OLIVIA MARNE
Shane Black gave us “Lethal Weapon” and “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”, which I know are films loved by many of you, and now he’s about to given us another excellent original and unique offering…. “Iron Man 3”?
I kid you not. This looks like it’s going to be amazing… in a “best of the series” way.
Footage deemed so good it was screened twice for the screaming audience depicted a very cool, very rousing “Iron Man” movie is on the way that harbours all the Black-regular traits : Fun characters, great villains, humour, witty dialogue, superbly choreographed-action sequences, a Christmas-setting, and terrific actors utilized to their utmost potential.
“We’ve got this wonderful actor, Rebecca Hall, she’s brilliant. We’ve got Guy Pearce, James Badge Dale, Ashley Hamilton, Stephanie Showstack… it’s a great cast man,” says Black. “We’ve got all these pieces, all these interlocking parts, it’s not like Spider-Man 3 where they’re all separate.”
But to the footage, and I think Hollywood.com describe it well enough for me just to put the pen down and run their rundown..
The opening scene features Stark (Downey Jr.) preparing for a new experiment. It’s Christmastime and he sets the mood with a little hip-hop holiday music riff. Standing around his many armors, Stark commands his JARVIS computer to being the test. Stark strikes a kung fu pose — nothing. He taps his forearm, trying to get something inside to work, before striking the pose again. Suddenly, from across the room, the Iron Man glove comes flying on to his arm. This is the Extremis in its beginnings, a type of armor ripped straight from the comics that allows Stark to control his Iron Man suit…with his mind. After the glove flies on to his arm, he tells Jarvis to let it rip. Pieces of armor start flying on to his body, but it’s all starts happening too quickly. Now the metal braces are zipping every which way, breaking Stark’s lab and forcing him to dodge like he’s got Spidey sense. Eventually, all the pieces assemble on his body, save for the face mask. Turned upside and soaring straight at him, Tony does a flip in the air, rips his glove jets and clips the final piece of armor on upside in the air. Tony Stark: always a showboat.
The rest of the footage was a trailer, opening with a comedic scene between Stark and former security guard, Happy (Jon Favreau). The two banter before Stark is startled by a boom. That’s when a chilling voice over by Ben Kingsley kicks in, set to images of mass destruction. “Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher. Lesson number one: heroes there is no such thing.” Scattered between shots of a city under attack are glimpses of newcomers Rebecca Hall and Guy Pearce, who looks especially slimy as he gives Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) a kiss on the cheek. The grand finale is a helicopter attack on Stark’s Malibu pad. Launching missles into the glass facade, Stark and Potts are blown backwards as the building begins to crumble into the ocean below. At some point, Stark gets the Iron Man armor on and attempts to survive the attack by going underwater. Whoever is behind this attack wants Stark dead
In true Marvel fashion, the trailer had an end teaser of its own. Who is Ben Kingsley? He’s none other than notorious Marvel villain The Mandarin. The leader of the Ten Rings terrorist group (hinted at in the first Iron Man). He’s got a crazy hairdo — shaved in the back with a single ponytail. He’s decked out in flowing robes and a ton of bling. Ten rings is right! Kingsley looks evil as hell, and he sits awaiting Stark’s next move in a throne fit for Iron Man’s ultimate villain.
Still shooting, Don Cheadle said they’re about to complete the big finale, “It’s great. We’re getting to the end part of the film, the climactic scene, and I’ve got a lot more to do with Tony. The Tony-Rhodey relationship really opens up.”
It was also revealed that Rhodey will be wearing the ‘Iron Patriot’ armour we’ve seen snapped on the Wilmington set of the film.
(In one of the later Iron Man movies, we might get to see Pepper Potts wear a costume too. Marvel’s Kevin Feige says he wants to get her in the ‘Rescue’ armour).
Jon Favreau, back as Happy Hogan, has a bigger role this time – and mainly because he isn’t directing.
“We’ve got an interesting dynamic going on. I never got a chance to have fun with the role before. Now I get to play with Robert which I never really got to do. As far as executive producing as far as directing, I feel like a proud grandfather who doesn’t have to change the diapers but gets to play with the baby.”
This may be Downey’s last Iron Man movie – or maybe it won’t.
“Don’s and mine’s deal runs out after Iron Man 3, then we’re going to figure out what we want to continue. The future is uncertain, I’m super happy. This has just been an amazing journey.”
And this is a great way to conclude the trilogy if that is all it is, says Downey.
“The idea this time is, what is the need for this third picture? How does it tie it together? There’s been a wishlist of scenes we’ve wanted to see.” Shane Black adds, “To make it seem like it is the culmination of the trilogy, that was the task. How do you dig in, reach back and touch what was there before? We’re actually going back to the roots of this thing, try to dig out the myth of it.”
Also, there’s been the suggestion that Mark Ruffalo may cameo in the film as Bruce Banner. Guess we’ll find out come 2013.
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