Iron Man 3 review

With last year’s ‘Avenger’s Assemble’ raking in $1.51 billion at the box office, Marvel’s next comic-book movie was always going to have a tough act to follow. Taking the wisecracking Tony Stark back to his roots – and away from his super buddies – ‘Iron Man 3’ crowns the trilogy with a smart, slick fireball of a summer blockbuster.

[Related story: Disney in Iron Man 3 ticket dispute]
[Related story: Downey Jr: I believed I was Superman]

Joining a growing list of unusual names to be handed control of Marvel’s precious panels, Shane Black (writer of the ‘Lethal Weapon’ series) steps into the shoes vacated by Jon Favreau behind the camera – lighting up the screen with his trademark fan-savvy dialogue and bravura action set-pieces. Avoiding clichés, breaking conventions and winking at the audience, Black’s ‘Iron Man’ is a movie fan’s movie. The funniest, loudest, cleverest of Marvel’s movies – it’s only a clumsy last act that keeps it from greatness.

Still aching after saving New York from an alien invasion, billionaire playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is worn out. Settled uncomfortably into domestic life with his girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Stark spends his days tinkering around with his mechanical suit and his sleepless nights suffering from anxiety attacks. Enter ‘The Mandarin’ (Ben Kinsley, making a strong bid for the greatest of all big-screen supervillains), the dastardly terrorist leader who provokes Stark into action after a blistering aerial attack on his Malibu beach house. Licking his wounds in snowy small-town America, Stark has to (literally) build himself back up for retaliation. There are other stories being told too – Don Cheadle is flying around the Middle East as ‘The Iron Patriot’, Rebecca Hall is messing around with genetics and Guy Pearce is putting the moves on Paltrow’s Potts – all unexpectedly coming together for an over-grand finale.

Black might crowd the screen with stomach churning levels of CGI during the final few minutes, but at least he has the guts to start off slow. The quipping, deadpan Robert Downey Jr (who worked with the director on his 2005 debut ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’) has never sounded more at home than when he has a Black script tucked under his arm – and the quiet, droll scenes between him and orphaned youngster Harely (Ty Simpkins) are more memorable than any 3D fireworks. Not that the scattered set pieces don’t impress, with The Mandarin’s first attack and one freefalling airplane rescue eclipsing anything else in the series so far.

Slicker, funnier and more grounded than his other costumed friends on the big-screen, Tony Stark has always found the fine line between Spider-Man’s colourful kids show and Batman’s grown-up gloom – with ‘Iron Man 3’ representing the best he has to offer. Newcomers to the Marvelverse might find themselves lost in the CGI smoke, but long time fans will be cheering in the aisles.