IRON MAN THREE Review: The whole world's gonna be watching

Critic proof is a term in the "business" that means that no matter what is said about a film, good or bad, it don't matter. Audiences are still going to flock to it due to how popular it is. The film, good or bad, is going to make an assload of money, and in many occasions, it's going to loved by a group of people that threaten anybody who writes a bad review of the movie. This has happened to films that nobody has even seen yet. It's called the Rotten Tomatoes effect.

IRON MAN THREE is a movie that no matter what you say about it, good or bad, it won't matter. You're already there. You already buying a ticket. If you're not buying a ticket, you will catch it when it comes out through home video release. Yet, you shouldn't really have to worry much about being disappointed by IRON MAN THREE. There are a few story problems here and there, most of it coming with the last five minutes, but IRON MAN THREE is a damn solid entry in the Marvel Avengers series, and the best IRON MAN film in the series.

Director Shane Black hasn't made a great superhero movie - he's made a great Shane Black movie. IRON MAN THREE is as Shane Black as it gets. The dialogue, the buddy-comedy feel, the detective aspect of the film, the Christmas setting, and high risks - these are everything that Shane Black brings to this film. If you love the LETHAL WEAPON films this is great. If you love KISS KISS, BANG BANG you'll fall in love.

If you haven't seen KISS KISS, BANG BANG, why not? It's one of the best films of the last decade.

There is so much to love about IRON MAN THREE. The acting is fantastic. The action is intense and very well-shot. The script allows for so much character development while bringing the laughs. And even though there are a few storytelling problems, if we never had to see Tony Stark again, this is a great way to close his storyline.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has been dealing with some sort of anxiety disorder/PTSD since he just barely made it through a wormhole in THE AVENGERS. He hasn't been able to sleep, and due to his problems, he has been going down to the lab and working on his different Iron Man prototypes. He has been able to do this cool thing by actually not walking in the suits, but being able to control every movement and talk through it. He almost gets away with it talking to his girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow).

Seriously, how awesome would that be if there was a way to escape a girlfriend's complaining like that?

But Stark's world, and the rest of the world, have been threatened by this terrorist that goes by The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), who considers himself a teacher and drops "lessons" from time to time, which are really bombs. But they're not bombs, because bomb markings are never found at the scene. And after Tony's bodyguard (Jon Favreau) is caught in an explosion and is thrown in a coma, Tony sends a threatening message to The Mandarin through a news interview. Fifteen minutes later, the Mandarin responds back and blows up Stark's mansion. Tony and Pepper escape, but Tony is sent all of the way down to Tennessee.

This is just the first half hour, and there is still so much story left. I haven't even began to explain that Rhoads (Don Cheadle) has settled into this Iron Patriot life, a nerdy scientist named Killian (Guy Pearce) hits on Pepper and he may or may not have some kind of part in this Mandarin stuff, and one of Tony's ex-girlfriends (Rebecca Hall) has come to warn Tony something.

But all of this is all fine and dandy, but the best moments of the film come after the opening thirty minutes. Tony Stark, while in Tennessee, teams up with a little boy named Harley (Ty Simpkins). The boy helps Tony get back on his feet and serves as Tony's motivation. The problem with the character of Iron Man is that there aren't so many great Iron Man villains, but the best villain of Iron Man is Tony Stark himself. We will probably never see a DEMON IN THE BOTTLE storyline in a film, but this is probably the best we will ever get.

Shane Black, who made his whole career on buddy comedies, is able to create this dynamic between
Tony Stark and Harley. For the first time in Tony Stark's timeline (at least in these movies), he feels like a true human being. Shane Black brings this life-quality that Jon Favreau never brought to this character. Essentially Harley is the same person as Tony is - he has daddy problems, loves science, and has a little cocky edge to him. But Harley brings out the human in Tony. It's some of the best moments in any superhero film.

And there are many more great moments too. I loved every scene Ben Kingsley was in. He really stole the movie away at many points and the "reveal" scene is fucking perfect. Another great moment in the film is when Tony Stark breaks into the Mandarin hideout and gets by the guards by using a bunch of homemade tools to take them out. The scene in the trailers that show everybody falling from the plane is probably the best superhero saving scene since SPIDERMAN 2's train sequence.

But there are quite a few problems with this film, and one of them is Stark's PTSD. I liked the scenes that it was used, but I would have liked to see Stark truly overcome this instead of just seeing him breathe his anxiety attacks out. That would have been a better defeat than any big action finale (and this one's big and still a lot of fun to watch). The last five minutes is kind of problematic, but I can deal with that.

Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwenyth Paltrow are just as good as they were in the first film, but the true star in this movie, aside from Ben Kingsley, is Don Cheadle. The character of Rhoads has become so much more likeable than the last time we saw him. Maybe it was a better script (I don't want to blame IRON MAN 2 on the writer's strike like everybody else does, but it don't mean you couldn't make a half-decent fucking film), but Don Cheadle really brought something to this role. For the first time playing the character, he actually looked like he was having fun.

There is a lot of Phase Two talk after this one. The movie promises a lot of great stuff in the future for the Marvel Avengers movies. The new THOR looks pretty good, and even though I still question the choice of directing in CAPTAIN AMERICA 2, I am interested in the way they shoot this film. (It also doesn't hurt that they assisted in the making of the first three (and good) seasons of COMMUNITY.) And fucking James Gunn is directing GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. This is too good to be true. Marvel has not only become great storytellers, but they really care about their product.

It also doesn't hurt if Shane Black directs and writes every movie there-after. Because Shane Black is awesome. And so is IRON MAN THREE.