Well, it looks like Tony is plagued by some sort of superhero complex. One that conjures nightmares and an unfathomable foreboding. Well, one could say that’s because he has a habit of pissing off the bad guys, and that could make it a little tough at all those villain UN meetings, eh? Is our normally jovial, cocksure crime fighter suddenly feeling a little unsure of himself and his abilities? That’s the premise to Marvel’s latest offering. Tony Stark, a man conflicted.
The official Marvel synopsis says:
Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?
Well, we could argue that in order to be a super spectacular superhero you kind of need your super suit to do it. No suit has ever said, “Hey, I’m just looking for a swaggery, sarcastic, jackass so I can do my thing.” But that’s neither here nor there. In this latest installment, it’s evident that Marvel wanted to go dark. And that’s pretty par for the course in the land of super dudes. It can’t all be saving the world to great praise. You’ve got to be tested and find your true inner strength, right? Sigh. Yes, right. What seems to come to fruition based on the trailer as one of Iron Man’s bigger tests, if not the biggest, is going up against Ben Kingsley’s “Mandarin” who according to the 2007 comic, is some sort of Chinese warlord with a castle that has a “gauntlet of security devices” Iron Man must overcome. As others have noted, Kingsley’s accent seems a haughtier Jor-El than big Chinese terrorist warlord.
That’s all well and good, but we’ll just echo a sentiment read today, in that we don’t really look forward to too much of a fantastical nature in this movie a la Thor, because Thor was a big blue giant mess of irascible overuse of CGI and silly goofball antics. Thor as a character was much better drawn in last summer’s The Avengers, for which we give credit to Joss Whedon. Stepping into the director’s and screenwriter’s chair for Iron Man 3 is Shane Black, whose only other directing effort was 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang , but has a few notable screenwriting credits, including Lethal Weapon 1 & 2, The Monster Squad, The Last Boy Scout, Last Action Hero, and The Long Kiss Goodnight. So we have faith that Black will deliver on the darker, edgier, grittier action front, and may be able to nail Stark’s snarky lack of modesty, which is pretty integral to his character and a place where Robert Downey Jr. excels. The interesting thing to note from the trailer is the American-flag inspired armor, which confusingly seems to be Iron Man now with patriotic kung-Fu grip. It’s actually War Machine, played by Don Cheadle. Perhaps we’ll see some evolvement or maybe devolvement of this character.
Rounding out the cast is Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Poops) (urgh), Guy Pearce (Aldrich Killian), Rebecca Hall (Dr. Maya Hansen), and James Badge Dale (Eric Savin). Jon Favreau declined to return as director after the last two movies, the second of which veered perilously into the realm of schlock, but will appear as an actor in this film, playing Happy Hogan Tony Stark’s bodyguard and chauffeur. He’ll also remain as executive producer.
All in all, we’re pretty excited to see what Black will do with Iron Man in this movie. We expect explosions and a total dismantling of Stark’s world, and given Black’s credits with Lethal Weapon, maybe we’ll see Stark go all crazy, pop a collar bone out of socket, and then go on a rampage, but mostly we’re hoping for a better take on the story than its last effort, some new villains to sink our teeth into, and even less Pepper Pots. What? C’mon. Sure, fine. We expect her to be more integral since she’s one of the few things Stark cares about. Either way, Black, don’t take us back down a road where Stark is just a jerkface version of RDJ. He’s got some good acting chops. Use ’em.
