Iron Man Three (2013)

Iron Man 'Three'. I want to write about this before the general thoughts: by now you may know the "twist", but why even say that? The entertainment comes from going in cold, after all, and it's the kind of thing that has drawn audiences down in a polar sort of way. You find out what is really going on with a character, and it... is hilarious. For me. It does something different, it alters the expectations that come with such a blockbuster that delivers the same-old same-old, and most of all, the filmmakers understand that they can make a point here too, as Iron Man did in 2008: a little statement about the world we're living in, in that case it was the militarization of the third world, and here it's media manipulation. It doesn't over-do it; and the actor's revelation is just splendid. I can see why it'd p-off some folks though, especially if you really really really wanted to see this particular character.

This would be higher up on the list of Marvel movies in general, except for one really irksome character flaw at the end. What is an otherwise highly entertaining and smashingly-though-darkly absurd climactic battle on a bunch of naval ships, which is that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) decides to blow up his remaining suits. It seemed like such a needless act, even for the likes of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), especially as we in the audience know how many more times Stark will return in the suit in future films (whether it's *only* Avengers 2 or other films, it's not a question of if but how much).

And yet, aside from this, it's a fun summer movie that takes some real chances – Ben Kingsley, nuff said – and always keeps its heart in the right place as Stark, who faces some big risks with the likes of the Mandarin and Guy Pearce's Killian, doesn't stop for a sarcastic barb, a moment of self-conscious knowing, and Black as writer/director keeps the action, humor, thrills, and spectacle moving at an intelligent, coherent clip, not to mention Downey, who fills the role and conflicts of Stark with bravura as always. It was the only summer blockbuster I could stand seeing more than once (though I really tried for another HUGE spectacle, which we'll get to in a moment).