greater fan following. When did Iron Man trump these guys? This is what you’re wondering, as you walk out of the theatre, at the end of the movie.
Firstly, I think it’s the casting and the characterization of Iron Man, which is the biggest coup. For a relatively unknown super-hero to the masses, the canvas was wide open for Kevin Feige (producer) & Jon Favreau (director for Iron Man 1 & 2) to build nuances into a character that make him human and super-human at the same time. And then Robert Downey Jr playing the role in a way that only he can, just transforms Iron Man into someone who we can’t believe we didn’t know too well only 5 years ago (That’s right, Iron Man 1 came in 2008!)
Then (and perhaps more significantly) the one thing that is unique to Iron Man (and not so for the other super heroes) is the fact, that there is no secret identity. Can you believe that! A super-hero that everyone knows is Tony Stark, the big tycoon! That’s the most unnerving (for any super hero fan)and yet the most powerful aspect of Iron Man. He is as ‘dabaang’ as it gets. No hiding behind a regular-guy personality of Peter Parker, or Bruce Wayne or Clarke Kent or Bruce Banner. In fact, it is this very fact, that we know the regular-guy behind Iron Man, that makes him a super-hero. Strange and yet powerful.
In fact, the reason why Iron Man 3 is brilliant is because it blows this aspect of Iron Man into its ultimate and complete form. It’s Tony Stark’s story all the way - his insecurities and fear of losing his one true love, Pepper (“I have to protect the one thing I can’t live without, and that’s you”), his sleepless nights & periodic nervous breakdown, his story of the past that has created the villains for today, even his challenge to the evil terrorist The Mandarin (“I'm not afraid of you. No politics here. Just good old fashion revenge”) that becomes the raison de’ etre for the start of all the action in the movie - it’s all Tony Stark.
And yet, it is done in an Iron Man way, where the ‘man’ takes all of it on the front foot, without any soppiness (unlike the one you see in, say, a Spiderman movie). Yup, Iron Man may be a man (and therefore have his vulnerabilities) but he’s not going to sit and cry about it to millions of his fans (he’s made of iron from inside too). Like he says to the boy “Dads leave, no need to be a pussy about it”.
It’s Tony Stark’s story in the movie, and it begins with a flashback, where Tony Stark remembers pissing off some scientists decades ago, laying the base for them coming back to get even with him today. Parallel sequence of events happening in current times with a terrorist (called the Mandarin, I’m sure the Chinese are not happy) is threatening to blow up American cities and the President. One such terrorist attacks mortally injures his friend and chief security officer, which leads to Tony Stark issuing a public threat to the Mandarin, actually giving his address on National Television. The Mandarin gets to his address before the fans do, and destroys his abode completely, nearly killing Tony and Pepper. Tony escapes & with long distance help from Jarvis (his A.I. assistant), he puts pieces of evidence together from similar terrorist attacks of the past, uncovering the secret behind the Mandarin and his humans-that-explode technology. Without his house, equipment or even his Iron Man suits, Tony Stark still manages to get to the source of the evil, expose the villain & saves the president, america, and the day (in the night).
The action sequences (especially when seen in 3D) are fantastic and full paisa-vasool. Tony’s house being destroyed, the exploding people going red n orange before going off, saving the White House staff thrown off from Air Force One, and ofcourse the final climax, where there is not one, but multiple Iron Men fighting on remote control.
And the many new characters in the movie, spark off new interest and twists that add a lot of flavor to the irrepressible Downey - be it Guy Pearce as the menacing Aldrich Killian, Ben Kingsley as the terrorizing Mandarin, the abandoned-but-smart kid that gives Tony his second lease of life, Jon Favreau (Iron Man ex-director) as his chief security officer Happy Hogan, and Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen (OK, she was quite forgettable, actually)
Throughout the movie, we see and hear Tony Stark as being not just Iron Man, but a whole lot more. It’s one super hero movie, where they keep reminding us that the hero is bigger than the super hero. In fact, there are many sequences where we see Iron Man & Tony Stark in the same frame, but separate from each other - be it when Tony is in bed with Pepper, or be in the final action sequence where many Iron Man suits fight independently of Tony. Further, we see while anyone can become Iron Man, by wearing the suit (Colonel Rhodes wears the suit, the bad guy wears the suit, the president wears the suit and even pepper wears the iron man suit!), there is only one Tony Stark, the hero, the super-hero
Shane Black (first time director of Iron Man series) totally rocks this film and creates a fast paced complete blockbuster entertainer. And yes, we loved the references to the Avengers throughout the movie (“Nothing’s been the same since New York”). Thank You Mr Black. This is how super hero movies were meant to be.
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