MOVIE REVIEW: Iron Man 3 (2013)

The third and potentially the final installment of the Iron Man series struck me as an action packed, adrenaline pumping, violently quixotic piece of cinematic work, maybe even the masterpiece of the series - at least from the perspective of one who likes good action, explosives and mind-boggling explosive sequences. In that, the Iron Man 3 fulfilled the most banal desire of the XY species for not so totally mindless ripping of flesh, concrete and steel. I think that caps an otherwise good story of a billionaire who seeks to find himself in the chaos of the world and in so doing, finds love, finds connection, finds his raison d'etre. The first two Iron Man movies built the character of Tony Sparks (Rober Downey Jr.) presenting his struggles, personal and professional, to his eventual marriage with his longtime secretary and now Stark Industries chief Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

In Iron Man 3, Tony Sparks deals with the terrorist machinations of the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) who is used by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) as the face of his terroristic orgy, in revenge for Spark's humiliation of him in 1999 by making him wait hours in the rooftop of a hotel during a New Year's eve celebration. Killian invents Extremis to cure his disabilities, indeed Extremis enabled him to gain superhuman strength, developed remarkable healing capacities and breathe fire. Killian's desire to rise above his own physical insecurities has led him to overcompensate through Extremis.

I actually slept the first half of the movie, it seemed the sedate pace of the first 30 minutes lulled me into a sort of stupor which was exacerbated by the cool ambiance of the movie theater, I was awakened though by the spectacularly well-made finale on the docks.

Overall, Iron Man 3 was entertainment at its best, it served its purpose of wowing the audience with its unique take on Spark's more advanced Iron Man suits, the incredibly humane and empathic artificial intelligence Jarvis and the surprise metamorphosis of Potts as a super girlfriend when she was able to successfully integrate the Extremis virus into her body, giving her superhuman powers most women would envy.

Great summer movie is the word for Iron Man 3!