If there was one thing I knew going into this movie it was that The Mandarin would be played by Sir Ben Kingsley (of A Common Man fame) and he would be awesome. I didn't expect what I got, and I now understand why the Iron Man faithful complained about this movie. The Mandarin was a bit of a disappointment as a villain.
That's not to say that the movie was entirely bad. On the contrary, it had mayhem and lasers and people melting stuff. The action sequences were filmed a little fast. The director gave the audience a basic understanding of what was happening, but the people involved would NOT have enough time to react in the way they react - superheroes or not.
Robert Downey Jr. has really embraced the role of Stark. He really HAS to, as he is Stark - not Iron Man - for most of the movie. He even somehow manages to deal with Gwyneth Paltrow as his love interest. She's about as milquetoast an actress as I've ever seen on the screen. She lacks all personality, and her character seems like its just a placeholder for a more interesting person who will be along any minute now, don't you worry.
An Jon Favreau is here as happy. It might just be me, but it looks like he's put on quite a bit of weight. I wonder if he decided that the final movie in the trilogy would be the worst, so he ensured that he would be in it but not responsible for it. As a result, he doesn't direct this one. It was directed by a guy who co-wrote the script: Shane Black. This could, in all actuality, be a made up name. Speaking of guys, Guy Pearce is in this movie. I didn't expect it, and I normally enjoy him when he shows up.
The rebranding of War Machine into the Iron Patriot was supposed to show the idiocy of government decisions, and it really only illustrated that there were some bad decisions made in this movie. From the army of Iron Men automatons that seem to blow up pretty easily to the people who may or may not be addicted to a substance that might heal or kill them, this movie has more inconsistencies than I care to think about.
I mean, the 16 piece Iron Man suit that Tony wears for most of the movie is well beyond impractical. Each piece has its own rocket, guidance, locking mechanism, fuel supply, and mental link to Stark. At the same time, the whole thing falls apart pretty easily. Remember: this is the same hero who took both a hit from Thor's hammer and a direct strike from The Hulk. That's not to mention the tank round he took while flying. Now, his suits are made of enhanced paper mache.
Directing was bad.
Story was not great.
Effects could have been better.
Acting was good.
Dialogue was very good.
Editing was pretty bad.
2/5