All right! So we all know I’m a comic geek and it shouldn’t be a surprise that I totally dragged my son to go see Iron Man 3 today.
I have adored Robert Downy Jr. as Iron Man and he did not disappoint in this third installment of the franchise. In fact, his portrayal of Tony Stark felt even more genuine this time since the poor man was still recovering from the fight in Avengers. We got to see him struggle with the understanding that he is not invincible, that he might not have what it takes to keep those important to him safe.
As an author who pays attention to characters, this movie really exposed that struggle in a vivid way. Also, we got to see Tony fighting without all his cool toys. Granted, we got to see a LOT of his “toys” in the end, but during the rough middle — that point where the character has been stripped of everything — Tony had to sort of get back to basics.
And I won’t lie, I totally adored that it was a kid who helped him figure that out.
Now, I do admit that something felt a little off in the movie. After a great deal of thought, I’m going to point at the music. I missed heavy metal blaring out. I understand they were showing a different side of Tony, that the character was changing and the movie needed to help reflect that, but … dude … Iron Man needs that oomph.
Which brings me to my final point; Pepper. I don’t want to spoil the movie (remember, I hate spoilers) but Pepper did something at the end of this movie that made me twitch.
Please don’t get me wrong. Pepper is a strong character. She has to be in order to survive life with Tony Stark. But that strength isn’t really reflected in a physical form.
Now, I’m an author who writes female protagonists who kick serious butt. I’m normally all for women getting gritty. But that tendency has to be shown very early on. The Pepper we’ve seen from the beginning wasn’t really like that, which is why this particular moment in the movie threw me off.
So!
All in all, I loved the movie. I missed the music, but Tony’s journey was an excellent one to follow.
And my son … Yeah, he just loved all the suits. (He’s five. He doesn’t get the whole “heroic journey” thing yet.)
AJMaguire 
There were some problems I had with the villains and development of some characters, a quick-fix to a seemingly dangerous situation and a plot twist that was underwhelming, but I still really enjoyed it nonetheless. Nice review A.J.
Yeah, I kinda saw the plot twist coming, too. I do love Guy Pearce, but his character could have used some more stage time. And the science was interesting in the classic comic book way.