Iron Man 3 Discussion Thread

[filip629]

Didn't care for IM 3. Long, boring, and not nearly enough IM. The twist completely neutered the Mandarin character. I never thought this would happen in a Marvel produced film. What a waste of a character.

The same thing happened in the Dark Knight Rises. Bane goes from ultimate bad @ss to neutered love sick puppy dog. Such a huge disappointment for me.

Both of these characters are lead villians in their respective heroes universes. IM's rogues gallery is paper thin to begin with. To do this with arguably his greatest nemesis is a crying shame. If Marvel can't find a way to properly utilize him in a movie, then leave him out. I believe it's Marvels duty to treat their characters with respect. Especially now that they control the rights to most of their characters in these movies. They can't blame someone else now when things go this wrong. Marvel is now in control.

This is easily the worst IM movie of the 3 in my book. They should have just made an Extremis movie and leave the Mandarin character out of IM 3 entirely.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Also, I don't have a single issue with this film not following the comics. All of my problems with it have to do with going off the rails of its own established movie conceits.

This is what we all have been saying, but the supporters of this movie keep bringing in comic book crap as the reason we don't like it because they have no answer for why it deviated from its own established movie world.

Speaking of which...

funny...complaint after complaint yet the box office is kicking *ss. some people need to realize that the movies AIN'T the comics. they need to.....

It's not about the comics :

 

[The Josh]

I am not saying that you will change your mind. But I remember how IM2 had great critic reviews and everyone was raving about it (two of my best friends included). I did not care for it. So I sort of feel vindicated when I start reading reviews for IM3 and everyone in those reviews is talking about how IM2 was a misstep and not all that good. My friends feel the same way. I am not saying that without question this will happen with IM3. But I bet by the time IM4 comes out people will be writing the same things about it as they were about IM2.

I could be wrong but judging by the quality of this film I doubt I will be.

If anything IM3 at least made me realize IM2 was not that bad. Still a misstep but it could have been much worse.

People always change their minds one way or the other. Its like the BO issue I was talking about earlier it all works out in the wash. You haven't changed your mind and for some reason feel vindicated by some reviews after the fact making you feel better about not liking it. You win. I guess.

 

[Vader AL]

Seems to be a love it or hate it type movie.

 

[CREG Customs]

There be Spoilers below if you don't want to know stuff....

Oh look, Batman dropped his bomb in Iron Man 3.


Wow... The curse of the comic book movie part 3 FAIL continues. IMO - It joins the hall of fail along with the likes of Spider-man 3, X-Men 3, and The Dark Knight Rises.

The strength of any good, well, good vs evil film MUST have a strong villain.

This is where IM3 fell apart to me.

So in IM1 one we had a personal betrayal - played by the amazing Jeff Bridges. In IM2 we have a tech competitor - Played by the great Sam Rockwell and a personal tale of revenge by the talented Mr. Rourke. While the end fight was terribly too short - the baddies were great to watch. So IM3 has a tech competitor who has a lame personal revenge motive.

Wow - that sounds familiar. Oh yeah - I just watched that played out better in IM3!!!!

While I get the gimic of how they used the Mandarin - He NEEDED to be the main villain. He needed to be Iron Man's Joker. Just evil to be evil. No personal connections and no seemingly open options - just to cause destruction. AIM should have been his puppet - not the other way around. I had read that he was played out to be an actor before going in but I still went in optimistic. So that's the first and main issue.

Lots of 'splosions, IM suits, Super human types and such but just felt lifeless to me.

I read that RDJ did not ad lib much at all and stuck to the script. It showed in a glaring way to me. The energy that made RDJ OWN Iron Man was gone. While he grew the role to a pitch perfect note in the Avengers - he just seem too subdued here and it felt like two steps back.

About Pepper - So does she buy her undies from the same place Bruce Banner buys his pants? I get you can't have her walk out in the end buck naked but come on - She fell into fire! How did her clothes survive? AND - Since when did the Extremis give fighting abilities. She snapped out of it after taking out the badie and then is all - "Wow, that was violent" Made NO sense.

