The third Iron Man movie (kind of Iron Man 4 following Avengers Assemble) starts with a curious music choice. Does anyone even remember Eiffel 65's blue?! Opening in 1999 at a New Years Eve party in Switzerland with Stark doing what he did best, being a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist with emphasis on the playboy bit. We are treated here to a cameo by Yinsen (Shaun Toub) who Stark was trapped in a cave with in te first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also present is Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian who plays a geek seeking Starks help in his scientific research in to advanced idea mechanics or AIM as printed on Kllian's T shirt. Stark fobbs off Killian leaving him alone on the roof while the year 2000 is being celebrated by everyone but him.

 

Bringing us forward to present day we find Stark constructing his mark 42 Iron Man suit. Stark is suffering from the events of New York and is struggling to sleep. In steps the terrorist Mandarin and his group the ten rings. The ten rings were introduced in the first movie but took a back seat. The Mandarin was origionally slated to be the villain in the first Iron Man movie admitted by Kevin Feige in his interview with Chris Hardiwick on his Nerdist podcast.

 

Tony begins to fnd out about the Mandarin from his friend and ally Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle once again returning as War Machine or Iron Patriot). As with the other Iron Man movies this one takes a swipe at government spin when the powers that be decide to rebrand War Machine as Iron Patriot. Here we not only find a Stark suffering from sleep deprivation but also from panic attacks. A good move from writers Drew Pearce and Shane black as it grounds he character following the epic events of Avengers Assemble.

 

The other villain of the movie was introduced earlier. Killian re-enters the fray as a new man having reinvented himself. Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) finds himself with a new purpose of protecting Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts played by returning Gwyneth Paltrow. Hogan investigates the men with Killian and in the process exposes a dangerous plot to bring down Stark.

 

After the Mandarin attacks Starks Malibu home he is stuck thousands of miles away from Pepper without Jarvis and without a suit which harks back to the first Iron Man movie where Tony had to rely on his own ingenuity to win the fight. An interesting scene where Tony infiltrates The Mandarin's hideout without a suit makes us realise that this is a Tony Stark we haven't seen before, fighting without his own Iron Man shield or weapon depending on which side of the fence you sit. Not only is Stark humanised in character but he also faces his own mortality. This is where we find out that the Mandarin is nothing more than a fake, a smoke screen created by Killian in order to mask his true intentions.

 

Iron Man 3 is an improvement on the 2nd movie and could have been great but the sillyness of the Mandarins character is detriment to the story of the film. I understand why the powers that be decided to play out the twist but having been promised the Mandarin since circa 2006 is felt like somewhat of a letdown when it transpires that Ben Kingsley's character is nothing more than an actor and a parody of the Mandarin. The saving grace is that in a Marvel one shot it is revealed that the Mandarin is in fact real and is out there somewhere. Hopefully one day he will feature in the MCU and it will be interesting to see Ben Kingsley return as the true Mandarin.

 

The action scenes are probably the best yet in an Iron Man movie and the part which really sticks in mind is the barrel of monkeys where Stark links with 11 government officials saving them from falling from their death after the explosion of Air Force One. The final battle is interesting where the extent of Starks work culminates in a fight where all of his Iron Man suits are used to combat Killians superhuman army.

 

The strongest part of the film is Tony's battle with his own anxiety which grounds the character and brings a new dynamic to the titular hero. Robert Downey Jr. once again proves why he was born to play this character and it is clear that he is central to the MCU. Going forward it seems there will not be another Iron Man solo movie for a while but where one door closes another opens and Downey's inclusion in Avengers Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War should fill the Robert Downey gap for a while longer.

 

MMM score 7.8.