Hey so this is my first editorial, I’m new to CBM in the sense that I’ve just made an account, but I’ve kind of been lurking here for the past few years… watching you all…
Well if that wasn’t too creepy for you, check out my review of Iron Man 3. My plan is to go through each of 2013’s five major comic book movies – Iron Man 3, Man Of Steel, The Wolverine, Kick-Ass 2 and Thor: The Dark World – and give them my thoughts before rating them out of 5 stars. Warning, there will of course be SPOILERS. I’ll try not to compare between the films until I’ve reviewed all five, and just focus on them individually. Anyway, hope you enjoy!
Iron Man 3
Studio: Marvel/Disney
Release Date (US): May 3, 2013
Director: Shane Black
Box Office (Global): $1.215 billion
The Good
- The 1999 Opening: From the moment Eiffel’s 65’s ‘Blue’ kicked I had a big cheesy grin on my face that lasted pretty much the entire movie after that. The introduction of Guy Pearce’s Killian and Rebecca Hall’s Maya were handled well, while a cameo from Shaun Toub as Yinsen was an inspired nod to the first film.
- The Lead: Robert Downey Jr shines once again as everyone’s favourite ‘genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist’. As hilarious as ever, his chemistry with the other cast members forms the heart of this very funny movie, with exceptional turns next to Ty Simpkins’ Harley and Don Cheadle’s Rhodey in particular. He also adds a new level to the growing maturity of the character, with the PTSD coming across as a nice touch after last year’s The Avengers. The fact that the general audience are still loving a character who has now headlined four blockbuster movies is a testament to Downey Jr’s charm and acting ability.
- The Stark/Rhodey Partnership: Shane Black is a buddy cop specialist, and he proved it again with this movie on the back of past successes like ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ and ‘Lethal Weapon’. It added a fun element to the movie, and strengthened the relationship between Stark and Rhodey, the latter of whom has struggled to really establish himself next to the series’ excellent lead (although this is in part due to the actor change). Here Cheadle comes into his own, and clearly has a lot of fun while doing it.
- The Acting: Aside from ‘The Avengers’ and maybe ‘Thor: The Dark World’, this is perhaps the strongest supporting cast for an MCU film. The acting quality is fantastic, with no bad performances to complain about - even if a few characters roles weren’t expanded enough, they still excelled when on screen. Pearce is as consistent and solid as he always is, Simpkins stands up brilliantly next to Downey Jr, and Kingsley is absolutely hilarious. One actor who hasn’t received enough praise is Paul Bettany, whose dry and very funny voice performance as JARVIS is one of my favourite parts of the film.
- The Visual Effects: While I usually do not give my support to a film just for the visuals (many directors sacrifice plot for explosions… *cough* Michael Bay *cough*), I did find ‘Iron Man 3’ a very visually impressive film to watch, much like ‘The Avengers’ was last year. Tony's mid-air 'barrel of monkeys' rescue montage was a highlight.
- The Direction & Tone: Obviously the humour of the Iron Man franchise is what has made it so successful, and this film was again very funny. Where it excels however, is in its subversion of the not only the superhero, but the blockbuster genre in general, making it a very original film - as opposed to another run of the mill superhero flick (I’m looking at you Fantastic Four franchise). This golden age of comic book movies will only continue if they continue to adapt and change – instead of having the same story play out each time, but with different character names. Black’s involvement added something new to an already very genre-diverse Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Mixed
- The Mandarin: Obviously the biggest talking point – and very controversial. The way the reveal was executed was brilliant and hysterically funny – it potentially made the whole thing worth it with Ben Kingsley on top form. The fact that Marvel managed to hide this throughout the run up to the movie (especially in today’s highly digital age of Twitter rumours and El Mayimbe) made it one of the most shocking twists in cinematic history – and for that Marvel should be applauded. Additionally, the aversion of a stereotype was nice, even though it is a bit of a shame we didn’t get to see a Ben Kingsley Mandarin on screen – but that could have played out just like Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2 (a great actor whose character was very generic and forgettable). The most interesting concept here was a white American as the world’s most dangerous terrorist. However, where the movie failed was in embracing the larger-than-life nature of ‘the Mandarin’. I feel that with a bit more screen time (and a stronger motivation), Pearce would have truly owned as the Mandarin. Instead, he remains the fairly generic Aldrich Killian for most of the movie, and isn’t allowed to fully shine or embody the character of the Mandarin (even during the finale). Overall he isn’t a bad villain, but he doesn’t come across as the archenemy that Tony deserves either. I feel potentially having him reveal he has been involved as the puppet master over the course of the past three movies (including Tony’s capture as the head of the Ten Rings), would have given him a much more impressive legacy as the main villain of the whole series.