And to the END - Liked the post credits scene with Banner. But Removing the arc reactor? Why did he just now get around to going to a Dr. to have the shrapnel removed?? Why bother with one of the subplots of part two??? Finding an alternative fuel source for the arc reactor ends up being pretty stupid when all he needed to do was go to the hospital. What about the hole in his chest now? Yep - Iron Man Rises, and like Batman - failed to live up. Oh well. Bring on Thor 2!

 

[lerath666]

Speaking of which...



It's not about the comics :

Nope, it's about the story.

The MASSIVE, overarching Story crossing over from one film to another creating an all-incompasing universe.


and when you look at them that way... at each film like a chapter in a book, that means that each film could be considered a Part 1, part 2, and etc.

so when you've gotten up to 7+ movies.... some of them are bound to not be as good. It just happens.

Even so, I'll wager marvel takes a tighter reign on the future projects.

 

[Samuraimasta]

Saw it over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Best IM by far.

The complaint about lack of IM in IM3 just seem juvenile to me, like a child wanting his favorite toy on screen constantly, good story telling or sense of tension be damned. They were doing some interesting things with the suits this time and by the end there was an ARMY of suits battling it out, all the more reason why the complaint about lack of IM is puzzling to me. If you want scenes of IM just endlessly blasting things with replulsor beam without any sense of tension or danger I recommend rewatching IM1 and 2 on a loop.

'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results'

 

[IrishJedi]

JAWS is Perfect!!!!

Yup. As is RAIDERS and CASABLANCA and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and SEVEN SAMURAI and lots of other movies. But, sadly, those have apparently gone the way of the dodo once corporations started making movies as products first and foremost.

Wow... The curse of the comic book movie part 3 FAIL continues. IMO - It joins the hall of fail along with the likes of Spider-man 3, X-Men 3, and The Dark Knight Rises.

This is a better movie than X-MEN 3 or SPIDEY 3, but overall I agree. I definitely got a TDKR meets Spider-Man 3 vibe with this flick.

 

[jye4ever]

Weird now seeing the real ten rings in IM1.

 

[CREG Customs]

This is a better movie than X-MEN 3 or SPIDEY 3, but overall I agree. I definitely got a TDKR meets Spider-Man 3 vibe with this flick.

Yep - Undermining characters and subplots from SM3 and trying to make it epic without substance like TDKR.

I don't HATE the movie. Just irritated by how much of a letdown it was. Just left feeling meh about the whole thing.

 

[CREG Customs]

Weird now seeing the real ten rings in IM1.

Well - I think Harry @ AICN theory may hold some water that it was all a front and he really is who he was thought to be for later films but I still think it was a fumble in this pic. Maybe it will all come together someday after all?

 

[Natrix]

Well - I think Harry @ AICN theory may hold some water that it was all a front and he really is who he was thought to be for later films but I still think it was a fumble in this pic. Maybe it will all come together someday after all?

Spoiler

Trevor did mention that AIM gave him plastic surgery so I think there is still a real Mandarin behind the Ten Rings and AIM. Why else would he need plastic surgery to be the fake Mandarin?

 

[Bmutha]

***SPOILERS***

I'll start off by saying that I have seen nearly every super hero movie in theatre (except Elektra and Ghost Rider 2...I haven't seen those yet, and probably never will). In general, I almost always enjoy myself at these movies...I take them for what they are, which is a summer popcorn action flick.

Yet, I hated Iron Man 3. I thought it was total garbage. Maybe I wasn't in the mood, maybe I have subconciously just had enough of Iron Man, maybe I ruined for myself it by watching too many trailers (although I tried not to)...I don't know.

I was pretty pumped to see an epic battle between Iron Man and the Mandarin. By no means am I a Mandarin expert...I wouldn't even put him in my top 25 favorite characters...or even top 25 favorite villains for that matter, but I thought they had come up with an interesting modern take on the character. Kingsley's portrayal really grew on me, and I thought he looked so bad *** in the trailers.

