Marvel’s Phase Two launch title hits DVD and Blu-ray, and it is one of his most stylish adventures on the grandest scale.
Director: Shane Black
Writer: Drew Pearce and Shane Black
Runtime: 126 minutes
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebecca Hall, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau
Distributor: Disney
Country: US
Video: 1.78:1 (16:9)/1080p
Audio: DTS HD MA 7.1 English and Dolby 5.1 Various
Subtitles: English CC and Various
Extras: Audio Commentary, Marvel One-Shot, Featurettes (x3), Deleted/Extended Scenes,
Film: ★★★★½
The Disc: ★★★★
“Things haven’t been the same since New York,” confesses Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) to a stressed Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). He is of course talking about his intergalactic battle alongside friends in the Big Apple, but a knowing script is also tipping its hat to the Goliath cinematic elephant in the room.
Director and co-writer Shane Black has been presented with a unique problem in delivering the third chapter in the Iron Man saga. Along with following up the already successful first two films from Jon Favreau, the eyes of the world are literally on him as he releases the first glimpse into the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the $1.5 billion box office giant The Avengers. For the director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and the writer of the Lethal Weaponseries, this is just another day at the office as he escalates the franchise to a new level of grandeur.
As the world faces a new threat from global terrorist The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), the US responds with christening James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) their Iron Patriot in his ‘borrowed’ suit of armour. Tony Stark works like a man possessed. Unable to deal with his growing anxiety attacks following the Battle of New York, he no longer sleeps, building dozens of suits of armour in an attempt to protect those he loves. When a series of attacks coincide with the return of former colleague and lover Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall), along with the ambitious Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), Tony’s worlds collide and he is forced to fend for himself for the first time in years.
The dilemma facing director Black was always going to be one of escalation, with the series of Marvel films leading up to The Avengers taking us deeper into their comic book world. Iron Man began with a relatively straightforward story of a billionaire learning to be a better man, yet it was a series that ultimately lead us to thunder gods and aliens. With this third outing, based loosely on Warren Ellis’s Extremis story arc, Black and co-writer Pearce’s screenplay brings us full circle and back to the idea that Tony Stark and Iron Man are one in the same. Following a similar narrative structure as Black and Downey Jr’s own Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, it may be a shock to the system that Stark spends a fair amount of time out of the armour. The film segues into detective story territory, making a pleasing union of genres and a willingness on Marvel’s part to be bolder with its superhero films.
Unsurprising for fans of the series, but in contrast to the sombre promotion of the film to date, Iron Man 3 is filled with the same characteristic humour as the previous entries. Like many of Black’s scripts, it often threatens to go over-the-top without quite crossing the line. Case in point is the introduction of a young boy (Ty Simpkins) to help Tony, which reaches Bad Santa proportions in Tony’s unsentimental treatment of his major childhood traumas. While some comic book fans may quibble with the treatment of the traditionally ridiculous Mandarin, let’s just say that Kingsley’s performance might just be the revelation of the picture.
Yet Black doesn’t skimp on the action either, with his trademarks stamped all over this big-budget action flick. The “Barrel of Monkeys” skydiving sequence is a nail-biter, and the show-stopper finale almost matches The Avengers in pound-for-pound adrenaline, bringing the previously underused Gwyneth Paltrow into the limelight in a satisfying fashion. Iron Man 3 pleases on all levels, delivering smart and sophisticated action next to convincing human drama. As the credits roll, and we are promised that “Tony Stark will return”, we can rest assured that Marvel’s Phase 2 has kicked off on the right iron-clad foot.
The Disc:
It should come as no surprise that the video and audio quality on the disc is sublime. Visuals are crisp and vivid, and look even better than the cinema. Interestingly enough, there’s a mixture of cameras and styles in this film, including some ‘rough’ terrorist footage, TV cameras and the big action scenes. It all comes out in a wonderful homogenous whole. The big, bombastic sound of the 7.1 surround DTS-MA is massive, and it gives full justice to the Brian Tyler score.
The biggest drawcard is the Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter (15:29), where Marvel gets more ambitious with their one-shot films, expanding their cinematic universe a little further around a strong female protagonist. We’ve already reviewed this one separately here. The Audio Commentary with director Shane Black and his co-writer Drew Pearce is fascinating and funny. They have an easy conversational style, balance out interesting anecdotes with jokes and really get deep into the different drafts of the film and their own notebook quotes at various points. “It’s like we’re trying to teach a Master’s class,” quips Black. Well worth a listen.
There are three featurettes on the disc. The most substantial of these is Iron Man 3 Unmasked (10:59), which is slightly promotional in nature, but it’s interesting to see how much Robert Downey Jr is involved in developing the “language” for how Tony Stark relates to his technology. The majority of the featurette is concerned with two sequences: the attack on the Malibu house and the fire-fight in small town USA. Deconstructing the Scene: Attack on Air Force One (8:43) is a solid featurette on the making of the film’s most iconic scene, showing where the line between practical and digital lays. It’s fascinating to see how much of it was done on location, and where the CG comes into play. It would have been great to see something like this for the amazing finale. Finally, blink and you’ll miss the Behind the Scenes Look at Thor: The Dark World (1:53). It’s actually shorter than the last trailer, but contains interviews with the main cast members and a few new shots. You can actually view the whole thing online from Disney here.
The Deleted and Extended Scenes (16:20) are a mixed bag of 10 scenes, and some stayed deleted for a reason. On the one hand, there’s more stuff with Ben Kingsley, which is wonderful, but there’s also lots of outtakes from the Bill Maher and Fashion Police segments that were used as minor videos in the film. Most of it is filled with alternate line-readings and outtakes. There’s also the obligatory Gag Reel (5:07) set to the Brian Tyler’s “Can You Dig It?” from the score.
The Iron Man 3 DVD and Blu-ray is available from 28 August 2013 in Australia, and 24 September in the US.
Agree or disagree? Got a comment? Start a conversation below, or take it with you on Behind the Panel’s Facebook and Twitter!
If you are an iTunes user, subscribe to our weekly podcast free here and please leave us feedback.
