Movie Review : Iron Man 3

"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men.
No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man."
-Elbert Hubbard.

Iron Man 3 is essentially a story about rediscovering yourself after some traumatic and overwhelming events make you realize how little control you have over life. It is about realizing what your true potential and abilities are rather than the image the outside world imposes on you after you start losing faith in yourself. Though the movie is called 'Iron Man 3' (Iron Man Three in the credits), it is basically about Tony Stark, the man behind the machine.

Tony Stark is a "piping-hot-mess" after the events of 'The Avengers'. His perception of the world turns upside-down when he encounters Gods, Aliens, a super-soldier from 40s and an "enormous green rage monster" during the events that lead to what is now being referred to as 'The Battle of New York'. Add to these the fact that he had a near death experience when he carried a nuclear warhead into a wormhole and then barely got out.
Yeah, that's right, you have a classic case of  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). Throughout the film, Tony Stark experiences 'anxiety attacks' whenever any mention of the events of 'The Avengers' is made. There is an article in Psychology Today about how Tony Stark in this film meets DSM criteria for PTSD. Now, as a "hobby" or "distraction", he continuously works on his suits, making more of them, during the day and during the night thanks to chronic insomnia.

You'll…….Never……..See Me…….Coming…..

A Guy (Pearce , pun intended) pledges revenge against Tony Stark because he was snubbed by Tony Stark on a rooftop some 12-13 years ago. He uses 'Extremis', a drug to alter the DNA to allow for regeneration of body parts to create an army of some sort of super-soldiers who were amputees but now have regenerated limbs. A side-effect of the drug was that it could become unstable, if not regulated, leading to highly exothermic consequences.

To cover up some accidental explosions the Guy creates a false terrorist 'Mandarin' who claims responsibility for the explosions and portrays them as terrorist attacks. When Happy, the 'forehead' of security is paralyzed in a Mandarin 'attack', Tony threatens the Mandarin. The Mandarin responds by blowing up Stark's house. Tony Stark is now left out cold in the snow with his suit that has no power and we have our movie.

So, Tony Stark with a dead suit that is only a prototype enlists the help of an 8 year old boy to investigate the bombings, find Pepper who has been kidnapped and finally save the day. Alongside, you have Rhodey investigating the 'Mandarin'.

The portrayal of the Mandarin who hijacks broadcasts and sends out terror threats is reminiscent of a time not so long ago in the real world. The revelation that the 'Mandarin' was only a false face under the control of entities that were essentially created by the system is relevant to the affairs of the current world. So is the initial monologue : "We create our own demons."

Does the man make the suit or the suit the man ?

The fundamental point that this movie stresses is that Iron Man's superpower is not an advanced state-of-the-art suit of armor but the intelligence of the man that built and operates the suit. After the events of 'The Avengers', Tony Stark is lost and believes that his suits are what are most important. He believes his suits would protect 'the one thing he could not live without', Pepper Potts(Gwyneth Paltrow). But after he is left stranded in the snow with nothing he has to use his ingenuity and skills to come out on top of the situation. As he overcomes various challenges he realizes the it was him that carries the suit and not the other way around. This is depicted visually in the scene where he drags the suit through the snow. According to the Internet, the scene is inspired Django(1966) where the protagonist carries an empty coffin through the snow.

Towards the end of the film we see that Tony stark has finally come to terms with his trauma and has grown and transformed. He says, "My suit was never a distraction or a hobby. It was a cocoon. And I'm a new man now."

The performances

Robert Downey Jr. steals every scene he is in. I believe several years down the line people will remember his performance along with Christian Bale's Batman and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and ,of course, Heath Ledger's Joker. The remaining cast is also very good. Ben Kingsley is scary and domineering in the portions he portrays the Mandarin and equally funny when he is the 'Ac-torr'.

Gwyneth Paltrow gives a solid performance. The banter and the drama in the beginning really establish Tony Stark and Pepper Potts as a couple of which we had only got a glimpse in 'The Avengers'. Her portrayal of a strong and independent woman in the beginning is impressive and she kicks some major ass towards the end rather than being reduced to a damsel-in-distress. Don Cheadle comes into his own as Rhodey in this movie and he and Tony Stark share a great camarderie. I did not mind Guy Pearce's and Rebecca Hall's performances but their characters lacked motivation. Child actors are usually the kiss of death for movies and thankfully the child actor did not have major screen time and I did not mind the performance in the parts that he was in. The dialogues were great and there was consistent humor throughout the film.

In summary, Iron Man 3 is a great and a new take on Tony Stark's character showing how he copes after the events of 'The Avengers'. The plot is simple and so is the villain as his motivations and backstory are under-developed. The performance of the cast is great and so are the dialogues. The music (no AC/DC) and the special effects were alright with nothing remarkable. The focus is on Tony Stark, the man, the mechanic and his transformation and growth. If you are looking for some mecha fights you will have to wait till the end.

Rating : 9.0/10.0