The twist...well, I get why they did it, but it just didn't work for me. Like I said, I went in expecting a massive confrontation between Iron Man and his arch enemy, and we got a bunch of no name exploding army guys. Maybe I missed it, but can someone tell me why Guy Pearce didn't die the first 105 times they blew him up, but for some reason when Pepper did it, it worked? Same goes for the guy on th eplane...why did the unibeam kill him, but he somehow regenerated and walked away from the chinese theatre explosion?

I don't know...I could nit pick all day long. Bottom line, I just didn't enjoy it. If other people did enjoy it, I'm not here to say you are wrong...heck, I liked the first Ghost Rider...but, this movie was garbage for me.

 

[Deckard]

Well - I think Harry @ AICN theory may hold some water that it was all a front and he really is who he was thought to be for later films but I still think it was a fumble in this pic. Maybe it will all come together someday after all?

If that is the case it's a stupid and dangerous thing to do when

a. Iron Man 4 is not greenlit

b. RDJ and Ben Kingsley, 2 incredibly good, well-respected actors aren't signed on for more movies

c. You have to make Avengers 2 work before you can go back and retell the story and in that interval a whole other director is going to give his differant take on the character with all new problems to face

 

[JonWes]

Well - I think Harry @ AICN theory may hold some water that it was all a front and he really is who he was thought to be for later films but I still think it was a fumble in this pic. Maybe it will all come together someday after all?

I just don't see how that could be. I agree the way Kingsley played that you could think that. I did to, at first. But by the movie's end, it seems like Killian makes it pretty clear. It'd be interesting if the think tank just co-opted the ten rings mythology/iconongraphy, though and there was something real out there. It feels like it was a more recent invention, and it wasn't intended to say that Killian was behind it all.

 

[The Josh]

Well - I think Harry @ AICN theory may hold some water that it was all a front and he really is who he was thought to be for later films but I still think it was a fumble in this pic. Maybe it will all come together someday after all?

That's my guess as well is that we saw the real Mandarin and it will be explained later.

 

[Deckard]

I've never read Iron Man comics so before someone comes at me with You mad cuz it not comix accorat derp bull ****, thats not at all the case, But I'm not happy about the way Kingsley was used within this series.

We've had Mandarin hinted at since Part 1, Ten Rings, then again the Rings helped Vanko get his Visa to the US in 2. They we're behind the scenes all this time and when Kingsley was finally announced, alot of us we're looking forward to the inevitable fight scene with the ten rings and instead we got Guy breathing fire because of a medical condition. It was pretty meh but honestly the least of the problems.

IMO Shane Black ruined the overall story of Stark by taking out the Arc Reactor, Whedon wasn't joking when he said he has no idea how to fix that, he's going to have to spend time now in A2 explaining why realisticly Tony would have more suits again and that's going to take time away from action or other newer characters. Overall too much comedey in the wrong places and the action scenes were a let down. I need time to think on it all but right now I'm thinking something like

Iron Man - 9/10
The Avengers - 7/10
Thor - 7/10
Iron Man 2 - 7/10
The Incredible Hulk - 6/10
Iron Man 3 - 6/10
Captain America - 5/10

The series isn't ruined beyond repair although it would seem as if Black tryed his hardest with that ending, there was alot of really really lazy writing and poor effort made to explain stuff. Of course these movies are unrealistic but they still take the time to come up with even an unrealstic explanation for that stuff and it at least feels like they are trying. In IM1 he could have just had the suit and been set but they took 20 mins to show him learning to fly it to make it seem more believable even if it isnt. I guess alot of people just don't get that. I ultimately just want RDJ back and Black gone, as long as that happens, theres hope.

 

[Bmutha]

There be Spoilers below if you don't want to know stuff....

Oh look, Batman dropped his bomb in Iron Man 3.


Wow... The curse of the comic book movie part 3 FAIL continues. IMO - It joins the hall of fail along with the likes of Spider-man 3, X-Men 3, and The Dark Knight Rises.

The strength of any good, well, good vs evil film MUST have a strong villain.

This is where IM3 fell apart to me.

