Sunday, May 5, 2013

Film Review: "Iron Man 3"

BENEATH THE ARMOR: A SUPERHERO'S HEART by Bennett Campbell Ferguson


“We create our own demons.”  So says Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in the opening scene of “Iron Man 3,” the latest adventure featuring the billionaire superhero of title.  What is funny is that this is clearly the statement of a fearful human being, something Tony hasn’t seemed to be since the first film in the series.  Through “Iron Man 2” and “The Avengers” (in which he teamed up with other heroes from the Marvel Comics universe), Tony was reduced to a fast-talking miscreant, a man whose sole purpose was to toss off mildly unfunny quips and save the world with the aid of overblown special effects.  This makes it all the more surprising that in his latest movie, Tony finally seems to be a frail, touchingly vulnerable human being once more.

            Not that “Iron Man 3” is a good movie—far from it.  The plot, to put it kindly, is at best wacky and numb-skulled and at worse, stupidly inhumane.  It begins with Tony wrestling with post-traumatic stress brought on by the climactic battle of “The Avengers,” a condition whose depiction is remarkably unconvincing.  Whenever Tony gets an anxiety attack, he tenses and crumples to the ground in a flatly-staged shot—far be it from director Shane Black to actually try to evoke Tony’s fragile state in the cinematography.

            Nevertheless, there are some genuine threats.  A visit from the sleazy smirking scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) to Tony loyal girlfriend Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) is cause for concern, though not nearly as much as the threats of a terrorist called “the Mandarin” (Ben Kingsley).  While the Mandarin is rarely seen in the flesh, he claims responsibility for a series of horrific bombings.  In television broadcasts where he is often seen in deserts speaking to children, he threatens further destruction and lectures about America’s immorality.  A particularly menacing monologue involves his discussion of Fortune Cookies, which he labels as being like America—in his words, “Hollow and full of lies.”

            As I watched the Manderin’s televised monologues, I was reminded of the vicious threats issued by villains in the “Dark Knight” trilogy.  Yet ultimately, “Iron Man 3” has no intention of playing into the trap of unoriginality.  It turns out the Mandarin is in fact a drunken actor, paid by Killian to take responsibility for the scientist’s crimes.  In the end, the true villain is not the haggard, bearded man on TV, but his vengeful and immaculately groomed puppeteer.  Killian may refer to the Mandarin as “master” (an odd echo of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s title in “The Master”), but the film leaves no doubt as to who the real master is.

            Watching “Iron Man 3,” I wondered how diehard Iron-fans would feel about this twist.  After all, in the comics, the Mandarin was a real threat and the hero’s greatest menace.  And there’s no doubt that while making the main baddie actually an actor is clever and entertaining (and a bit shocking—it’s disarming to see a terrorist plot revealed to be something so banal), it is a side effect of the series’ overall reliance on rather weak comic tropes.  What made the original “Iron Man” such a terrific movie was that it was equal parts humor in humanity—it knew that neither element could mean much without the other.  One of my favorite scenes from that film was the moment when, just before the big climax, Tony tells Pepper, “I know what I have to do.  And I know that in my heart, it’s right.”  There was something incredibly beautiful about hearing a wise-cracking playboy utter those words.  He knew people might call him sentimental, but he didn’t care.  He knew who he wanted to be. 

            I wish the Tony Stark of “3” could be more like that.  Yet there are moments when it seems that he could be.  In the aftermath of the film’s big battle (which is a senseless slugfest atop an oil tanker), we see Tony rebuilding his life—standing in the wreckage of his home with the wind blowing, healing himself medically, and holding Pepper close with soft, tender look in his eyes that it is both sweet and painful to behold.  It is a little odd that this moment makes such an impression—Pepper plays a fairly small role in the film.  Yet her relationship with Tony has meaning.  They have been together for two movies now, making them the only true couple in superhero film history that his lived together and remained loyal to one another.  They may fight, but their squabbles are hardly worth mentioning, awkward arguments that only threaten to disrupt their happiness, not tear it apart.

            To me, romance lies at the heart of any good superhero film.  But be warmed—“Iron Man 3” is more concerned with superhuman matters.  In plot points that are hardly worth mentioning, Tony confronts fire-breathing maniacs, giant explosions, and Killian’s own vague, convoluted, and uninteresting agenda.  Moreover, Tony no longer registers as a real character—even when he’s bloodied and on the run, he appears preposterously relaxed.  And it doesn’t help that the movie’s craftsmanship often feels weak.  John Toll’s cinematography is oddly one-dimensional and the picture’s editors (Peter S. Elliot and Jeffrey Ford) leave key characters like Pepper off screen for awkwardly long amounts of time.  They are the casualties of a behemoth blockbuster that is clearly compelled to deliver action in greater quantities than any other element.

            And yet, for all that, I think that “Iron Man 3” has something.  It’s best qualities (the big twist and Tony’s love for Pepper) may not make it better than what it is, but they make it more than you expect it to be.  In the end, it left me feeling rather like Tony—shaken, yet oddly light and cleansed.







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