Iron Man 3 Official rate & review IRON MAN 3 thread!

[Norek]

It's why I haven't even bothered to talk about IM3. According to some in here, I don't get the movie and the twist.

Yeah, or we lack a sense of humor.

 

[Chris B]

8/10

Overall, I think IM3 is better than IM2, but falls short of IM1.

I tried to keep an open mind, but the whole Mandarin plot twist just didn't work for me. That is when the film lost momentum, IMO.

Frankly, I think had Kingsley been playing the real Mandarin, I think it may've been able to surpass IM1.

 

[Norek]

Finally! Someone gets it.

So because I don't like the film and don't find it at all brilliant and absolutely amazing, I "don't get it"?

 

[danoyse]

Kingsley was fantastic as the actor and I enjoyed the humor that came with that role. The part that had me cracking up was when he fell asleep and snaps out of it with a look of surprise and starts drinking his beer again. Doesn't sound all that funny when reading about it, but the way he acted out that quick little bit was great. As for the "Mandarin", he was all right, just typical movie villain acting.

Agreed. I loved when Tony asked if they'd promised to get him off his drug problem, and he just said "No, they said they'd give me more."

Honestly, if you're going to do a twist like that, do it with an Oscar-winning actor with a knighthood. Just makes it that much funnier.

I knew the twist was coming, but even still...when he first ran out of the bathroom as this totally different, un-menacing character, it was still a total what-the-hell? moment.

My wife had no idea Kingsley's character was really just a drunk/junky actor, but she guessed near the beginning of the film that Pearce's Killian was in fact the main bad guy. As she said, it was kind of obvious because like in a lot of films, he was kind of the typical evil scientist type that was out for revenge in a way.

Also agreed. It seemed kinda obvious that Killian was the mastermind.

 

[Xeno]

Absofrickinlutely right.

That's probably why there's a lot of ******** fans in here ---- they've just been targeted and insulted. IM3 is a deconstruction of the genre, and it skewers not only Nolan but Whedon as well, but more importantly, it skewers fandom. The point of the movie is that we create our own ideas of what a hero is and what a villain is, and when that conception fails to reflect reality, things fall apart.

This movie is way, way, *way* over a lot of CBM fans' heads. The ones who only wanted to see "Iron Man vs. Mandarin!!! zomg pew-pew socko-blammo" got a cold hard dose of reality poured over their heads. Even Tony Stark did. The difference is, Tony recognized it in the end, and became a more mature and better person because of it. The fanboys are still stuck seething in their impotent rage, blind as ever.

IM3 is the most realistic depiction of a superhero world yet.

Another bulls-eye. I have to wonder just what Whedon meant when he said he didn't know how to follow Iron Man Three after seeing it. He may have been referring Black's incredible commentary on the genre itself rather than to the action, as many fans had assumed.

 

[ElMariachi]

Can't shoot ice out of your fingertips... but you can shoot fire out of your mouth?

As odd as it sounds.....yes, you can. I think this was about as silly as you get with an Iron Man movie without completely going full camp. The other traditional Mandarin powers though? It would require alot of alien backstory to explain how a man could control minds, rearrange matter, and create blackholes from his pinky finger.

 

[BLACKVULCAN]

yeah! i enjoy a good black and white french movie of federico fellini and nietzsche debating existentialism as the next comic guy, but come on!

Spoiler

a flying cod piece joke( i was expecting shumacher to show me some rubber butt shots next after that or"you chicks shouldnt go into that bathroom till later" joke!

you know as many times as i did that! i have never said that! i always blame it on the joker before me! one knows to never say he did it! that's supervillian 101

 

[Heretic]

Finally! Someone gets it.

Joss Whedon's The Avengers was the apotheosis of the superhero genre, whereas Shane Black's Iron Man Three was the subversion of it. Every trope the genre is built upon was pulled inside-out, inverted and spin on its axis in this film in ways we've never seen before.

