A question about "Iron Man III", the movie

[Collectorcol]

I know what you mean. Anyway, I thought that this Mandarin was a very original and interesting choice. A completely different character from the one in the comic books, I know, but an interesting one, anyways.

Think you just answered your own question.

 

[RIDDICK]

7 Reasons Why Iron Man 3 Is An Awful Film

There are much more but you get the idea.

 

[DioramaMaker]

My biggest qualm with the film is how campy it is. They tried to deal with PTSD in a manner that didn't take it overly serious and the fire breathing crap was really far out there, even for a Marvel movie. I get that these films are based on comic books, but they have a sense of grounded reality; they need it to be plausible and graspable by the audience. Wasting away the Mandarin, who it portrayed in a fantastic way by a fantastic actor was one of the worst decisions I've seen in a film. They missed a huge opportunity to close the circle and have Tony take on the group that captured him in the first place, which would be a great way to close the trilogy. I think that last point is the biggest issue I have with it.

 

[karamazov80]

Think you just answered your own question.

On the other hand, RJD Stark is very unlike the comic version (or at least, the comic version prior to the films), but people actually liked it better. I don't think this was the major issue. Few were even genuinely familiar with the Mandarin as a comic villain, and there have been many deviations from the comics that fans have applauded (the Nolan Bat-films probably being the best examples, since they all retain only a cosmetic connection to most of the villains and concepts of the comics). It was that the villain was not legitimate that pissed people off, I think. That, plus the use of a drone instead of the actual Iron Man in one scene, the flimsy paper-like material used to "armor" the drones at the end apparently, and the generally unconventional, Shane Black approach turned people off on the forum at the time it was released. And it had a weird ending, that was seemingly ret-conned in Avengers 2 (?).

But ultimately, it all seemed to hinge on expectations being dashed. I didn't go in with any expectations, and tried to enjoy the film for what it was (a Shane Black film, as was Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang), and I ended up enjoying it.

I agree with Flosi's comments, though. I think these Marvel films work as a kind of in-the-moment, disposable entertainment that isn't particularly substantive or long-lasting. But then, that's also the case with most comics, and action films. So, I don't see that as a huge issue. But I certainly am not looking for the spirit of Alan Moore to possess these productions and make any comic book movies truly great. Batman Begins and Dark Knight were the high points of comic movies, and I don't see anyone aspiring to reach that point again (or in the case of WB, I don't see anyone with the skills to even attempt it).

 

[Craig Walker]

It was bad:

Mandarin - what an epic waste. Felt like the writer gave me the middle finger.

Panic Attacks - facepalm. Tony is cocky, self-assured. Totally out of character. HATED.

One of the best action sequences: the plane rescue was TA DA!!! Auto-pilot. Tony was flying his drone around.... (sigh, middle finger #2)

The 'suits' are suddenly made of paper-mache at the end. Punch one....BOOM! Fart in one's general direction.....BOOM!

"Oh, let's just have an operation and remove the fragments..." [middle finger #3]


So much fail...

 

[Darth Snoopy]

I thought IM3 was okay, it did it's job by keeping me entertained.

IMO it's not as bad as the interwebs claim it is. Besides it's all subjective.

 

[xenowolf]

I can count the ones with staying power on one hand.... GOTG, CA:TWS, IM, Avengers.... Outside of that I liked, not loved, CA:TFA and both Thor movies, but the rest is pretty forgettable. IM2 and 3 stink. Antman didn't leave me wanting to see more and AOU was a huge letdown.

I don't know how you can lump iron man 2 in there with iron man three? The suitcase armor scene alone is such a huge thing for iron man fans and they nailed it, then you have a whiplash character done better then I ever imagined it could be in a movie and you get war machine and the start of the hall of armor and coulson,happy and Natalie Rushman(black widow)!! Even hammer was well done and there were so many funny parts and homages to the iron man comic character that I can completely overlook any down sides to iron man 2. Iron man three on the other hand wasted his arch nemesis as a character and then proceeded to have tony destroy his suits and remove his arc reactor and basically say **** you to the fans, and that's just for starters. Just my opinion, it's all subjective tho.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

I don't hate IM 3. It's better than most mavel sequels and it's not as bad as the Star Wars prequels...or ROTJ.