So in IM1 one we had a personal betrayal - played by the amazing Jeff Bridges. In IM2 we have a tech competitor - Played by the great Sam Rockwell and a personal tale of revenge by the talented Mr. Rourke. While the end fight was terribly too short - the baddies were great to watch. So IM3 has a tech competitor who has a lame personal revenge motive.

Wow - that sounds familiar. Oh yeah - I just watched that played out better in IM3!!!!

While I get the gimic of how they used the Mandarin - He NEEDED to be the main villain. He needed to be Iron Man's Joker. Just evil to be evil. No personal connections and no seemingly open options - just to cause destruction. AIM should have been his puppet - not the other way around. I had read that he was played out to be an actor before going in but I still went in optimistic. So that's the first and main issue.

Lots of 'splosions, IM suits, Super human types and such but just felt lifeless to me.

I read that RDJ did not ad lib much at all and stuck to the script. It showed in a glaring way to me. The energy that made RDJ OWN Iron Man was gone. While he grew the role to a pitch perfect note in the Avengers - he just seem too subdued here and it felt like two steps back.

About Pepper - So does she buy her undies from the same place Bruce Banner buys his pants? I get you can't have her walk out in the end buck naked but come on - She fell into fire! How did her clothes survive? AND - Since when did the Extremis give fighting abilities. She snapped out of it after taking out the badie and then is all - "Wow, that was violent" Made NO sense.

And to the END - Liked the post credits scene with Banner. But Removing the arc reactor? Why did he just now get around to going to a Dr. to have the shrapnel removed?? Why bother with one of the subplots of part two??? Finding an alternative fuel source for the arc reactor ends up being pretty stupid when all he needed to do was go to the hospital. What about the hole in his chest now? Yep - Iron Man Rises, and like Batman - failed to live up. Oh well. Bring on Thor 2!

I pretty much share all of your feelings. IM3 was a letdown for me.

 

[jye4ever]

Well - I think Harry @ AICN theory may hold some water that it was all a front and he really is who he was thought to be for later films but I still think it was a fumble in this pic. Maybe it will all come together someday after all?

Lets think plot wise.

Killian created a character named Mandarin, even gave him ten rings to wear.

Which means he had knowledge of the real ten rings group, since their banner with the ten rings symbol was hanging behind Stark in the cave and this capture video was released for the world to see.

Mandarin was never mentioned by name at all or as the leader of the ten rings in IM1 or IM2.

So,

1. Did Killian create Mandarin from scratch and made him the leader of the ten rings just for the hell of it? I don't think so because the real ten rings would've come out and said that this person is not their leader.

2. Did Killian take an already existing Mandarin and just used his image (that's if the real Mandarin has ever even been seen)? I don't think so because the real ten rings would've come out and said that this person is not their leader.

3. Was Killian the real Mandarin then? Maybe, so he had henchmen in Miami and Afghan?

I believe that something is not what it seems to be and that Sir Ben will be the real Mandarin who will be broken out of jail later, that maybe Killian was working for the real Mandarin. Him yelling i'm Mandarin and the plastic surgery line from fake Mandarin would have to be explained though.

**** all this noise, my head hurts.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

Lets think plot wise.

Killian created a character named Mandarin, even gave him ten rings to wear.

Which means he had knowledge of the real ten rings group, since their banner with the ten rings symbol was hanging behind Stark in the cave and this capture video was released for the world to see.

Mandarin was never mentioned by name at all or as the leader of the ten rings in IM1 or IM2.

So,

1. Did Killian create Mandarin from scratch and made him the leader of the ten rings just for the hell of it? I don't think so because the real ten rings would've come out and said that this person is not their leader.

2. Did Killian take an already existing Mandarin and just used his image (that's if the real Mandarin has ever even been seen)? I don't think so because the real ten rings would've come out and said that this person is not their leader.

3. Was Killian the real Mandarin then? Maybe, so he had henchmen in Miami and Afghan?

I believe that something is not what it seems to be and that Sir Ben will be the real Mandarin who will be broken out of jail later, that maybe Killian was working for the real Mandarin. Him yelling i'm Mandarin and the plastic surgery line from fake Mandarin would have to be explained though.

**** all this noise, my head hurts.