Iron Man 3 (2013) **1/2

Release Date: May 3, 2013

Running Length: 2:10

Rated: PG-13 (Violence, Profanity, Brief Sexuality)

Cast: Robert Downey, Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebecca Hall, Guy Pierce, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Miguel Ferrer, William Sadler

Director: Shane Black

Screenplay: Drew Pearce and Shane Black

Marvel Comics scored a home run with last summers The Avengers and it wasn't long before the question was being asked: what was going to follow it. There was always the chance that it would spawn another series based solely on The Avengers but that seemed like aiming a little low. Instead there is going to be a slew of new films based on the individual characters leading up to the Avengers sequel. The first of these films is Iron Man 3, a film that tries to infuse some consequences leftover from The Avengers into its mix and not entirely succeeding.

Tony Stark has been struggling with his new found selflessness and budding romance with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). This fear of his exploits putting her into danger is plaguing him, causing him to lose sleep and when he is resting his new suit that can function without him in it responds to his mental being and acts out accordingly. Meanwhile there is a growing insurgence of terrorism being directed at the President of the White House and various other government officials and being led by a man who goes by the name of The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). These acts also serve the purpose of drawing out War Machine, complete with new Red, White and Blue paint, in an attempt to possess the armoured suit.

An attack is levied against Tony Stark at his home after a woman named Maya (Rebecca Hall) shows up to talk to him about her boss Killian (Guy Pearce) whom she believes is working for The Mandarin. The attack destroys Tony's home and sends him rocketing out of control eventually crash landing in rural Tennessee, his suit in ruins. The film also works in a story about amputees and a special injection that is meant to restore their limbs but also turns them into super soldiers who can turn superhot on demand.

The primary weakness of Iron Man 3 is the over-familiarity with many of its elements. For starters the villain obsessed with repairing his crippled body. This was seen in The Amazing Spiderman recently. The super soldiers was reminiscent of many many MANY episodes of The X-Files and Fringe. There are other elements that were unoriginal as well, especially during the film's prolonged time in Tennessee, but I won't go into more detail here. Suffice it to say this film has a genuine feeling of familiarity.

This film takes a long time to give us any real battles with Iron Man. This wasn't a problem in the previous two films as the first one was an origin story and the sequel gave us fight after fight. Here however whenever Iron Man is on screen more often than not he's either trying to escape or he's saving someone. The only real battle he's involved in is the final one which almost makes up for it in it's sheer grandeur, a flaw that almost completely sank the previous one.

War Machine is completely wasted in this film. In Iron Man 2 he is a part of the final battle with Whiplash but here he's almost a buffoon, getting captured effortlessly, surrendering his suit when the going gets too hot, and then never really getting it back. Don Cheadle is a fine actor but he has nothing really to do here until the finality and none of that involves him in the suit.

Fans of the previous films will be pleased that the humor from the previous films is intact even as other things that worked in the other films is not quite up to snuff. This includes the relationship between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, which suffers from the long time these two characters spend apart from each other. This relationship is built up in previous films but not given solid ground here so that a lack of familiarity with the other movies will mar this. This is a mistake as so much of the film focuses on his willingness to do anything to keep her safe and we aren't given the background to really know why. For this much focus there really needed to be something a little more concrete here than just 'they started dating a few films ago.'

The ending leaves things in a much different place than expected. There is no easy set-up for the next one as these characters are fundamentally changed by the end of things. There is still talk about extending Downey's contract to include a second Avengers film as well as Iron Man 4 but that's all there is at this point. Should the film series end here it won't feel like an abrupt ending to it. Still, there are things, primarily dealing with what happens to Potts in the finale of the film, that leave the audience wondering where her character can head the next time around.

This film is flawed. The worst offender is the lack of explanation behind motivations outside of this film itself. There are also some poor pacing choices, spending way too much time in Tennessee. There is also a twist in the middle of the film that, while not entirely predictable, was ridiculous and annoying. It's a real groaner that serves no purpose other than to draw out the film and misdirect the audience at the same time. Still, when looking at the list of actors in the film it shouldn't have been as much of a surprise as it was.

Ultimately the film is able to succeed in closing out another chapter in the Iron Man franchise, possibly, but not likely, the last chapter and also managing to be entertaining, if a little overtly familiar and redundant at times. It succeeds on the charisma of its lead actor and goes out with a bang, providing the best finale in the franchise's history. I just wish the rest of the film had been as exciting as the last twenty minutes had been.