- Pepper Potts & Maya Hansen: One actor who was criminally underused was the excellent Rebecca Hall, who never really got to flesh out the role of the morally dubious scientist she was playing after a great introduction. Instead, for the rest of the film, she ends up taking a back seat to Tony and Pepper, mainly filling in as the third wheel in their relationship. Gwyneth Paltrow’s turn as Pepper was a key factor in the strength of the first film, creating one of the better romance arcs in the superhero genre. However, by the end of Iron Man 2, she had become a little too central and (dare I say it) annoying. I feel that in reducing her role in this movie a bit (now that Tony has got his girl), we could have had a larger involvement of Maya, with more screen time with Tony. This would have given more meaning to Maya’s role and betrayal, while also leaving enough scenes for Tony and Pepper’s chemistry to shine without becoming tiresome.
- The Solo Movie Concept: Inevitably, the first questions that were going to be asked about Tony returning for another solo adventure would be ‘where are the other Avengers’. And while you can get away with Thor being stuck on Asgard and Hawkeye being completely useless that still leaves three other competent Avengers. Now don’t get me wrong, the last thing the solo movies need is extra Avengers to take the spotlight away from the lead – it would have been nice to maintain the cohesion between the movies executed so well in Phase 1. I feel SHIELD most definitely needed an appearance during the finale, but Black was right in leaving them out for the main film (especially with them featuring so heavily in the upcoming Cap sequel. I also would have loved to see Ruffalo take a larger supporting role in the actual film as Bruce Banner (given his lack of involvement in Phase 2 as well). Obviously his involvement would bring further complications though, including adding the question of ‘why didn’t Banner just Hulk-smash everyone?’
- The Final Fight: I have more good things to say than bad about this. I loved the 42 suit back-up team, even if it did bring in more questions about Tony’s perceived ‘isolation’ (see ‘HISHE: Iron Man 3’). Tony Vs Killian was pretty good, I was digging the tattoos and fire breathing and stuff, but old Aldrich did get a bit whiney at the end. I loved the way Tony sacrificed his prodigal son, the MK42 suit, to finally defeat the villain – an event that was undermined a little by Pepper’s intervention.
The Bad
- The Villain’s Evil Plan: As mentioned before, the manipulation and cunning involved in Killian’s Mandarin creation instantly makes him very impressive. However, many people have an issue with what led to this, and also what he plans to do with it. While I quite liked Killian’s evolution from spurned loser to suave, confident villain, the revenge card does make it is a little cliché (i.e. The Incredibles pulled it off better). However, what is far worse is Killian’s endgame – kidnapping Pepper (seen it before) and kidnapping the President – whose appearance in this franchise just didn’t sit right with me, after barely being referenced at all in the past six movies. The ease at which Killian managed to capture the most powerful man in the world, as well as the Vice President’s more than ridiculous betrayal, made the whole scenario seem quite corny. Nevertheless, I did quite enjoy the movie’s themes of patriotism, following on nicely from Iron Man 2’s plot involving ownership of the suit – while military man Rhodey was an excellent fit for the Iron Patriot in a departure from the source material that really made a lot of sense.
- I Am Iron Man: I again like the concept of this, and its execution made for a wonderful fireworks display, but in general most people found Tony blowing up his suits for Pepper more than a little silly. While it does close the trilogy quite well, we all know Tony will be back in his suit by Age Of Ultron, making this gesture pretty meaningless. Also, and this is more my own pet peeve, I didn’t like the loss of Tony’s chest piece. It’s like he’s lost a little bit of his awesomeness. Stupid Extremis.
- The Post-Credit Scene: While I did enjoy the laugh I got out of the scene at the end, the lack of actual teaser material did also leave me a little disappointed leaving the theatre (especially given the high quality of similar scenes in Marvel’s past movies). I remember coming to the end of the film and thinking ‘great film and now I’m gonna see something even more awesome’. Unfortunately that never came, and I feel Marvel missed an opportunity in not having one. The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World had a much better approach, having one joke scene and a serious mid-credit tease as well.
