Iron Man 3: Worth the Pay

The moment you happen to read this, you probably have been bombarded already with praises on Marvel’s latest film. If you have not watched the film yet, this would be a cliff-hanger: Why is this making such noise online or even in the real world? Truth be told, Iron Man 3—directed by Shane Black and top-bills the equally impressive as the man-in-metal suit himself, Robert Downey, Jr.—surely deserves all the recognition it gets. This recognition can also be easily translated to a nerve-wracking box office returns, amassing a whooping 60 million pesos on its opening day in the Philippines last week.

Never in the past months after the release of The Avengers that movie-goers have been treated to such an immersive movie experience until Iron Man hit the silver screen. While it can’t be denied that we’ve been enchanted with the highs and lows of The Hobbit or gripped with the gory scenes in Olympus Has Fallen or Zero Dark Thirty, Iron Man 3 undeniably deserves a sweet spot in the pantheon of interesting films this year.

It's not the suit. It's the man.

Part of the reason perhaps is its element of twists and surprises, notwithstanding its vivid, superbly-rendered and stunning visuals. The 130-minute film follows a very American formula, packed with elements of action thriller enough to send the audience wondering what would happen next. The intertwining elements of adrenaline rush-filled action sequences, twists, action and humor encapsulated in effective punch lines contributed to the film’s over-all impact.

But one of the film’s greatest ingredients is perhaps the villain itself, which is interestingly good as the protagonist itself. Pinoy film fanatics certainly know this: you can only bring out the luster of your superhero if you employ such a dark, if not diabolic, scalawag to make the protagonist-antagonist clash more appealing and grand. In this case, the twist of the fake Mandarin and the emergence of Killian—whose collaboration with Dr. Maya Hansen led to the the rise of Extremis virus—left us either amused or amazed. In its entire “heavy metal” splendor, Iron Man 3 also gives interesting sides of—and fragility—of the human spirit, which makes it more humane.

The destruction of the remaining Iron Man’s suits towards the end of the film, resembling that of a lackluster fireworks display, can be translated as such: it’s not the suit, it’s the man. While it may be true that he threw his obsolete chest arc reactor into the sea, he will always be Iron Man, even without his armor.

I’ve never been such satisfied when I stepped outside the IMAX Theater where I first watched it last Saturday and on Sunday, in a 3D Cinema here in Tagum. Yes, I’ve seen it twice as what I did with Les Miserables and Wreck it Ralph, and this I have to tell: It’s definitely worth the pay.