Instead of giving the audience a by-the-numbers repetition of comic book cliches, Black chose to hit all the expected marks in a drastically different form than other films. He gave us the damsel in distress, the crafty villain, the trusty sidekick and the adorable fatherless boy, but presented them in ways that were more of a commentary on the stereotypes than anything else. The end result was brilliant and subversive and absolutely amazing.

And many of don't see his take as subversive at all...but actually just stuff we saw in a hundred buddy cop action comedies of yesteryear. You know, the kind of movies that this director built his career on. Either he is a genius, or a lazy director that was disrespectful to the genre that gave him the job. There is no real way of knowing which is true. The Iron Man 3 I saw was ashamed of being a superhero film, so it went out of its way to show that the guy in the suit was the real hero, and in fact didn't even need the suit. This was closer to being a Macgyver movie than a superhero film.

 

[Xeno]

I find to be humorous, and sad that so many reviews of the first two Iron Man films accused SHIELD's presence of ruining said films. Now that SHIELD isn't in IM3, it too is ruined.

Which way do you want it?

That baffles me, too. A lot of people on this site have harshly criticized Marvel's connected universe. Iron Man 2 has been a particular target of those complaints, even though SHIELD's presence in Thor was far larger and more integral to the film's plot. It's ironic and more than a little annoying to have people complain about the lack of SHIELD and those inter-franchise connections in Iron Man Three. It goes to show that there's just no pleasing fans at all.

 

[Incredible Hans]

Another bulls-eye. I have to wonder just what Whedon meant when he said he didn't know how to follow Iron Man Three after seeing it. He may have been referring Black's incredible commentary on the genre itself rather than to the action, as many fans had assumed.

Yeah, how could Whedon follow IM3?

I know: In Avengers 2 we learn that Thanos is a decoy set up by the Other. That kind of deconstruction would be much better than just having a stereotypical bloodthirsty madman as the villain.

 

[spider-neil]

And many of don't see his take as subversive at all...but actually just stuff we saw in a hundred buddy cop action comedies of yesteryear. You know, the kind of movies that this director built his career on. Either he is a genius, or a lazy director that was disrespectful to the genre that gave him the job. There is no real way of knowing which is true. The Iron Man 3 I saw was ashamed of being a superhero film, so it went out of its way to show that the guy in the suit was the real hero, and in fact didn't even need the suit. This was closer to being a Macgyver movie than a superhero film.

Hardly any Batman in TDKR, hardly any IM in IM3, hardly Superman in SM3, hardly any Blade in Blade 3.
I'm noticing a trend here...

 

[Incredible Hans]

That baffles me, too. A lot of people on this site have harshly criticized Marvel's connected universe. Iron Man 2 has been a particular target of those complaints, even though SHIELD's presence in Thor was far larger and more integral to the film's plot. It's ironic and more than a little annoying to have people complain about the lack of SHIELD and those inter-franchise connections in Iron Man Three. It goes to show that there's just no pleasing fans at all.

We already had this discussion.

In IM2, SHIELD intervention didn't add much to the story and didn't make that much sense.

In Thor, SHIELD intervention was plausible and made sense.

In IM3, SHIELD not intervening didn't make much sense.

Different plots, different conclusions. It's easy.

 

[Norek]

I'm not sure many of those who complain about the lack of SHIELD are the same who complained about too much SHIELD. That's like last year when people were annoyed that fans are complaining about Bane's voice in the prologue before and after it was changed. Those are often not the same people, and you can't just assume something like that, unless you have evidence, which none of you are providing.

No matter what you do in these movies, there will always be those who like something, and others who dislike that something. You can't please everyone.

 

[ElMariachi]

Ice fingers are magic, fire mouths are science.

A tornado ring is magic, Iron Man's Self-Steering and Flying-without-Propulsion Codpiece of Doom is science.

There is a big difference between making machines look realistic and straight up fantasy. I used Star Trek as an example. Teleportation isn't possible either but at least you can stomach it as a possibility. A mind control ring is straight up fantasy. So is fire breathing and melting but I think you can sell it in a sci-fi movie. Spontaneous human combustion and all that. A human body creating heat, albeit excessive heat, just does not look at ridiculous as an ice beam. Splitting hairs, I know.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

So because I don't like the film and don't find it at all brilliant and absolutely amazing, I "don't get it"?

