“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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