Overall
In comparison to the rest of MCU, Iron Man 3 comes in as a very strong entry and maintains the overall good standard of these movies. It is a strong improvement on the lacklustre ‘Iron Man 2’, and also eclipses the likes of ‘Thor’ and ‘The First Avenger’ (both solid movies) as well. However, it does fail to reach the heights of the original Iron Man and The Avengers last year, but that is more an indication of how strong those two movies were. Overall, I found Iron Man 3 a very enjoyable experience, which stands up as a good movie in general and doesn’t just rely on its comic book roots – if anything it is at its strongest when it deviates away from normal comic book movie plot, and gains most of its criticism because of its comic book ties (e.g. The Mandarin).
I would rate the movie 4 out of 5 stars - classing it as a very good action-adventure movie, that keeps you constantly amused and entertained throughout.
Stray Observations…
- I love how Trevor Slattery is a Liverpool fan. Only Liverpool would suit a successful “act-or” turned pseudo global terrorist
- The Mandarin twist brings a whole new poetic meaning to the character’s marketing phrase “You’ll never see me coming”
- Not gonna lie, I really thought for a while Harley was going to turn out to be Rick Jones - aka Nova. That would have been awesome (but awkward if he ever has to suit up I guess)
- I noticed Banner and Stark have both had haircuts since The Avengers. Do you reckon they go to the same hairdresser’s together?
- You’d have thought someone would have pointed out to Black that despite the film’s Christmas theme, it was always going to have a May release…
- “Don’t shoot! Seriously, I don’t even like working here. They’re all so weird” – ‘Reluctant AIM Guard’ is my favourite unnamed henchman ever. He also makes you wonder why all the henchmen in other movies always try and fight heroes knowing they’re completely outmatched…
- With Marvel expanding its cinematic universe through various TV shows and one-shots, I feel like we deserve a mini-series revolving around an escaped Trevor Slattery and Hawkeye assigned to catch him. Hell, Nick Fury could even cameo to shout at Barton for losing him at the end of every episode. Still better than ‘Agents Of Shield’…
Anyway thanks for reading my first editorial (or just skimming through it - that’s all I really hoped for to be honest). Please comment and stuff - I don’t mind criticism, especially of the constructive kind.
Well if that wasn’t too creepy for you, check out my review of Iron Man 3. My plan is to go through each of 2013’s five major comic book movies – Iron Man 3, Man Of Steel, The Wolverine, Kick-Ass 2 and Thor: The Dark World – and give them my thoughts before rating them out of 5 stars. Warning, there will of course be SPOILERS. I’ll try not to compare between the films until I’ve reviewed all five, and just focus on them individually. Anyway, hope you enjoy!
Iron Man 3
Studio: Marvel/Disney
Release Date (US): May 3, 2013
Director: Shane Black
Box Office (Global): $1.215 billion
The Good
- The 1999 Opening: From the moment Eiffel’s 65’s ‘Blue’ kicked I had a big cheesy grin on my face that lasted pretty much the entire movie after that. The introduction of Guy Pearce’s Killian and Rebecca Hall’s Maya were handled well, while a cameo from Shaun Toub as Yinsen was an inspired nod to the first film.
- The Lead: Robert Downey Jr shines once again as everyone’s favourite ‘genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist’. As hilarious as ever, his chemistry with the other cast members forms the heart of this very funny movie, with exceptional turns next to Ty Simpkins’ Harley and Don Cheadle’s Rhodey in particular. He also adds a new level to the growing maturity of the character, with the PTSD coming across as a nice touch after last year’s The Avengers. The fact that the general audience are still loving a character who has now headlined four blockbuster movies is a testament to Downey Jr’s charm and acting ability.
- The Stark/Rhodey Partnership: Shane Black is a buddy cop specialist, and he proved it again with this movie on the back of past successes like ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ and ‘Lethal Weapon’. It added a fun element to the movie, and strengthened the relationship between Stark and Rhodey, the latter of whom has struggled to really establish himself next to the series’ excellent lead (although this is in part due to the actor change). Here Cheadle comes into his own, and clearly has a lot of fun while doing it.
