Iron Man 3 Discussion Thread

[Biojex]

But, I ain't yo Grandma!

Just like

Spoiler

Kingsley wasn't Mandarin

 

[Biojex]

Wouldn't a proper Mandarin have the mystical alien rings, though? That's kind of the character's power. He's not just some old dude.

Iron Man vs old dude... boring. Iron Man vs Lo Pan meets Thor... that'd I'd pay to see.

Plus he could just have extremis

 

[IrishJedi]

I know it sounds weird, but I buy alien technology & other dimensional gods more than that Extremis crap.

 

[DiFabio]

Wouldn't a proper Mandarin have the mystical alien rings, though? That's kind of the character's power. He's not just some old dude.

But then you know what would happen, "MAGICAL RINGS? OH NO THEY DIDN'T".

A guy breathes fire for literally a second and folks won't get off it. Can you imagine what people would say if Ben Kingsley was firing Green Lantern like projectiles at Iron Man?




I'm trying to think of where they could have gone without the twist where Mandarin just appears as he does in the first half of the film. What do they do? Give him magical rings? Give him a special Mandarin Armor suit? Extremis? It's tough.

Then if they made him a terrorist with a true ideology (mirroring the war on terror today) where does that go? We've seen that before, we've seen that in Iron Man. People can say what they will, but atleast the twist was fresh and logical, even if some people feel it was forced.

 

[jye4ever]

And think of that too. As cool as Mandarin would have been without the twist, what would a battle be between him and Iron Man?


People would complain and question how an old man could kick Stark's ***. The filmmakers were damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Nope, ten rings awf power:

Deadly:

1. pew pew
2. asm lizard
3. little Bane sewer attack
4. power rangers mega zord
5. sauron's cousin
6. angry forum nerd
7. biojex grandmother
8. lolcats
9. rust
10. avengers less paid cast

Good luck.

 

[jye4ever]

I know it sounds weird, but I buy alien technology & other dimensional gods more than that Extremis crap.

 

[DiFabio]

Then Rhodey gets a hold of the rings,




[ame]https://youtu.be/TwJaELXadKo[/ame]

 

[Wor-Gar]

Nope, ten rings awf power:

Deadly:

1. pew pew
2. sonic the hedgehog blast
3. little Bane sewer attack
4. power rangers mega zord
5. sauron's cousin
6. angry forum nerd
7. biojex grandmother
8. lolcats
9. rust
10. avengers less paid cast

Good luck.

What are the 10 rings?

And who's Trevor?






So stupid.


I see this going the way of Avatar and Superman Returns.

 

[IrishJedi]

But then you know what would happen, "MAGICAL RINGS? OH NO THEY DIDN'T".

A guy breathes fire for literally a second and folks won't get off it. Can you imagine what people would say if Ben Kingsley was firing Green Lantern like projectiles at Iron Man?

Again, alien technology and alternate dimensions are one thing, Earth-based stuff like that is another. I believe in quantum mechanics and theory, so I can actually suspend disbelief for aliens and extra-dimensional beings and space-time continuum stuff. But regular people doing physiologically impossible things? Nah. Lose me there. Even Cap and Hulk can be too much for me, at times. But they've never quite jumped the shark like this Extremis stuff... At least not in the movies (yet).

In Iron Man 3 there are normal human beings who heat up into lava and breathe fire because of a formula concocted by Ben Affleck's toonie girlfriend. That's why it's lame for some of us. There has to be at least a single thread of credibility.

 

[jye4ever]

Mandarin + Dragon + Extremis = Human with dragon tattoo shooting fire from his mouth.

 

[DiFabio]

That same world has super soldier serum with Cap though? Extremis was all about enlightenment and physical perfection.

I thought their way of going about it was clever with the amputees, cripples, etc. Even Killian's quote about Thor basically sums it all up. I mean, look at Stark's tech, most of that stuff seems downright impossible. Are human advancements in science in this world really that much of a stretch?

 

[IrishJedi]

Mandarin + Dragon + Extremis = Human with dragon tatto shooting fire from his mouth.

With a Kato Kaelin hairdo. Don't forget that part.

 

[IrishJedi]

That same world has super soldier serum with Cap though? Extremis was all about enlightenment and physical perfection.

Right. And that (and Hulk) are pushing the envelope of credibility, like I said. I just think Extremis absolutely crosses that line and goes too far... into utter cartoon territory. Hulk is probably already there, too, but at least he's the ****ing Hulk.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Mandarin with Extremis > Aldrich with Extremis

 

[Boba Ben]

Spoiler

Although I think the Mandarin's rings fit within the context of the Marvel movie universe that's been established with things like the tesseract and the infinity gauntlet floating around, I don't think they'd even have to go in that direction to make Mandarin a fantastic villain. The way they were going with the television reception hacks already had him set up as a pretty chilling villain. Everybody always says that you have to have a giant battle between the villain and the hero, but I don't think that's necessarily true. They could have gone the puppet master angle with Mandarin and it could have been pretty darn cool. There have been other antagonists that have taken this role as well. Take Jabba the Hutt. He's a fat slug that can't move and spends all his time sitting on a throne eating frogs, but he's still a worthy villain because of the power and influence he holds over others.

