Release date in Malaysia: 26 April 2013Genre: Action, superhero
Running Time: 131 minutes
Director: Shane Black
Writers: Drew Pearce & Shane Black
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley
Synopsis: Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?
Verdict: After the slightly disappointing Iron Man 2 (2010) and the success of The Avengers (2012), one may question how the future sequels of individual Marvel titles are going to work out. Surprisingly, Iron Man 3 turned out to be quite a smart continuation, focusing on Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) coping with his post-Avengers struggles and self-reassurance of his superhero capabilities as a natural human being. Contrary to the trailer, this sequel isn't dark nor did it ditch its cool factor and comical humour. The level of entertainment makes the movie's obvious flaws and plot holes (see spoiler section below) very forgivable for me. The fans of the original comics may feel disappointed with the villain Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), but I thought the unfaithfulness works this time.
Second opinion: "Very nice and cool; more enjoyable than the previous films" (girlfriend).
To watch in 3D? I've seen it in IMAX 3D and I think there shouldn't be much of a difference between a 2D and 3D screening. Either that or the 3D effects of Star Trek Into Darkness' exclusive 15-minute preview shown before the film are just too much better (can't wait to watch that one), making Iron Man 3's effects less significant.
Post-credit scene? Yes, of course there is, it's Marvel. But probably not worth the time waiting (refer to the spoiler section below).
Rating: 4 / 5
[SPOILER SECTION BEGINS HERE]---------------------------------------------------------------
Obvious flaws, plot holes & illogical scenes: Characters are burnt in several scenes but their clothes are intact. Pepper (Gwyneth Pattrow) never gets serious cuts even when shattered glasses or sharp metals fall on her. The motive of the villains are very unclear (or just unconvincing). When the passengers fall off the plane at tens of thousands of feet in the air, all of them are not in shock and are calm enough to do as Iron Man says to save one another. In some scenes, Tony Stark can be seen talking to his AI, Jarvis, without his ear piece. Tony Stark secretly keeps an army of Iron Man suits at his place, doesn't that make his struggle of rectifying Mark 42 a bit pointless in the film? The love of his life, Pepper, falls into the flames and presumably dies but he's still able to deliver some jokes while battling Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). Pepper comes out of the flames, uses her new found superhuman strength, wears the Iron Man glove in mid air and defeats Killian easily... whaaat? She must be a natural, I suppose.
Post credit scene: Just Tony Stark telling his story of what happened like a psychotherapy session to Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who's asleep all along. It's lame and doesn't say anything about the upcoming sequels but just because it's these characters, majority of the audience were amused. This final scene ends with "Tony Stark will return."
