Mr. Muirhead reviews the, already an international blockbuster, Iron Man 3.

As the world starts to cool off from the undoubtedly huge opening weekend Iron Man 3 is about to have, let’s go over some things that really just didn’t suit the man in the suit.

First things first, Tony Stark is most certainly not Bruce Wayne, and Iron Man is most certainly not Batman. In any case Marvel seems to think they are all the same person, even though DC isn’t Disney property. Yet. Before you read further, just know that I am seriously biased when it comes to anything Batman related or ripping off of a Batman theme. So, go see this movie regardless of this article and form your own opinions – then comment below and tell us those (probably incorrect) opinions of your own.

The first and second Iron Man flicks were awesome; the second one was seriously good and really lived up to what Iron Man and Tony Stark are, as a team and individually. Wild and off the wall, the previous installments of this franchise really lived on the edge, it was all about high flying, bad guy owning, AC/DC blaring beat downs mixed with fast cars and hilarious jokes about one night stands. Spike TV in a suit of armor if you will, and that is what I absolutely loved about the Iron Man series, it was perfect in the care free sense of Tony knowing he is the ultimate badass, while rubbing it in your face for 120 minutes. Neither of the previous movies ever struggled to hold your attention, and you never looked at your cell phone to see how long you have been sitting here, watching something.

Iron Man 3 left me wanting a lot more, and not in the same way The Dark Knight Rises did, where it ends in a perfect wrap and sends chills up your spine when Robin finds the Bat Cave. Not like that. It left me wondering why Disney took such a serious direction with #3, and why they chose to seriously debilitate one of the most Rock N Roll superheroes ever imagined.

That’s part of the issue, the other is Robert Downey Jr. is not the type of actor you want to see down and out or struggling in a film because he doesn’t do it well, he definitely is not a Christian Bale, Michael Fassbender, or any other actor that can pull a tear from your eye with just a change of expression. Downey Jr. is a playboy, he does that part perfectly, and it doesn’t do him or the character he is portraying any good when both are taken too far out of their element. The same way Johnny Depp is perfect to play Jack Sparrow – because in real life he’s a whack job anyway, and the costume was something you would think he has in his closet.  The way Tony Stark was portrayed in Iron Man 3 was just off, it didn’t fit and made the entire film feel like it was trying too hard to grab your attention and strike an emotional chord.

The upside of all this, is that the villains were much improved this time around. Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) and The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley) steal the show in my opinion, and both parts were very well written with these actors in mind. Sir Ben was ultimately a joy and a welcomed bright light in the room, leaving me to enjoy all aspects of The Mandarin and how he was used. I’m not a comic book purist, so I enjoy the mixing and matching that is going on these days with comic storylines and adapting parts of them to the big screen and feel it adds a lot of depth and can really show you how broad and loved these characters are.

Overall it is enjoyable, but when you’ve had the chance to know Tony Stark from Iron Man 1, 2, and The Avengers – Iron Man 3 seems to be the odd man out, taking you down a road of rebuilding and soul searching, it shows you that even Iron Man can get a little rusty and that ultimately it’s who stands behind the hero that really holds them up.