 

[JAWS]

I think the Mandarin twist was a real turn off for people; especially because at first he seemed like such a good take on the character before we find out he's not real. It's a missed opportunity really.

This was one of my main complaints.... Perhaps if he was not such a goofy character I could handle that he was not the real mandarin... But they resorted to potty humor when we first find out who he really is... Then the whole Soccer cheering moments etc.... He was too stupid to be funny.

Rest of the film is flawed all over the place also. If felt more like a sit com then an Iron man movie... jokes fell flat and did not work IMO. Villain was boring and silly. Potts was stupid... Stark was nothing but a spectator. Pepper Potts or his suits were saving the day.

The guy can build weapons and high powered armor but can't shoot a gun?? Oh I know why... So we can have more silly humor.

Anyways... Its cool that there are those that like it... I have said from the beginning that time would not be nice to this film and it is starting to be recognized as a misstep. IM2 is not much better IMO.. But it has it's fans and as long as you enjoy it that is all that matters.

 

[wamphyri13]

Technically speaking, the Mandarin idea is not lost. If you remember from the Marvel One Shot, a guy was sent to assassinate Trevor for using the Mandarin's name.
That guy was a member of the 10 Rings. Aldrich Killian used the idea of the Mandarin for his purposes not thinking it would a big deal because he felt he was indestructible and smarter than everyone else. If Marvel decides to later, they can bring the Mandarin back into the story. And since they will be introducing Dr. Strange, it won't be such a far fetched idea. Most of the Marvel movies take a more realistic, science based direction. Thor introduced a sci-fi element, (other world beings or aliens) and Marvel became science and sci-fi. Now with Dr. Strange comes magic. When Spider-Man rejoins and Marvel will have accidental scientific mutation, and if they get back X-Men then they'll have evolutionary mutation. This will then cover all enhanced beings from the comics. Superhumans, Inhumans, aliens, mystics, et al. Marvel covers all the comic bases. That's just how I see it.
Ryan

 

[The Ween]

The Mandarin twist.

This is the only thing I didn't care for, but I liked the movie overall. It's my least favorite of the 3.

 

[thecapn]

The worst part of IM III was the ending with the Protocol. It's the first time I really felt like Marvel was just putting things in ta movie to sell toys. Heck, how many people have bought one of those suits that had like 3 seconds of screen time and never had RDJ in it? Seems like a silly purchase to me (but then, I'm not one to talk about silly purchases)

 

[zeiss]

Technically speaking, the Mandarin idea is not lost. If you remember from the Marvel One Shot, a guy was sent to assassinate Trevor for using the Mandarin's name.
That guy was a member of the 10 Rings. Aldrich Killian used the idea of the Mandarin for his purposes not thinking it would a big deal because he felt he was indestructible and smarter than everyone else. If Marvel decides to later, they can bring the Mandarin back into the story. And since they will be introducing Dr. Strange, it won't be such a far fetched idea. Most of the Marvel movies take a more realistic, science based direction. Thor introduced a sci-fi element, (other world beings or aliens) and Marvel became science and sci-fi. Now with Dr. Strange comes magic. When Spider-Man rejoins and Marvel will have accidental scientific mutation, and if they get back X-Men then they'll have evolutionary mutation. This will then cover all enhanced beings from the comics. Superhumans, Inhumans, aliens, mystics, et al. Marvel covers all the comic bases. That's just how I see it.
Ryan

The problem with using a new Mandarin is that it would be very confusing to casual fans. I believe Marvel made that one shot to mostly shut up pissed off fans. I could be wrong but I doubt they seriously have any plans to create a new Mandarin.

 

[Eisselmann]

My problem with Iron Man 3:
- I reminded me of Phantom Menace.
During the whole movie I had the feeling it was only made to introduce new suits and to promote the according toys.

- And then we had this totally ridiculous finale where all the suits are suddenly superfragile and fall apart by the slightest blink of an eye.

- As one already mentioned the surgery.
Ridiculous!
So if they CAN remove the shrapnel, why did we have to sit through Iron Man 2 and 3 anyways?

- Those exploding villains were meh, the child was annoying and so was RemoteControl Man aka Mk43.

I liked their take on the Mandarin though.
But I can see how that turns off die hard fans.