I don't find the twist to be brilliant. Ironically, if that were the case, then Black's filmography is one giant parody after another. So was Shane trying to humorous, or existential? Perhaps it's a mixture of both but if that were the case The Mandarin wouldn't have followed the template that every other villain has used since the dawn of time.

 

[Incredible Hans]

As odd as it sounds.....yes, you can. I think this was about as silly as you get with an Iron Man movie without completely going full camp. The other traditional Mandarin powers though? It would require alot of alien backstory to explain how a man could control minds, rearrange matter, and create blackholes from his pinky finger.

 

[ElMariachi]

Nice comeback.....?

 

[Figs]

Agreed. I loved when Tony asked if they'd promised to get him off his drug problem, and he just said "No, they said they'd give me more."

Honestly, if you're going to do a twist like that, do it with an Oscar-winning actor with a knighthood. Just makes it that much funnier.

I knew the twist was coming, but even still...when he first ran out of the bathroom as this totally different, un-menacing character, it was still a total what-the-hell? moment.



Also agreed. It seemed kinda obvious that Killian was the mastermind.

Yeah, the drugs line from Kingsley got a lot of laughs from the audience.

I was disappointed when I read about the twist a week ago but got over it before seeing the movie last night. I will admit that if they had cast some random actor in the Mandarin role I would still have been let down a tiny bit by the twist, but having a fantastic actor like Kingsley in the role, I didn't care. He looked like he had a lot of fun playing that character.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

If Mandarin's magical rings are farfetched then how is the audience going to accept Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet or Tony's recovery in IM2 and IM3?

 

[ElMariachi]

The thing that I find strange are all the people here posting for days about how much they hated the movie. Why? What are you getting out of this besides trolling the people who actually liked the movie? You all have your minds made up on the movie, so there isn't any interesting discussion to be had on the movie.

 

[Incredible Hans]

There is a big difference between making machines look realistic and straight up fantasy. I used Star Trek as an example. Teleportation isn't possible either but at least you can stomach it as a possibility. A mind control ring is straight up fantasy. So is fire breathing and melting but I think you can sell it in a sci-fi movie. Spontaneous human combustion and all that. A human body creating heat, albeit excessive heat, just does not look at ridiculous as an ice beam. Splitting hairs, I know.

Loki was able to control minds with his sceptre in Avengers, Mandarin is able to control minds with his ring in the comics.

Is it magic or alien technology? Humans can't tell the difference. Advanced technology that you can't understand is magic, at least in a metaphorical sense.

Tony's flying armour parts don't work on any scientific principle that exists today. They are as "magic" as is a ring that can control minds.

 

[spider-neil]

If Mandarin's magical rings are farfetched then how is the audience going to accept Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet or Tony's recovery in IM2 and IM3?

The general audience will accept anything if it's presented in a logical/plausible way.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

The general audience will accept anything if it's presented in a logical/plausible way.

Bingo.

 

[Incredible Hans]

The thing that I find strange are all the people here posting for days about how much they hated the movie. Why? What are you getting out of this besides trolling the people who actually liked the movie? You all have your minds made up on the movie, so there isn't any interesting discussion to be had on the movie.

This is a forum for discussions about comic movies, right? So people can say what they liked about a movie and others can say what they didn't like. That's what's happening here.

(And I don't hate the movie... I just wasn't impressed)

 

[ThePhantasm]

The thing that I find strange are all the people here posting for days about how much they hated the movie. Why? What are you getting out of this besides trolling the people who actually liked the movie? You all have your minds made up on the movie, so there isn't any interesting discussion to be had on the movie.

Because we have a valid opinion and want to discuss it, same as everyone else?

And I can't think of anyone here who has said they hated everything in the movie, just that they didn't like certain things. Most of us have also freely admitted what we liked.

This "you guys don't like this about the movie so you must be trolling" schtick is tiresome.