Jeolo started begging me to bring him to watch Iron Man 3 the moment he saw the trailer aired on TV. And last Monday, the two of us went on a movie date with matching Iron Man power meals from McDonald's and two buckets of popcorn.
I loved this installment better than Iron Man 2 because Tony Stark has been made to spend less time in his Iron Man suit of armor (more RDJ goodness!). Instead, we get to see him on a more personal level as he is plagued by panic attacks as a result of that last battle in The Avengers, how he tries to figure out his place in life, and how he reacts when his early years come back to haunt him.
Shane Black also managed to bring Tony Stark's character back to the man he was before he and his metal suit began shooting down fighter planes out of the sky. I particularly enjoyed how he MacGyvered the arsenal he used to attack the Mandarin's headquarters.
Speaking of the Mandarin, Ben Kingsley was absolutely perfect for this role with his deadpan delivery and weird accent. The twist in the middle of the movie left me shaking my head and laughing at the sheer unexpectedness of it. I was also glad to see Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts doing more than just being the damsel in distress.
And, like all Marvel superhero movies, there was no shortage of eye-popping stunts and special effects as well as snappy one-liners to keep the humor going.
I asked a comic book geek friend of mine how he found the movie and he told me, comic book-wise, it was disappointing. But geeky nitpicking aside, the movie itself was pretty awesome in his opinion.
By the way, if you haven't watched the movie yet, be sure to wait until after the credits finish rolling because the traditional Marvel extra scene is there. I actually wasn't able to catch it because Jeolo wanted to pee but I was able to watch it online before it was taken down. Science Bros forever! ;)
Mood Music: Iron Man by Black Sabbath