- The Acting: Aside from ‘The Avengers’ and maybe ‘Thor: The Dark World’, this is perhaps the strongest supporting cast for an MCU film. The acting quality is fantastic, with no bad performances to complain about - even if a few characters roles weren’t expanded enough, they still excelled when on screen. Pearce is as consistent and solid as he always is, Simpkins stands up brilliantly next to Downey Jr, and Kingsley is absolutely hilarious. One actor who hasn’t received enough praise is Paul Bettany, whose dry and very funny voice performance as JARVIS is one of my favourite parts of the film.
- The Visual Effects: While I usually do not give my support to a film just for the visuals (many directors sacrifice plot for explosions… *cough* Michael Bay *cough*), I did find ‘Iron Man 3’ a very visually impressive film to watch, much like ‘The Avengers’ was last year. Tony's mid-air 'barrel of monkeys' rescue montage was a highlight.
- The Direction & Tone: Obviously the humour of the Iron Man franchise is what has made it so successful, and this film was again very funny. Where it excels however, is in its subversion of the not only the superhero, but the blockbuster genre in general, making it a very original film - as opposed to another run of the mill superhero flick (I’m looking at you Fantastic Four franchise). This golden age of comic book movies will only continue if they continue to adapt and change – instead of having the same story play out each time, but with different character names. Black’s involvement added something new to an already very genre-diverse Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Mixed
- The Mandarin: Obviously the biggest talking point – and very controversial. The way the reveal was executed was brilliant and hysterically funny – it potentially made the whole thing worth it with Ben Kingsley on top form. The fact that Marvel managed to hide this throughout the run up to the movie (especially in today’s highly digital age of Twitter rumours and El Mayimbe) made it one of the most shocking twists in cinematic history – and for that Marvel should be applauded. Additionally, the aversion of a stereotype was nice, even though it is a bit of a shame we didn’t get to see a Ben Kingsley Mandarin on screen – but that could have played out just like Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2 (a great actor whose character was very generic and forgettable). The most interesting concept here was a white American as the world’s most dangerous terrorist. However, where the movie failed was in embracing the larger-than-life nature of ‘the Mandarin’. I feel that with a bit more screen time (and a stronger motivation), Pearce would have truly owned as the Mandarin. Instead, he remains the fairly generic Aldrich Killian for most of the movie, and isn’t allowed to fully shine or embody the character of the Mandarin (even during the finale). Overall he isn’t a bad villain, but he doesn’t come across as the archenemy that Tony deserves either. I feel potentially having him reveal he has been involved as the puppet master over the course of the past three movies (including Tony’s capture as the head of the Ten Rings), would have given him a much more impressive legacy as the main villain of the whole series.
- Pepper Potts & Maya Hansen: One actor who was criminally underused was the excellent Rebecca Hall, who never really got to flesh out the role of the morally dubious scientist she was playing after a great introduction. Instead, for the rest of the film, she ends up taking a back seat to Tony and Pepper, mainly filling in as the third wheel in their relationship. Gwyneth Paltrow’s turn as Pepper was a key factor in the strength of the first film, creating one of the better romance arcs in the superhero genre. However, by the end of Iron Man 2, she had become a little too central and (dare I say it) annoying. I feel that in reducing her role in this movie a bit (now that Tony has got his girl), we could have had a larger involvement of Maya, with more screen time with Tony. This would have given more meaning to Maya’s role and betrayal, while also leaving enough scenes for Tony and Pepper’s chemistry to shine without becoming tiresome.
- The Solo Movie Concept: Inevitably, the first questions that were going to be asked about Tony returning for another solo adventure would be ‘where are the other Avengers’. And while you can get away with Thor being stuck on Asgard and Hawkeye being completely useless that still leaves three other competent Avengers. Now don’t get me wrong, the last thing the solo movies need is extra Avengers to take the spotlight away from the lead – it would have been nice to maintain the cohesion between the movies executed so well in Phase 1. I feel SHIELD most definitely needed an appearance during the finale, but Black was right in leaving them out for the main film (especially with them featuring so heavily in the upcoming Cap sequel. I also would have loved to see Ruffalo take a larger supporting role in the actual film as Bruce Banner (given his lack of involvement in Phase 2 as well). Obviously his involvement would bring further complications though, including adding the question of ‘why didn’t Banner just Hulk-smash everyone?’
- The Final Fight: I have more good things to say than bad about this. I loved the 42 suit back-up team, even if it did bring in more questions about Tony’s perceived ‘isolation’ (see ‘HISHE: Iron Man 3’). Tony Vs Killian was pretty good, I was digging the tattoos and fire breathing and stuff, but old Aldrich did get a bit whiney at the end. I loved the way Tony sacrificed his prodigal son, the MK42 suit, to finally defeat the villain – an event that was undermined a little by Pepper’s intervention.
