KATHMANDU, May 10: The first half of Iron Man 3 slacks through Tony Stark’s anxiety attacks; he is still haunted by the images of alien invasions of New York (The Avengers). Nothing substantial occurs in the plot up to the intermission.
The climax, involving the character of Mandarin, a terrorist with a series of bombings across America to his credit, is unexpected. The best thing in the third installment to the Iron Man series is probably Ben Kingsley as Mandarin. Although given smaller screen space compared to the ‘man who makes war machines’, Kingsley manages to steal the attention away from Robert Downey Jr.[break]
The visuals are as good as it was with the first two films although special effects appear over the top at times. The much talked about scene from the trailer in which Stark saves the lives of 13 people isn’t as exciting in the film.
The second half of the movie compensates for all that’s lacking in the first. Apart from handling Tony’s business and putting up with his obsession with suits, Gwyneth Paltrow is seen kicking butts in this film.
Apart from the technological extravaganza, elaborate action sequences and Tony Stark’s stubbornness, the film also has a comic relief- most notably, the part in which Stark turns around to shoot a villain who says ‘I hate working here, these guys are so weird!’ and runs.
Some may complain how this film lacks character development of Happy Hogan, previously Tony’s bodyguard who now heads Stark Industries’ security department; and friend Colonel Rhodes. The relationship between Stark and Harley, a 10-year old orphan who helps Tony get back to his ‘iron’ feet, is beautifully built up. It’s the classic young boy-meets-his-idol-becomes-his-ally case.
Iron Man 3 is a 2-hour something escapade into the hi-tech world and with 3D effects, most of it looks believable.
Screening at QFX Cinemas.
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