Iron Man Three (light spoilers)

 So i've just returned from the midnight showing of Iron Man Three, its 3:30am so forgive me if this review is a little choppy but I must blog about this right now.

I am going to start with my one true love, Visual Effects. There were so many great companies and artists working on this film, and they really brought their A game. Somehow they managed to bring a certain amount of gritty realism to FX that ordinarily would be over the top even by comic book standards. There's one scene where a large number of Iron Man suits are involved in battle, and start flying around, shooting and blowing up and yet somehow the viewer can totally accept it as real. This, in my opinion  is the art of good Visual Effects. It's not just about putting CG objects in live action footage, it's about putting it there and no one being able to tell. The level of detail that these guys have gone into, right down to the scratches on the paint work, is phenomenal. Hats off to these guys and gals, not just for proving that VFX is an art form, but for being an inspiration. It's not just about blowing stuff up (though that is cool and there is a lot of that) but making things look real, and it reminds me as a recent graduate and freelancer, that I should never stop learning the craft because perhaps one day I'll get to work on projects like this myself.

I'm not going to spoil too much of the story. I'm an avid hater of spoilers and so wouldn't wish to ruin the experience for anyone. Go and see it, it is beyond worth it. It's probably the cleverest plot line for a action film I have seen in a while, and had some particularly good twists and turns. All the clues are there for you if look out for them, but if you miss them, it all ties up in the end. It's got great Tony Stark dialogue, with humour in dollops, oozing with the same cocky swagger RDJ brings to the role. I was told in a very cryptic fashion before I saw this film, that something about the villain will split the fandom in half, and it most certainly will. I personally think it was a very ballsy move on the writers part, and one that brings an old school, cliched, comic book bad guy right up to date. Others will disagree. Watch out for Ty Simpkins, Starks unlikely side kick, who's a great little actor and bounced off RDJ with the talent of a real pro. They say never work with children or animals, well in this case they got the casting spot on.

What I really liked about this film, is the way they dealt with Tony Stark as a character. In the comic books, he got a bit dark towards the end, and yet they managed to work with that in a Disney fashion that shouldn't disturb the younger audience and yet still manages to deal with the a character post a highly traumatic experience (ie. The Avengers Assemble plot line). It also, quite cleverly, deals with the question that the Captain posed in the Avengers movie. Who is Tony Stark without the suit? The answer, well wait and see, but it is finely executed, with tonnes of symbolism as Stark learns more about himself and love and all the things that made Pinocchio a real boy. It's heart warming really,  and exciting, incredibly dramatic with laugh out load humour, high adrenaline action and just plain awesomeness. I couldn't have asked for more from a Marvel film. If you're not sold, just watch the trailer below!

A few things to finish off with.

1. Go see it immediately. I, in fact, will almost certainly be there again tomorrow night. 
2. Wait until after the credits, there's a nice little gift for you Avengers fans at the end.
3. Anyone else REALLY annoyed at how it's Iron Man 3 in all the promotional stuff but the film is in fact Iron Man Three? I don't know, that just annoyed me. It's really the only thing.