IRON MAN 3
Paramount Pictures / Walt Disney Studios
By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas
You can't believe how excited I was to see this movie. After all, THIS movie:
... was my favorite movie of all time. Couple that with a series of movies that were ALL excellent to fantastic (I still don't understand the hate that Iron Man 2 sometimes gets), it's impossible to disappoint, going by that track record.
So tonight, I hit the latest show I could, and with the last $10 I had in my pocket, I took the plunge.
Well...
FIRST THINGS FIRST: This review is going to contain a metric load of spoilers. This is not one of those movies that can be properly reviewed without them. Don't worry though. The spoiler section will be clearly marked.
Let's look at the superficial aspects.
It's well known that Shane Black, a long time friend of Robert Downey Jr., picked up the reigns left behind by Jon Favreau.
AND IT SHOWS.
The cinematography was not bad, but it's very basic. One of the things I liked about the previous Iron Man movies was that it had it's own feel. There are lots of times where this film feels like an old 80's action / buddy cop film due to how it was shot. That isn't to say that's a bad thing, but it didn't feel right here. The way the film was shot just felt very... plain.
Speaking of the 80's, the music was very reminiscent of RoboCop. Perhaps this was intentional? Regardless I had no problems here. Just felt very different from the previous movies.
The real highlight of the film are the action sequences. While, as noted above, they were shot in a very plain style, the action itself was quite well done.
I found the story to be... well... let's take a look at the trailer again:
What this trailer felt like was a movie that would be in a primarily dark tone. A more or less serious movie, which would have been a great departure from the previous ones, and a tone that I really hoped I would find in the final film. But what we got was alot of innappropriately placed comedy. There were alot of times where the story would have been better served by leaving out some of the jokes. They were delivered fine by Downey... they just really detracted from the film in general.
To end this spoiler-free section of the review, I'd just like to say that what we had here was a movie that could have been fantastic, but some MAJOR issues, mostly in story, kept it from being so.
And I don't mean JUST the comedy. Read on if you don't mind being spoilerized.
Are you sure???
Scroll down...
**** SPOILER ALERT ****
THE MANDARIN WAS A HOAX.
YES.
IT WAS ALL AN ACT. A FRONT.
All the things that were built up from the first movie: The Ten Rings terrorist organization who captured Stark, the logo in the background, the RING on Raza's finger... ALL OF IT WAS JUST A FRONT FOR A.I.M.
That's it.
What.
You build up an awesome mystery over the course of a number of movies... THEN you introduce a fantastic looking and creepy-as-you-can-get sounding villain in the trailers... ONLY TO TURN HIM INTO A FAILED ACTOR.
I guess they were going for the Ras Al Goul thing from Batman Begins, but they blew it bigtime with that whole situation being used for comedy.
Also:
- So... now that there never was an ACTUAL Mandarin (and dispite Guy Pierce's utterance to the contrary, I just can't buy HIM as the Mandarin), what was the point of the hints of the Ten Rings organization peppered through the first two movies? All along, we've been told by Favreau and others that it was all a plan for an eventual grand reveal. And the reveal was a doddering alcoholic? I guess I'm upset because I really bought into Kingsley's creepy portrayal in the trailers, and I was hoping for some real answers or at least some thread of sense as to why the organization was doing what it was doing. All I got was a headache overthinking this over the past few years.
- Also, did this wino of an actor actually kill the oil exec, or did someone else do it? Either way, why didn't he seem the least bit upset over the fact that he has done so? WHY DOES HE GET FANGIRLS AT THE END?
- Was Killian also the Marvel cinematic universe's Fing Fang Foom? Not that I particularly care about the "character," but the whole firebreathing thing was pretty weird.
- Look, I know that the device on Tony's chest was mainly there to keep that shrapnel away from his heart, but didn't it also power his suits? Why did he have to charge the suit when the power (or at least backup power) should be able to come from the MINIATURIZED NUCLEAR REACTOR on his chest?
- Just how in hell do you counter "DNA hacking?" I thought Pepper's recovery was just waaaaay too easy for what she was subjected to.
So... yeah. I gotta dig up this old review chestnut: All in all, Iron Man 3 had alot of potential to be an interesting story. Why things turned out this way, I have no idea.
Absolutely no idea.
I'm going to see it again just to make sure I feel the same way after a second viewing... right now, I just... I don't know...
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