The Bad
- The Villain’s Evil Plan: As mentioned before, the manipulation and cunning involved in Killian’s Mandarin creation instantly makes him very impressive. However, many people have an issue with what led to this, and also what he plans to do with it. While I quite liked Killian’s evolution from spurned loser to suave, confident villain, the revenge card does make it is a little cliché (i.e. The Incredibles pulled it off better). However, what is far worse is Killian’s endgame – kidnapping Pepper (seen it before) and kidnapping the President – whose appearance in this franchise just didn’t sit right with me, after barely being referenced at all in the past six movies. The ease at which Killian managed to capture the most powerful man in the world, as well as the Vice President’s more than ridiculous betrayal, made the whole scenario seem quite corny. Nevertheless, I did quite enjoy the movie’s themes of patriotism, following on nicely from Iron Man 2’s plot involving ownership of the suit – while military man Rhodey was an excellent fit for the Iron Patriot in a departure from the source material that really made a lot of sense.
- I Am Iron Man: I again like the concept of this, and its execution made for a wonderful fireworks display, but in general most people found Tony blowing up his suits for Pepper more than a little silly. While it does close the trilogy quite well, we all know Tony will be back in his suit by Age Of Ultron, making this gesture pretty meaningless. Also, and this is more my own pet peeve, I didn’t like the loss of Tony’s chest piece. It’s like he’s lost a little bit of his awesomeness. Stupid Extremis.
- The Post-Credit Scene: While I did enjoy the laugh I got out of the scene at the end, the lack of actual teaser material did also leave me a little disappointed leaving the theatre (especially given the high quality of similar scenes in Marvel’s past movies). I remember coming to the end of the film and thinking ‘great film and now I’m gonna see something even more awesome’. Unfortunately that never came, and I feel Marvel missed an opportunity in not having one. The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World had a much better approach, having one joke scene and a serious mid-credit tease as well.
Overall
In comparison to the rest of MCU, Iron Man 3 comes in as a very strong entry and maintains the overall good standard of these movies. It is a strong improvement on the lacklustre ‘Iron Man 2’, and also eclipses the likes of ‘Thor’ and ‘The First Avenger’ (both solid movies) as well. However, it does fail to reach the heights of the original Iron Man and The Avengers last year, but that is more an indication of how strong those two movies were. Overall, I found Iron Man 3 a very enjoyable experience, which stands up as a good movie in general and doesn’t just rely on its comic book roots – if anything it is at its strongest when it deviates away from normal comic book movie plot, and gains most of its criticism because of its comic book ties (e.g. The Mandarin).
I would rate the movie 4 out of 5 stars - classing it as a very good action-adventure movie, that keeps you constantly amused and entertained throughout.
Stray Observations…
- I love how Trevor Slattery is a Liverpool fan. Only Liverpool would suit a successful “act-or” turned pseudo global terrorist
- The Mandarin twist brings a whole new poetic meaning to the character’s marketing phrase “You’ll never see me coming”
- Not gonna lie, I really thought for a while Harley was going to turn out to be Rick Jones - aka Nova. That would have been awesome (but awkward if he ever has to suit up I guess)
- I noticed Banner and Stark have both had haircuts since The Avengers. Do you reckon they go to the same hairdresser’s together?
- You’d have thought someone would have pointed out to Black that despite the film’s Christmas theme, it was always going to have a May release…
- “Don’t shoot! Seriously, I don’t even like working here. They’re all so weird” – ‘Reluctant AIM Guard’ is my favourite unnamed henchman ever. He also makes you wonder why all the henchmen in other movies always try and fight heroes knowing they’re completely outmatched…
- With Marvel expanding its cinematic universe through various TV shows and one-shots, I feel like we deserve a mini-series revolving around an escaped Trevor Slattery and Hawkeye assigned to catch him. Hell, Nick Fury could even cameo to shout at Barton for losing him at the end of every episode. Still better than ‘Agents Of Shield’…
Anyway thanks for reading my first editorial (or just skimming through it - that’s all I really hoped for to be honest). Please comment and stuff - I don’t mind criticism, especially of the constructive kind.
Source: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/MintyFreshness/news/?a=90623
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