That being said, I had the pleasure of an early viewing of Iron Man 3. Unfortunately, this post is about a week late, so that doesn't really matter. But here it is, nonetheless. If you're one of the six or seven people who haven't seen it yet, or even if you have and want to get another opinion, read on.
Mark and I have both seen it, but I'm lazy and decided to just copy my review from my other blog. Hopefully he'll add his input at the bottom.
I have a number of issues with this film. I realize I'm being rough on it; it's just a summer blockbuster meant to make money. But given what Marvel and Disney are trying to accomplish with the extended Marvel Universe, I find this installment to be rather lacking, and hopefully not an indication of what's to come.
My main complaint is that it was not what we were led to believe it would be. I was very excited to see a grand battle of wits and firepower between Tony Stark's Iron Man and his arch-nemesis The Mandarin ala Batman and the Joker. And that's what the trailers and the reports teased. What we finally get is far from that, and much less thrilling. I can understand the tactic of misleading reports in order to hide spoilers and twists and turns, but to completely eliminate a fascinating story line and replace with the usual shit is just lazy. It may stand above the second movie in almost every way, but that doesn't make it the masterpiece some people are hailing it as.
For example, you have these bad guys, who have undergone some sort of medical procedure in which their DNA has been enhanced. We see that the positive effect is bodily regeneration and perfection. The creator, Aldrich Killina, cures his own handicap; other people who are missing arms and legs and what not -- soldiers, children with birth defects, etc. -- can grow their limbs back instantly. It's definitely a world-changing serum, or at least the beginnings of one. Except a frequent side effect is that some have the ability to heat their bodies to extreme temperatures, which, for some reason, gives them super strength, super speed, and the ability to, well, breathe fire. Oh, and make them evil, I guess. All very gimmicky effects that don't enhance the plot at all. The true nature of this serum, how it works, and how it factors into the plot or the larger universe, is never really fleshed out. As with the alien invasion in The Avengers, it should definitely have effects that continue to ripple through this shared universe, but...it doesn't.
Which brings me to my next point. Tony Stark has PTSD after his near-death experience in The Avengers. To cope with this, he has been building Iron Man suits, I guess in preparation for the next attack. But here, I have to say, the trailers put more emphasis on his inner turmoil than the movie did. He had a couple of panic attacks that really didn't affect anything, beyond being a reason for him to build neat suits, which, in turn, only exist for the epic finale. Seriously, after the finale Tony just blows them all up because...he's cured...I guess.
One of the worst things to happen to movies with sequels is that the villains all have the same motive and the same strategy over and over again. In the original Spider-Man trilogy, it always came down to villains luring Spider-Man into a trap using Mary Jane as a decoy. With Iron Man, each villain has a grudge against Tony and tries to use their technological expertise to overcome his. Obadiah Stane thinks he should run Stark Industries, so he funds some terrorists, puts Pepper in danger, and tries to kill Tony; Justin Hammer wants to eliminate the superior competition in weapons manufacturing, so he hires Ivan Vanko (pretty much a terrorist), puts Pepper in danger, and tries to kill Tony. Well, I don't want to give anything away, but the villain in Iron Man 3 has, for all intents and purposes, the same idea. I realize 'kill the bad guy, save the girl, and live happily ever after' is the go-to scenario, but come on. At least in The Dark Knight, Nolan just said 'fuck it, let's kill off the love interest.' And if any love interest was more deserving of being killed off than Rachel, it would have to be Pepper Potts. The romance between she and Tony is just so lame and unbelievable.
Now, I am a sucker for Marvel movies, especially the Avengers mega-franchise. But as a complete nerd for these movies, I just wasn't satisfied. The Mandarin is hinted at in the first two movies, but the average viewer most likely didn't notice. In this installment we learn that the Mandarin has in fact had it in for Tony since before the events of the first movie. And therefore it probably would have been smart and clever to reference those hints from the earlier films, just so people can go back and be like "holy shit, they were planning this all along. Awesome!", since planning things several films in advance is sort of Marvel's shtick. But instead they don't mention any of that. We get one flashback, which throws in all the important characters and one cameo (this flashback, to its credit, is referenced in the first film), and suddenly we have everyone's motives for the rest of the movie. Also, there were a ton of theories about where this movie would leave us, in terms of The Avengers 2. Would they introduce any new characters (fans theorized about The Wasp or Ant-Man)? Would Tony end up in outer space, perhaps leading into the Guardians of the Galaxy movie? The answers to these questions is simply no. The post-credits scene features Bruce Banner (which is irritating, because it forces you to wonder where he -- and S.H.I.E.L.D. and Cap -- are the entire time terrorists are blowing up Americans) but it isn't very exciting and leaves nothing to be desired.
In a way, that plot shift in the middle of the movie that I mentioned earlier is kind of a 'fuck you' to the hardcore fans. I chalk up my complaints to crappy writing. We are told that Tony has inner demons, but he just deals with them the same way he deals with everything else: witty sarcasm. He and Pepper are never in mortal danger, and his PTSD never affects his ability to creatively kill bad guys and save the day.
Overall, the movie is entertaining. The set pieces are impressive, although they frequently get so big, you can't focus on what you're there to see: Iron Man suits kicking ass. The acting is the usual. For people like me, expecting an amazing entrance into The Avengers: Phase II, don't get your hopes up. It's just a typical summer movie: all noise and bright lights, with little to no character development or story. I feel foolish for thinking it'd be more than that.
I very much agree with this review. Though I am by no means knowledgable about the Marvel Universe, I thought that this movie was an uninspired time-waster. There was no real suspense, the humor was all rehashed stuff and even as a casual fan, I found the plot twist to be distracting and annoying.
ReplyDeleteI think the filmmakers missed a chance to make Tony Stark a more complex character --his PTSD struggles never put any one in danger, and he was able to just shake off his episodes by hiding behind or in his car.
"The Avengers" was awesome, and I can imagine the immense pressure the filmmakers were under in this "follow-up" but I really think this film did more harm than good in building up to the next phase of movies. Fingers crossed that Thor 2 doesn't follow in it's footsteps.
i like Iron Man~ XD
ReplyDeleteRegards, www.lonelyreload.com (A Growing Teenager Diary)
I think my biggest issue was that Black was trying to do alot throughout the movie, but instead of creating a deeper sense of character with Tony, we were left with half baked villains and lost potential with character growth. Also, what with all the stuff going on, I swear, by the end, I couldn't remember what had happened at the beginning. So much felt like filler conversations between people, which is a shame, cause Black does brilliant and funny dialogue usually. And I did find some of the conversations funny, especially with the guards and henchmen. As well as with a certain actor who plays a big role towards the middle (hint hint being vague).
ReplyDeleteAnd I think my biggest issue is that because we've seen Tony go through so much and seen him deal with so many things in his life so suddenly, he doesn't seem like he's grown at all. Yes, you could argue that his douchey exterior, nothing but wit and sarcasm, is a facade to hide his hurt interior, but we never see that developed. Sure he realizes his emotions with Pepper and his quasi-PTSD, but he now that so much time has passed and acts the same with people no matter what, I just can't see him as anything but an ass. I like his quick responses, and the relationship I like the most, which brings some of the better dialogue, has to be between Tony and Jarvis, but it all seems hollow now. Maybe it's just a reflex for him to deflect anything, but it's starting to deflect me. Boom, see what I did there? Genius.