The film was a good movie. It really was. Great action. Great visuals. Great performances.
It just wasn't the
Iron Man 3 that I had wanted to see. So, that's on me, I guess...
Little continuity things like there being no "IRON MAN 3" title that smacks down with a clang (as in the first two films) was just a miss.
What was with the
Tropic Thunder-style end credits?
Not having even ONE RIFF of the main theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5riyajbsq0 bothered me. This theme is PERFECT Iron Man, and this film just felt a little TOO far from its predecessors for me. This was a contributing factor.
I'm not someone who says "too much of the alter-ego I want more super hero!" I don't care that the majority of the film was Tony out of the suite (and a lot of the action was the same). But I do wish that the times that we see Iron Man on screen that [BLACKOUT]it was actually Tony in the suit and not just remote controlling it.[/BLACKOUT] Those moments were letdowns. There's no sense of peril or danger when you look back at it knowing that.
The humor didn't bother me, but there were one or two instances where they went for levity when the moment should have been dire -- those moments suffered.
Now, let's get tot he Mandarin. [BLACKOUT]This is just -- I knew it was going to happen. I never said a word about it before I saw the film, thinking, "I'll give it a shot, see how it plays out." Well, the shot's been given; I watched it play out. I was not happy with it. Maybe that's because from the trailers and TV spots I could tell that Ben Kingsley was going to turn in a Heath Ledger, Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston and Michael Fassbender as far as epic, villain performances go in comic book films. Needless to say, I loved everything about what he was doing. The cadence to his speech, the booming sound, the words themselves. It was just so unique, scary, charismatic and intriguing all at once. [/BLACKOUT]
Once I found out about the t[BLACKOUT]wist, I let those thoughts go. I was disappointed, but as I said, I would wait and see. When I saw, I was unimpressed. First, I felt that the twist happened far too early in the film. The Mandarin (as Kingsley) only had about 3 scenes. Only on where he wasn't in a pirated broadcast. We never get to see him act (in character) against Iron Man. We don't get THAT moment. I also don't recall hearing some of his best dialogue from the trailers, "heroes... there is no such thing" and "I'm going to offer you a choice. Do you want an empty life, or a meaningful death?" These, to my recollection, weren't in the film. If we had gotten these scenes -- and a scene where we have Kingsley'd Mandarin (in character) boasting, and "teaching" Iron Man or Tony while he is at the Mandarin's mercy -- I think I could have gotten past the twist. The approach they took ended up silly and trite. It cut the legs out of a great threat. [/BLACKOUT]
Killian, I had no problem with, really. He was a very good villain. And that's my point. Killian could have held a movie with the Extremis soldiers entirely on his own. [BLACKOUT]And Kingsley's version of the Mandarin[/BLACKOUT] could have done the exact same. So, knowing that Iron Man doesn't have a deep bench, why would they take two of Stark's best villains and not only put them into the same film, [BLACKOUT]but combine them into the SAME CHARACTER? It just doesn't make sense to me. I feel like we could have gotten two, very solid movies with these two villains.[/BLACKOUT]
Bottom line, they made the best version of the movie that they set out to make -- but I feel like the movie I wanted to see, the movie that I feel like the marketing promised, would have been better.
There was a lot that I liked about this film. I do want to see it more to make a full opinion -- but this was the first film in a long time that I just sat there when it was over, not knowing what to think. I haven't been so amped for a movie only to be letdown in a very long time. Maybe since
X3: The Last Stand or
Spider-man 3 (but I do think
Iron Man 3 is a better FILM than both of those movies).
It was just...disappointing. And I wanted so much not to be the whole time I was watching.
-R
