Iron Man 3

Could Christopher Nolan's influence have also been felt in the Marvel universe? With Iron Man 3, we come to Phase 2 of Marvel/Disney collaboration that will arc over four movies excluding Avengers 2. Yet, this third installment of the Iron Man franchise bears more resemblance to The Dark Knight Rises than previous Iron Man movies. This is a movie that started dark and strived to be darker, and that may not be in its favour.

Some time after the events of The Avengers, Tony Stark is back, but perhaps not back in action. He's busying himself in his Malibu mansion, modifying and improving the Iron Man technology. Indications suggests that his playboy days are over since he started dating Pepper Potts, but more so, he's battling more urgent and deep anxieties. The emergence of a terrorist leader, The Mandarin, who perpetrated a series of bombings outside and within the US finally brings Tony Stark back into the fray and he dons his Iron Man suit to avenge the mortal wounding of his friends.

That pretty much summarises two of the film's five-act structure, unusual for a superhero film or Hollywood films in general. This contributed to a sense of disjuncture early on in the proceedings. It started with the tone; unlike Jon Favreau's lighthearted approach to the first two films, this one, helmed by Shane Black, is, well, bleak. For a PG-13 movie, this pushed the edge much more than any mainstream superhero movies thus far: more violent and lewd. It's also not a whole lot of fun. Which is fine, but those who came expecting a breezy summer fare might take a while to realise this is not that movie.

The movie is also uneven in itself. The first half of the movie was plodding and awkward. I felt shots were framed too tight. There were little to no use of establishing shots, and scene to scene was cluttered with colours, mise-en-scene, and CG effects in medium shots, and then actors in closeups. The editing was choppy, which slowed down the pacing through set ups and uninspired banters. This was a shame because I was expecting sparkling dialogue from Shane Black, but instead they were often tepid and plodding, mechanical, and generally unfunny.

There is genuinely good comedy here, but instances that worked were darker in nature, often involving unfortunate accidents to major characters. Tony Stark's alcoholism was suggested but ultimately abandoned (we don't want kids asking parents for Budweisers do we?). The pacing and directing got better in the second half of the film, but not devoid of awkward tonal shifts. Some scenes had better been left out (those with Ben Kingsley), and others felt too short (those with Rebecca Hall). Above all, we got very little of the Tony Stark and James Rhodes camaraderie - after all, Shane Black wrote Lethan Weapon!

Then came the last act, which was pure entertainment and did everything so well I almost forgave all. This was kick-ass entertainment, and it pushed the envelope in terms of Iron Man film tropes and the Iron Man mythology in the Marvel/Disney film universe. They finally managed to be able to plot out effective warfare involving Iron Man suits, and an exciting mano-a-mano with a villain which gives Tony Stark a run for his money (neither of the previous movies managed this well, and this was better than good).

Overall, I disliked this movie more than I liked it. It was ambitious in its scale and grasp, both to lay the groundwork for the Avengers 2 and also attempted to be weighty in its own right. But perhaps it tried too hard to be special and significant as to be a tad lugubrious. I walked out of the cinema pleased, but I didn't enjoy the overall experience of the movie.