"Iron Man 3" Feature Talkback (Spoilers)

[James Harvey]

"I'm Tony Stark. I build neat stuff, got a great girl, occasionally save the world. So why can't I sleep?"​

Iron Man 3
Release Date: May 3, 2013 (with May 2nd, 2013 preview showings)
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios
Director: Shane Black
Screenwriter: Drew Pearce, Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, Ben Kingsley, Wang Xuequi

Plot Summary: Marvel Studios' "Iron Man 3" pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, "Iron Man 3" is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce and Shane Black and is based on Marvel's iconic Super Hero Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of "Tales of Suspense" (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with "The Invincible Iron Man" (#1) in May of 1968. "Iron Man 3" is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures and DMG Entertainment. Marvel Studios' President Kevin Feige is producing and Jon Favreau, Louis D'Esposito, Stephen Broussard, Victoria Alonso, Alan Fine, Charles Newirth, Stan Lee and Dan Mintz are executive producers. The film releases May 3, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

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[-batmat-]

It's a good movie but not great. Even as I'm not an Iron Man diehard fan, I had several issues with it.

1) Maybe way too much talked about, but what they did to the Mandarin is unforgivable. To take Iron Man's nemesis, arch villain and turn him into a joke, it's just not cool. Most people don't worry cause the Mandarin's not a well known character, but imagine the..."chaos" if they did something similar with the Joker in The Dark Knight? That he was actually an actor and oh, I don't know, Coleman Reese or some not-so-relevant character was behind it all.

As far as I know, Killian's original story is that he sold Extremis tech illegally and killed himself because of the guilt. There. Only that. Now HE is the Mandarin? Get outta here.

2) Iron Man & War Machine's partership. I also hated this. In Iron Man 2, a great but not perfect movie, this was one of the best things in the movie, and the final movie with Tony and Rhodes fighting the drones and Vanko was awesome.
Now, War Machine is changed to this Iron Patriot for a greater sence of proud to the USA , which for me was lame, maybe folks from the USA like it, but I think it's lame. First of all , as it is said in the movie, the name is quite cheesy and not as impressive as War Machine, and so is his suite.

But that's just the small part, I think the important part in this is how they relate and how they work with each other. Again, in Iron Man 2, when they fought together that was one of the highlights of the movie, but here Rhodey is just a lot into working for the US goverment and away from Tony, and when they're toghether it's like they have been forced to do so cause they don't quite fit and don't work toghether. Even in the final scene, the only thing Iron Patriot does is get the president is fly away and leave Tony and Pepper alone.

3) Killian had no motiviation to be the villain. That's what I hate about some villains. No motivation. He got mad cause Tony never went to the roof? There he learned about the power of anonymity? Get outta here. in IM1 Stane was tired of living his entire life in Tony's shade. Vanko wanted revenge for the pain the Stark family did to his family for 40 years. I found myself wondering during the movie... why is this all happening? It just didn't work for me.

4) Now what I'll say is not something I think it's wrong in the movie, but just something I didn't like. The whole Extremis-can-grow-body-parts-again thing it's an interesting concept but for some reason I just didn't like how it was done in the movie. The Extremis soldiers who get all red and hot from the inside, not dying with anything... I don't know, for some reason I didn't like it.

5) In the fight in the end, most of Tony suits are destroyed by Extremis soldiers quite easily. I would have thought they were more formidable....

However it's still a good movie, it has great action scenes (if it didn't, it would have really sucked) like Iron Man saving the people falling from the airplane, and all the different Iron Man suits being controlled by Jarvis and Tony changing suits while fighting Killian.... that's a thing I also really enjoyed, the Iron Man VS Killian fight. Iron man and War Machine VS Ivan Vanko was TOO short, this one however was longer, very action packed and funny at sometimes. I really liked the enviroment the final fight is on , I think it worked real good.

I hate nitpicking, and people who do it, like questioning every single insignificant from excellent movies, but I really really think this movie had it's issues that kept it from becoming a better movie.

But I guess the main reason of my critisism towards it is that I read in the media that everyone is loving this movie. They call it the best of the trilogy, I read 5 stars review everywhere... and when I saw the movie I can't believe people like this story better than Iron Man 1.

3 1/2 stars

 

[Spideyzilla]

But I guess the main reason of my critisism towards it is that I read in the media that everyone is loving this movie. They call it the best of the trilogy, I read 5 stars review everywhere... and when I saw the movie I can't believe people like this story better than Iron Man 1.

It has a 77% on RT with an average rating of 6.9/10. Pretty good, but I wouldn't say everyone is loving this movie. Seems mixed to positive to me.

 

[-batmat-]

Well, I didn't see those, I was refering to reviews I saw

 

[TnAdct1]

It's a good movie but not great. Even as I'm not an Iron Man diehard fan, I had several issues with it.

1) Maybe way too much talked about, but what they did to the Mandarin is unforgivable.

