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Iron Man 3 (2013)

Rated PG-13

Marvel Studios

We already knew Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is a mad, snarky genius when he’s surrounded by his dazzling technology, ridiculous wealth and groupies, but darn-it-all if he’s not just as brilliant and snarky when everything’s been taken from him—money, power suit, tech toys, reputation, loved ones.

In this fourth iteration of the Iron Man saga (including his appearance in last year’s Avengers), Downey and the creators of the franchise have tacked backward to move forward.

By taking away his technology and limiting the use of his supersuit, IM3 recalls the desperate, resilient Tony Stark of the first film (2008) who fashioned his prototype Iron Man suit from spare weapons parts while being held captive in a cave.

I didn’t like this go-round as much as the first film (which surprised me with Downey’s impromptu wit, breezy action and clean through-line plot), but it beats Iron Man 2 (2010) and finds different riffs on what should be getting stale by now.

Stretches of this film rely not on action and special effects, but on the emotional and physical plight of Stark. Downey’s just great at this stuff: Serious and commanding enough to sell Stark as someone not to be trifled with, but never letting things get too heavy with his lethal, endless quips and his wink-wink genius-playboy persona.

I think the small stuff works better than the big moments: When he puts together battle gear from parts he buys from a small-town hardware store; wearing a Dora the Explorer digital watch he bums off the kid sister of a boy he befriends; the panic attacks that come out of nowhere and leave Stark a quivering mess.

I’ll leave The Mandarin stuff for the fanboys to hash out, but I’ll just say I loved Ben Kingsley as both The Mandarin and the man behind The Mandarin.

Sure, this is a summer special effects action flick. That stuff’s here too: a robot army zigzagging across the sky; deadly super soldiers who burn not just with malevolence, but seemly of lava from within; the show-stopping set piece in which Iron Man must rescue 13 people as they plummet from a destroyed Air Force One; a very cool scene where he redirects his iron suit to assemble around his girlfriend to protect her as she hurls through the air after a missile attack on Stark’s Malibu mansion.

It took some level of guts to have Stark grow up and reflect that he and his suits (and the lifesaving reactor in the middle of his chest) have become codependents and it’s time to end the relationship and fully embrace the real one he has with his love Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

I don’t know where they go from here (Avengers 2, maybe), but if they’re done with this Downey/Stark version, this was a nice sendoff.

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