After all IM2 and 3 were huge let downs for me, the felt forced for me, IM1 was such an easy to watch, funny popcorn movie.

But I have to admit that the most newer Marvel films are not very good movies to me.

The movies that are really good for me are Iron Man, Hulk, Avengers, Winter Soldier.
The rest was.... meh.

 

[bonestockbrz]

I recently got to chat with Shane Black about Iron Man 3. He was telling me it was manly "comic book fans " that didn't like the Mandarin twist. The conversation started with him asking me what I liked and didn't and before I could finish he told me " making a marvel movie is incredibly difficult " . I believe him. There must be a tremendous amount of pressure to direct a film with a devoted fan base . You either loved it or hated it . I enjoyed it and I won't say some of the subjects we touched on, but I know he didn't have total control over some scenes .

 

[Shadowcat]

Thanks for all of your interesting and detailed replies.
So, it seems that the main issues with this movie were the false Mandarin and the fact that Tony Stark was seldom in his Iron Man suit.
If Marvel Studios made a new Iron Man movie involving the real Mandarin, would you go watch it?

 

[Khev]

When RDJ retires, IM is recast and we're on to Phase 4 or 5 or whatever I think people will look back at IM3 and see that it will age extremely well. It's a very good movie, it just needs to shake the trappings of people's narrow expectations of what it was supposed to be.

 

[Shadowcat]

When RDJ retires, IM is recast and we're on to Phase 4 or 5 or whatever I think people will look back at IM3 and see that it will age extremely well. It's a very good movie, it just needs to shake the trappings of people's narrow expectations of what it was supposed to be.

Thank you, I also think it was quite a good movie and I like it a lot, although it might truly have several defects.
BTW, I really hope that RDJ will keep doing Iron Man movies for at least another 15 years, since I can't imagine anyone else in Tony Stark's role!

 

[Mad Old Lu]

When RDJ retires, IM is recast and we're on to Phase 4 or 5 or whatever I think people will look back at IM3 and see that it will age extremely well. It's a very good movie, it just needs to shake the trappings of people's narrow expectations of what it was supposed to be.

I agree.

I think a lot of what they did were gutsy moves and I applaud them for taking some real risks with the story telling and with hiring someone like Black who I think delivered admirably.

And someone mentioned the surgery thing. I agree--why didn't Stark do that as soon as he got back from Afghanistan? But I don't see it as a fault in this particular movie that he finally decided to have the surgery. If anything it's a fault of the previous two because it's something he should have done a long time ago. Regardless, the movie uses its removal to show that Stark has grown to not depend on what it has come to represent (Iron Man), and instead chooses to live his life as Stark first and foremost and not Stark/IM. Which is also what the whole movie showed--Stark using his wits to beat the bad guy instead of relying on his armor.

 

[rocbolt]

I wouldn't ever ask the internet to turn you off of a movie you already like, but anyway IM3 is excellent, one of the best so far in the MCU (and my favorite). People that have the biggest problem with it are disappointed that the Mandarin wasn't what they wanted, even though it would have been a tired retread of an ethnic movie villain had it been played straight. The extremis enemy was a refreshing change, as the first two movies were "fight another guy in another Iron - something suit."

It explored more complex character traits like ptsd and anxiety, and was funny, witty, and interesting. Iron Man is not the suit, it is Tony Stark, that is the entire point of the film. People upset that there wasn't enough "Iron Man action" are missing that point.

People upset that the Mk42 isn't invincible are also missing the point, it is supposed to be an incomplete prototype of a stressed, broken man who is overwhelmed with the risks he sees in the world- as was the entire HPP, a crazy ensemble of specialized suits, most of which weren't built to fight in the first place.

He got the surgery after he realized he had conquered his demons and could finally live without the arc as a crutch. He was scared to have the shrapnel removed, would doing so also remove the only thing that made him a hero in the first place? He can finally believe in himself again after he saves the day with only his wits even while losing his mansion and all his armors, that he is Iron Man, not the suit, not the arc. "Best sleep I have had in years."

Plus a crazy action scene with 35 Iron Men, that's the definition of having your cake and eating it too. You get to hung up on the preconceived notions on details you have built for yourself, you are going to hate everything (see: 90% of the discourse on the internet). Learn to appreciate Shane Black while you're at it, he knows what he's doing.