Iron Man 3 
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau, Ben Kingsley
Directed by Shane Black
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 130 mins
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Sci-Fi
Opens May 3rd
By Lisa Minzey of The Reel Critic.com
Hey Phoenix Film fans! Summer Movie Season officially kicks off with the third installment in the Iron Man series. Shane Black steps into the director role for this film, playing double duty as co-writer. Will it be as good as the Favreau films or stand on its own?
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has found new fame as a superhero after the events that happened in New York (See The Avengers Review). Mistakes of his past and the demons of his present are now chasing Stark around causing a new level of chaos that he has never known before. Tony’s relationship with girlfriend/ CEO of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is approaching a stalemate; an old fling, Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) shows up unexpectedly causing further tension between Pepper & Stark and topping it all off, the world s now under threat by a mysterious terrorist named “The Mandarin” (Ben Kingsley). Can Stark find The Mandarin before he destroys more lives or is there more to this villain that meets the eye?
Although this Iron Man picks up where "The Avengers" left off, Shane Black did a great job of putting his own spin on the Marvel hero. What this film excels in is that, from the moment the first image hits the screen, the viewer is set up of a non stop action, rapid-fire verbal banter and a dizzying array of explosions, special effects and high octane stunts. Black excels with those elements. So when the fan boys start crying that it’s getting to far away from the Marvel Universe, I beg to differ. This type of film is meant to entertain the masses, which from someone who is not as familiar with the whole “Marvel Universe”, you can plug in, watch without becoming too lost and still be highly entertained. Jon Favreau directed the first two films which are equally exciting, but the character set up was not as engaging. Black took the established characters and helped shape them with a little more dimension from where Joss Whedon took them in The Avengers. While watching the film, some of the scenes were reminiscent of one of Black’s earlier films, “Kiss, Kiss Bang, Bang” mixed with a little of the “Lethal Weapon” flavor. Be sure to catch “Iron Man 3” when it opens in theaters starting Friday May 3, 2013.
