Marvelous Mondays: Iron Man 3

Plot: (IMDb) When Tony Stark’s world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.

I had SO much win last weekend when I accidentally stumbled upon this movie and watched it while having a break between studying stints.

Iron Man 3 was good this time around but I confess that my initial impression was influenced by seeing it on the big screen. Marvel’s current movies are all about big effects and graphics and not always necessarily about the storyline. They are flashy and mesmerising, and I definitely get caught up in the sparkle of it.

Tony Stark goes through character development in this instalment, but that is something that has been cracking from Iron Man 1. He has gone through his stages that started with a playboy billionaire into a slightly more responsible adult to where he finally accepted he needed a balanced life if he wanted Pepper in it. Tony in the third instalment is dealing with the trauma of witnessing Aliens invade space, carrying the weight of protecting New York and carrying a nuclear missile into space and falling back. That certainly does sound like a lot to deal with, and it is immediately apparent that although he is still his flippant and sarcastic self, he is worried and the only way to lessen his stress is to build an army of Iron Man suits.

Then there is the Mandarin, an evil terrorist who keeps bombing the shit out of places. The world wants Tony to intervene, but Tony is actually too busy trying to live his life and hide his obsession from Pepper. But then Happy is hurt, and Tony’s best friend is suddenly in critical danger because of the Mandarin. Tony promises retaliation and goads the Mandarin by giving out his address on live television. Tony’s mansion is destroyed in an attack and Tony barely escapes alive, but manages to get a message to Pepper that he is still breathing. He lands in some godforsaken town where there are obviously things amiss and meets a kid with whom he bonds immediately. But Tony is soon tracked down by scary mutating humans who just won’t friggin die, and he is forced to leave and find the Mandarin. The Mandarin is nothing like Tony expected and he needs to readjust his plan of attack because the President of the USA is in danger.

#lookscanbedeceiving

I have to say of the three villains that the franchise has hosted, the Mandarin bored me the most but should have been the most intense. Jeff Bridges’ Obadiah Stane was a villain because he was greedy in the first movie, Mickey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko was excellent but Vanko wasn’t necessarily Tony’s enemy, which hate stemmed from what his father felt towards Tony’s father. Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian and Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin was the direct result of Tony’s careless behaviour towards other people earlier on in his life, so these characters should have been full of antagonism towards our main man. The Mandarin managed to disappoint me on so many levels – it was a stupid plot twist and ruined the entire pace the movie had successfully maintained through the movie. I was so bleak about that terrifying Mandarin being a damn puppet! Pearce did okay as Killian but I felt his hatred was rather disconnected and he was trying too hard to be a muhahhaa type of villain.

The graphics are still amazing but it is Marvel and that is kinda their modus operandi. I loved all the Iron Man suits and how they lighted up in the scene where they are all heading for that shipper boat thing (I obviously don’t know the name of it).

Thus, Iron Man 3 is okay, but the franchise seems to be exhausting Robert Downey Junior’s previously inexhaustible wit, so I do think that they should focus more on the other superheroes (I personally think that a good Hulk movie with Mark Ruffalo can work exceptionally well)

#OnlyStrongInASportsBra

PS: This list is finally actually PROPERLY updated, so go have a look and let me know if you are interested in doing a movie.

November 3, 2014October 30, 2014 by Natasha Categories: Avengers, Movies, ReviewsTags: Avengers, Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Patl, Iron Man, Iron Man 3, Pepper Potts, Robert Downey Jnr, The Mandarin 3 Comments