In writing this article I understand all too well what kind of emotions this film stirs up in people. If there's a fence dividing people I was on the hateful side before; looking at Iron Man 3 as a disappointment, and not only that but it caused me to worry about Phase II and what Marvel was doing in a post-Avengers world.
To that end, Marvel was very ballsy to essentially go from The Avengers which not only had phenomenal special effects, witty dialogue and spot-on performances by the cast -- to Iron Man 3. Which removes all the other factors and brings everything back to Tony. At first glance, Iron Man 3 is comparable to going from a 10 course meal to a turkey sandwich; but in all fairness it's actually far more enriching to the character then any of the previous Iron Man movies and dare I say, even The Avengers!
Rewatching Iron Man 3 I notice that a lot more, it's Tony's story. Whether it's him losing grip of his emotional state, his home/livelihood, and those that he loves; but he also has to face the sins of his past in the form of Aldrich Killian.
Back when I was a hater of Iron Man 3 I focused a lot of my confused rage at Aldrich and the switcheroo that was made with The Mandarin. In all fairness, The Mandarin would not have worked in the MCU. Why? Because he's a racist caricature; back in a time where society was way more insensitive to these types of things, it was fine. However, in today's day and age an old-school approach to The Mandarin would never fly. Even the modern day comics use the idea of The Mandarin as a Military-Industrial leader, not some sorcerer.
In post-Civil War Tony becomes the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and in issues #15-28 of Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony deals with The Mandarin utilizing Maya Hansen and Extremis. Sounds awfully familiar doesn't it? It's because in many ways this portrayal of The Mandarin wasn't too far off, what Shane Black did was merge the original Extremis storyline with that 13-issue run of Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
I'm glad in a way that I re-read a lot of comics before re-watching Iron Man 3. It gave me further insight into the story and how Shane Black crafted the story. At first I was outraged that they dare tarnish The Mandarin; they did in my opinion the only logical course of action and that was make The Mandarin a relevant villain while signifying his change in methods over the years. If you don't read comics, or just quickly Wikipedia'd The Mandarin then you're not going to understand this change but in reading the comics I actually have a newfound appreciation for the interesting way Marvel and Shane Black brount the character to the screen.
While I certainly can't fault the original Iron Man for being a bit underwhelming, I can blame Iron Man 2 and it's removal of the focus off Tony and onto introducing all the different characters. Priorities were the problem of that movie where it was more concerned with showing us that War Machine and Black Widow existed in the same universe as Tony.
Iron Man 3, keeps it much more focused. No Avengers, no S.H.I.E.L.D.; Just Tony and his personal problems. These personal problems were far more interesting to me then what was presented in any other MCU movie. The panic attacks were well handled, they did a good job of showing that Tony has been traumatized a bit by the events of The Avengers, and understandably so. In that movie Tony's preconceptions are shattered and he's introduced to things that he didn't even know of.
Throughout the movie too is this interesting removal of Tony from Iron Man. In fact, the movie prominetly features Tony out of the suit far more then him actually in it. This bothered me upon first viewing, but thinking on it more it's interesting. It showed that Tony didn't need Iron Man, and in the end when he chooses to remove the Arc Reactor from his chest that signifies an interesting change in the character. He accepts who he is as Tony, not just Iron Man.
To me, that was far more interesting then any action sequence in Iron Man 2.
Watching The Avengers, you really got the impression that it was a Joss Whedon movie. Everything from the lines, to the shots; everything had that Whedon stamp on it.
One of my complaints initially with Iron Man 3 was that it felt too much like a Shane Black movie; but I started to realize that's not a bad thing. In fact, a lot of the smaller parts I liked I realize come from Black's personal style. The quips between Rhodey and Tony felt like they had that Lethal Weapon-vibe going on.
While Black may have been a bit unconventional as a choice for directing an Iron Man film it was the perfect missing ingredient and he perfectly balanced everything I thought well also giving us a unique take.
The purpose of Phase I was to introduce these characters and the worlds they belonged in. The purpose of The Avengers was to give them a common purpose to band together and ultimately work together to stop the invading forces of the Chitauri.
Iron Man 3 had a more difficult purpose, show that you can remove the excitement and grandiose that was there in The Avengers and make the solo characters just as interesting on their own. While I'd argue Thor: The Dark World did not deliver on that (personal opinion); I also think that if you think about it this way Iron Man 3 succeeded. It made Tony's personal plights interesting, and I genuinely believed that there was no reason for The Avengers to get involved. Tony had a personal stake in the fight and it remained that way.
In thinking that Iron Man 3 wasn't truthful and honest to it's source material; I couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, in rewatching it I have come to the conclusion that it's the most faithful and earnest Iron Man story on film yet, and in some ways even bests The Avengers as my favourite MCU movie.
As always, comment below with your thoughts on Iron Man 3. Still hate it? Love it? Well sound off where you normally do. If you enjoyed this article, please thumb it up. Also share this on that book of faces and that bluebird fansite (forget what it's called). Till next time!
Source: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/HulkstaTheatre/news/?a=90680
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