Additionally, the argument that Mandarin is an unknown bad guy is fine, but the same could be said for Loki. Mainstream movie audiences didn't care about Loki before Thor and Avengers, but he's gained quite a following because he was written well. I'd even go as far to say that mainstream audiences didn't give a hoot about Iron Man before these movies were released. I'm trying to say that just because a character is not top tier, it doesn't mean that they can't be fleshed out into a memorable character that people respond to.

 

[Buttmunch]

Again, alien technology and alternate dimensions are one thing, Earth-based stuff like that is another. I believe in quantum mechanics and theory, so I can actually suspend disbelief for aliens and extra-dimensional beings and space-time continuum stuff. But regular people doing physiologically impossible things? Nah. Lose me there. Even Cap and Hulk can be too much for me, at times. But they've never quite jumped the shark like this Extremis stuff... At least not in the movies (yet).

In Iron Man 3 there are normal human beings who heat up into lava and breathe fire because of a formula concocted by Ben Affleck's toonie girlfriend. That's why it's lame for some of us. There has to be at least a single thread of credibility.

Agreed. Extremis was just too hooky. IM 1 and 2 had sense of realism and logic. Then Avengers comes along and introduces aliens and gods. I get that was a lot for Stark to swallow. I don't get where lava people felt OK to introduce at this point. Fing Fang Foom would have made more sense. The Mandarin's ALIEN rings would have made more sense. I just don't feel they explained Extremis well at all. I still have no idea what it exactly took to kill one. I mean, not even a zombie head shot seemed to do the trick. Blowing them up didn't work, but apparently power lines and chest beams and woman shot missiles work (what was Killian, the Morgul Lord ).

I do think they could have easily made a powered Mandarin work. The twist will probably go down as one of the biggest in film history though. I certainly have never been this surprised in a movie before. I still have to hand it to the for pulling it off

 

[jye4ever]

They would've been Killian/Trevor if IM3 had been made in the 70s.

 

[jye4ever]

Spoiler

Although I think the Mandarin's rings fit within the context of the Marvel movie universe that's been established with things like the tesseract and the infinity gauntlet floating around, I don't think they'd even have to go in that direction to make Mandarin a fantastic villain. The way they were going with the television reception hacks already had him set up as a pretty chilling villain. Everybody always says that you have to have a giant battle between the villain and the hero, but I don't think that's necessarily true. They could have gone the puppet master angle with Mandarin and it could have been pretty darn cool. There have been other antagonists that have taken this role as well. Take Jabba the Hutt. He's a fat slug that can't move and spends all his time sitting on a throne eating frogs, but he's still a worthy villain because of the power he holds.

Additionally, the argument that Mandarin is an unknown bad guy is fine, but the same could be said for Loki. Mainstream movie audiences didn't care about Loki before Thor and Avengers, but he's gained quite a following because he was written well. I'd even go as far to say that mainstream audiences didn't give a hoot about Iron Man before these movies were released. I'm trying to say that just because a character is not top tier, it doesn't mean that they can't be fleshed out into a memorable character that people respond to.

Agreed. Extremis was just too hooky. IM 1 and 2 had sense of realism and logic. Then Avengers comes along and introduces aliens and gods. I get that was a lot for Stark to swallow. I don't get where lava people felt OK to introduce at this point. Fing Fang Foom would have made more sense. The Mandarin's ALIEN rings would have made more sense. I just don't feel they explained Extremis well at all. I still have no idea what it exactly took to kill one. I mean, not even a zombie head shot seemed to do the trick. Blowing them up didn't work, but apparently power lines and chest beams and woman shot missiles work (what was Killian, the Morgul Lord ).

I do think they could have easily made a powered Mandarin work. The twist will probably go down as one of the biggest in film history though. I certainly have never been this surprised in a movie before. I still have to hand it to the for pulling it off

Yup, what killed them made no freaking sense.

The writers were just like, screw it, do whatever you guys and gals want with it to the actors/stunt/cgi artist.

 

[IrishJedi]

And here's the other thing... They've gone out of their way twice now (in Avengers and now Iron Man 3) to have characters stop and reflect on the craziness of alien invasions, other dimensional beings, and gamma created monsters. "Whoa! This is heavy. I'm not sure I'm ready for this."

The mere mention of NYC or wormholes makes Stark go icky-balooky. But Guy Pearce turning into lava and instantly growing new limbs... that's somehow more normal? They got this stuff bass ackwards. It's the Extremis **** that Stark should be scratching his head and losing sleep over.

 

[jye4ever]

And here's the other thing... They've gone out of their way twice now (in Avengers and now Iron Man 3) to have characters stop and reflect on the craziness of alien invasions, other dimensional beings, and gamma created monsters. "Whoa! This is heavy. I'm not sure I'm ready for this."

The mere mention of NYC or wormholes makes Stark go icky-balooky. But Guy Pearce turning into lava and instantly growing new limbs... that's somehow more normal? They got this stuff bass ackwards. It's the Extremis **** that Stark should be scratching his head and losing sleep over.

Say icky-balooky again in a sentence, pleaseeeee.