The Movie: Iron Man 3 (2013)
Studio: Marvel Studios
Director: Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes, Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian, Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin, James Badge Dale as Savin, Stephanie Szostak as Brandt, Paul Bettany as Jarvis (voice), William Sadler as President Ellis, Dale Dickey as Mrs. Davis and Ty Simpkins as Harley Keener
Screenwriters: Drew Pearce and Shane Black
RottenTomatoes: 78% MetaCritic: 62/100
Snippet from My Review: (read my full review here)
Iron Man 3 is a perfect example of the kind of film a studio hopes for nowadays. It’s easy to digest and should satisfy all quadrants. It’s violent without being so, such as one gruesome head-crushing scene which is only heard not seen. The word “shit”, I believe, is uttered once and an army of Iron Men fly around blowing things up. The risk in making this film is zero as long as you stay within audience constraints and can ensure people walk away saying, at the very least, “Well, that plane crash scene was worth the price of admission alone.”
Starter Questions
Here are a few questions to help get the conversation started.
1.) There’s always talk of superhero fatigue, is it possible Marvel is running the risk of character fatigue now with three Iron Man movies in five years and The Avengers, which was largely an Iron Man centered film as well?
2.) At what point are you able to stop looking ta a film seriously and simply enjoy it for the spectacle? Do you believe Iron Man 3 is a film that forced you to do that, or did it satisfy you on a cerebral level as much as it did a visual level?
3.) I didn’t mention Shane Black’s direction much in my review, primarily because I never felt much of a directorial signature on the film. Do you agree or do you believe Black brought something to the film that it otherwise may have lacked?
Now share your thoughts on the film in the comments below and feel free to include spoilers.