Spoiler

To take Iron Man's nemesis, arch villain and turn him into a joke, it's just not cool. Most people don't worry cause the Mandarin's not a well known character, but imagine the..."chaos" if they did something similar with the Joker in The Dark Knight? That he was actually an actor and oh, I don't know, Coleman Reese or some not-so-relevant character was behind it all.

As far as I know, Killian's original story is that he sold Extremis tech illegally and killed himself because of the guilt. There. Only that. Now HE is the Mandarin? Get outta here.

You pretty much hit one what I feel is one of the biggest problems with the film (outside of all the Dark Knight Rises vibes coming from it). Ever since the original Iron Man film came out, people wanted to see the Mandarin depicted in film (with hints of the Ten Rings being dropped in the first two films), and when he finally shows up in Iron Man 3,

Spoiler

the film pulls an unnecessary plot twist by revealing that he's nothing more than an actor, as if they wanted to copy the twist in the Dark Knight Rises in which it's revealed that Talia is the real mastermind behind the plan to blow up Gotham, with Bane as her dragon. The difference between these two: besides staying true to the comic, Bane actually did stuff in DKR and is indeed a legit threat, whereas the "Mandarin" ended up being nothing more than some actor who is hired to act all menacing.

 

[KYO'NYUU IMOUTO]

Just got back. That was really, really good. Not only as a conclusion to Iron Man, but as an epilogue to Phase 1. This series began with Iron Man, so it's only fitting the first Phase would end with him.

I thought the revelation was great. Making the leader of a terrorist cult a fraud built by Killian was a great strategic move for Killian and helped streamline the film. War is half psychological, after all.

I loved the transformation scenes so much. Jumping and out of the armors was a lot of fun, although I still think "So when's Seki Tomokazu going to scream 'Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiron Man!!'"

I also loved seeing Tony fighting with guns and other general MacGyver-ness.

Over all, 4.5/5. I can't wait to see it again!

 

[purplehairedwonder]

I really enjoyed it. I'm total general audience when it comes to comic book films, so with that in mind, I thought the twist with the Mandarin was brilliant. It took the story off the expected path and flipped the whole thing on its head. I didn't see it coming and I loved that, since the twists in these types of stories are often formulaic. It's a formula I like, sure, but it was also fun to see the expected completely subverted.

I also really liked how it tied back to The Avengers, not sweeping the experience in New York under the rug like it was a normal day at the office. Seeing Tony fighting both external and internal battles was compelling.

I also appreciated how often Tony was out of the suit; it made the film more about him than Iron Man, though there was still enough Iron Man to go around as well.

Tony and the kid. So much love for those moments.

Loved the moment when all the former suits came in to surround the barge. "It's Christmas. Take 'em to church."

Also, I squealed at the after credits scene. Love, love, love.

I'll say I liked it more than 2 but less than 1. 4.5/5. Maybe I'll go see it in IMAX.

 

[RoryWilliams]

Really enjoyed it. Loved the twist with the Mandarin, as there's some great social commentary there with the way they built him up. He's a hodgepodge of "scary evil foreigner" stereotypes (Chinese name, Bin Laden-esque images and so on) but they reveal he's the creation of the real villain and was precisely created as the ultimate evil foreigner cliche. It's delicious.

 

[Russkafin]

Iron Man 3 - Deleted plot point? (SPOILERS)

[TABLE="class: tborder, width: 100%, align: center"][TR][TD]In one of the promotional images for the film (and I think in one of the trailers as well) they showed that The Mandarin had a tattoo of a Captain America shield on the back of his neck. I don't think this was shown in the movie at all. When the pic was released there was a big deal made about it as it obviously seemed to imply some connection between The Mandarin and Captain America. I wonder if this was something that was planned but dropped for some reason.
[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

 

[TheVileOne]

Spoiler tags for safety:

Spoiler

I don't think it was ever meant to be a big subplot why he had the tattoo. I think The Avengers just came out and bloggers simply like to over-analyze everything and in other cases make things up that aren't true.

If you've seen the movie, you'll see that The Mandarin was a charade created by Killian and AIM. So if he had that tattoo it was probably just for decor to make The Mandarin seem more ominous and adapting and perverting western iconography and symbols like Cap's shield symbol.

 

[Astrolupine]

The Mandarin thing was a case of 'that's an interesting spin, props to the marketers, but it bugs me as a fan' sort of thing. I need some time to think it over. I guess I should have suspected it given Black and Faverau's dismissing of the character in the past, not to mention the trailers never showing the character in action.

I enjoyed the film regardless, still not as good as #1, but that's a high scale to top. Batmat listed most of the criticisms I had, so I needn't repeat. We really do need an Iron Patriot spin-off after this, methinks. Can't wait to learn Rhodey's next password.

Also, I think was the first musical score in the series that I actually liked.

