The film is admittedly light on some of the supporting cast – Pepper Potts and Col. James Rhodes are marginalized for most of the second act – but this again feels appropriate to me. It all goes back around to Tony, alone in that cave from the first film, internalizing his own solitude to make himself better, and it feels proper for Iron Man 3 to mirror this. Many major franchises overstuff themselves trying to accommodate every character arc to capacity, but here, the focus is wisely on Tony, and when Pepper or Rhodes are featured, their presence counts, and it counts in a big way. This is by far the best Rhodes has ever been used – Don Cheadle is just having insane amount of fun in the part – and I not only love the places they take Pepper as an individual, but how mature and authentic her relationship with Tony feels. This is not an overbaked blockbuster romance of unbridled passion, but an adult partnership that has its ups and downs, and is ultimately defined by a deep and meaningful connection that both parties want to work towards strengthening, rather than taking for granted. It is part of why Tony Stark feels more human than most superheroes; he is an adult, and he has adult problems, as do his friends. And Gwyneth Paltrow, it goes without saying, is every bit Downey Jr.’s equal whenever they share the screen.
I have only scratched the surface of what makes Iron Man 3 great. The thematic material is what fascinates me most, but Shane Black does absolutely everything right this time around, and his staging of action sequences – the best cinematic superheroics this side of The Avengers – deserves particular mention. It is not just the wonderful visual effects or satisfying sense of pace and timing, but the way Black always features action in ways that underline character. There is no empty spectacle in Iron Man 3, nothing that acts only as an excuse to excite the audience. Instead, every action beat and major set-piece is something the characters have to do to move forward, and as they do so, we learn things about them, or see them reach points of emotional fulfillment.
It all goes back to what a tightly, expertly constructed film this is, one that exists without an ounce of wasted space. I can understand how some audience members may feel underwhelmed by the film’s structure – this is very different than the Favreau films or even other Marvel movies, more an intellectual James Bond-style adventure than a slam-bang superhero epic – but I feel Black’s choices suit this character perfectly, and I like seeing a comic-book film that is so precisely constructed, taking the time necessary to put everything in place, dole out the mystery, and ultimately bring us to an utterly rousing conclusion.
There has been talk of this being the final Iron Man film, what with Robert Downey Jr.’s Marvel contract running out, and while I dreaded such a possibility going in to the film, I now feel it would be perfectly acceptable if this were the last time we saw this incarnation of the character. Nothing about the film prohibits there from being further adventures in the future, and I am sure that, if we see them, they shall be extremely satisfying as well. But good endings are so hard to come by, no matter the genre or medium, and I cannot imagine Marvel ever crafting a better send-off to the character than this. If Robert Downey Jr. does leave the role for now, and Iron Man is retired for a while in favor of other heroes, then these performance and these four films truly will go down in history as legendary, because they delivered a tightly arced and almost entirely effective chronicle of a wildly compelling central figure.
And in the end, that is what this all comes back to: Tony Stark. If there was ever any doubt for me before, Iron Man 3 eradicated it. Iron Man is my favorite superhero. This is the best superhero series that has ever been produced. These films are more entertaining, exciting, and dramatically rewarding than any of their peers, and unless there exists in the world another combination of actor and character as perfectly, beautifully matched as Robert Downey Jr. and Tony Stark, and another group of creative craftsman this sharp, I believe that will remain the case for a very long time to come.
Follow author Jonathan Lack on Twitter @JonathanLack.