 

[the greenman]

This was definitely better than Iron Man 2, and as for Mandarin (one of the top Marvel villains), my heart let go of it back in Iron Man 2. Knowing none of the filmmakers want to support him and MARVEL neither for that matter, it was a matter of how they would walk out of this. I think the film is very very Shane Black a little meta, which will be its advantage in the long run. I'm actually really interested in seeing the Chinese cut for this film now. They just dissed fanboys, and pleased the. . . well no sense in getting political here.

 

[AlgeaX]

Spoiler tags for safety:

Spoiler

I don't think it was ever meant to be a big subplot why he had the tattoo. I think The Avengers just came out and bloggers simply like to over-analyze everything and in other cases make things up that aren't true.

If you've seen the movie, you'll see that The Mandarin was a charade created by Killian and AIM. So if he had that tattoo it was probably just for decor to make The Mandarin seem more ominous and adapting and perverting western iconography and symbols like Cap's shield symbol.

Spoiler

Or Trevor Slattery was just a big Cap fan in his youth and already had the tattoo before Killian recruited him.

 

[Zanneck]

I liked the twist with the Mandarin (mainly because I honestly knew Mandarin wasn't really going to be in this movie, but the handling of it as a twist was still pretty top notch!

The overall acting, fight scenes, and ending to it all alone are what did it for me, though.

4/5. I'll happily be adding this to my DVD collection as soon as I get enough cash to do so (once it comes out, that is!) - this earned my money, hands down.

 

[kid rabbit]

well if you look at it this killian was the mandarin even claiming it at the top of his lungs
and the dragon tattoos for subtley

 

[The Talon]

Killain wasn't actually The Mandarin, he's the guy that created the concept of it. Just like how Mandarin originally started as a caricature of "yellow peril" back in the cold war era, the idea of "The Mandarin" is that he's an encapsulation of what most of us believe for modern-day terrorists to be. "The crazy middle-eastern looking guy? He's gotta be the big bad" was the reaction of not only the government of the movie, but us the audience as well. Killan knew what they would expect the man behind the "bombings" would possibly be like, so he created a man that scare people enough to not have anyone suspect that he & A.I.M. would be behind it.

 

[JLApe]

I expect those that are expecting a typical Hollywood blockbuster are going to love this movie. I'm not one of them.

Frankly, I don't mind how the Mandarin is written. It's a different take, and it works within the concept of the story. But I don't buy the Extremis henchman being that formidable against Iron Man, let alone an army of Iron Mans. The fight between Stark and Ellen Brandt was good, and to me she was a believable threat to Stark. But against Iron Man, who can easily blast an Extremis soldier from a distance? Iron Man suddenly becomes Bruce Lee and goes hand-to-hand with them. A stark (no pun intended) departure from the character, because he didn't do much of that in the first two "Iron Man" movies.

War Machine is relagated to a public-relations gimmick and serves very little purpose in the story (aside from saving the President at the end). The epilogue is weak. Seeing the army of Iron Mans is the only other best thing about the movie. But the fight between the Iron Mans and Extremis henchmen pales in comparison to "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes"'s version of the Iron Mans vs. Avengers.

 

[Gatomon41]

Just got done seeing it my brothers, and I loved it Plenty of humor, despite the dark trappings, and it was well worth the $10. This was a great Superhero film - deep but fun entertainment that had me laughing all the way through. I can see the comparisons to "The Dark Knight Rises", but that was more internal exploration than a superhero movie. I enjoy both, but for different reasons.

Sadly, I had to pay $2 more because the local theater only had 3D. And while interesting to watch, the 3D effects didn't seem to add anything to the experience. other than my eyes getting sore that is.

Spoiler

And yes, Ben Kingsley was perfect for the role in this film. He managed to be very serious when need be... and awwesomey hammy when called for. His character was my favorite

 

[the greenman]

I suspect the Chinese cut may have some interesting developments, not much but there had to be something in it worth seeing.

 

[BatKid]

Killain wasn't actually The Mandarin, he's the guy that created the concept of it. Just like how Mandarin originally started as a caricature of "yellow peril" back in the cold war era, the idea of "The Mandarin" is that he's an encapsulation of what most of us believe for modern-day terrorists to be. "The crazy middle-eastern looking guy? He's gotta be the big bad" was the reaction of not only the government of the movie, but us the audience as well. Killan knew what they would expect the man behind the "bombings" would possibly be like, so he created a man that scare people enough to not have anyone suspect that he & A.I.M. would be behind it.

Killian literally saying "I ​AM​ the Mandarin!" isn't enough? I'm not much of an Iron Man reader at all, but comments from die-hard fans have been consistently saying most (if not all) the relevant traits of the character are all in the film. It's just that they were split off between Trevor and Killian. That would be the point of contention.

I'm glad I'm not a fan, because even as a casual, this twist rubbed me the wrong way. If anything, the most disappointing part was not getting to see Ben flex his muscles with the part. Even if the marketing seemed like Marvel trying to create their own classic movie villain ala Joker and Bane, I was excited with what a legendary actor could do in this type of role. Unfortunately, while they subverted all expectations, which was definitely ballsy, it wasn't remotely half as interesting as it could've been.