Iron Man 3 Talkback - SPOILERS

[markatisu]

Saw it over the weekend and liked it pretty well.

Also, they remove the shrapnel like it was no big deal, like Tony just hadn't gotten around to that or something. What a cheat! That didn't feel earned at all, it was like someone told Shane Black at the 11th hour that they have this great idea for Tony's story in Avengers 2 but that he needs to end his movie with the set up or it won't work. Actually, I'll bet that is what happened.

I don't know it made sense to me. Healing Pepper and removing his shrapnel was because he solved the part of the Extremis formula that was backfiring. How is that not clear, they even took him captive to figure that part out. Because it regenerates he basically used it to keep himself alive while they removed the shrapnel which would have otherwise killed him.

Does not seem like a cheat to me since the reactor he developed in IM2 pretty much "cured" him from having to worry about being poisoned so this was just freeing him completely of the threat he already removed in IM2

[gbagok]

I don't know it made sense to me. Healing Pepper and removing his shrapnel was because he solved the part of the Extremis formula that was backfiring. How is that not clear, they even took him captive to figure that part out. Because it regenerates he basically used it to keep himself alive while they removed the shrapnel which would have otherwise killed him.

Does not seem like a cheat to me since the reactor he developed in IM2 pretty much "cured" him from having to worry about being poisoned so this was just freeing him completely of the threat he already removed in IM2

Clear like poo.

No, seriously, glad you liked it, but for me he solved that one too easily off camera.

[Alexx]

So, Iron Man fans correct me if I'm wrong: What I've read about the comic Mandarin's ten rings is that they are friggin' game genie codes in an already superpowered universe. I mean there's a ring that distinegrates things and one that rearranges matter? I can only assume that any stories involving him were either The Mandarin without all his rings, or The Mandarin won't-kill-you-just-yet-oh-crap-he-got-out-of-my-trap. I mean he's probably a schemer, but how does anyone lose when you've got ten rings - most of which would give you a good amount of power to go toe-to-toe with many superheros - some of which could kill them outright in an instant. How did they keep him on the level with Iron Man most of the time?

[JonWes]

So, Iron Man fans correct me if I'm wrong: What I've read about the comic Mandarin's ten rings is that they are friggin' game genie codes in an already superpowered universe. I mean there's a ring that distinegrates things and one that rearranges matter? I can only assume that any stories involving him were either The Mandarin without all his rings, or The Mandarin won't-kill-you-just-yet-oh-crap-he-got-out-of-my-trap. I mean he's probably a schemer, but how does anyone lose when you've got ten rings - most of which would give you a good amount of power to go toe-to-toe with many superheros - some of which could kill them outright in an instant. How did they keep him on the level with Iron Man most of the time?

If they ever bothered to use Mandarin's rings in the way they were designed, he'd be REALLY powerful. It's one of the great disappointments of the character, to me, actually. Instead, he's usually just doling out generic blasts of energy in too many appearances.

I feel bad for Rhodes however, this makes twice now that War Machine has been compromised by the bad guys.

I liked Rhodey's treatment here much better than in the past (though I still think Howard was a better Rhodey, though not a better actor) but I still feel like it's a character who could use more of a chance to shine. I was a bit frustrated that IP couldn't take a more active role in the final battle, though I understand it had to be more about Tony going it alone. And it's not like he can just drop the President of the US off just anywhere and fly back into battle.

[Dr Kain]

And now that it has been a few days since Iron Man 3 came out, I feel more inclined to discuss what I hated about it. However, before I actually talk about it, this is going to be full of spoilers, so do not read anymore if you haven't seen it yet.




You have been warned.




The movie played it way too safe. What I mean by how safe it was played is that instead of keeping Mandarin a bad ass terrorist, they went the safe route so not to offend anyone but having it all a hoax. They made it so that Killian was indeed the true villain of the movie, which was predictable. Then they go and infect (or whatever) Pepper, so obviously she survives falling into the fire. Fine, whatever. But then it just so happens that Tony knows exactly how to cure her so everything is back to status quo at the end of the movie. And the vice president being a villain was also predictable because the actor playing him always plays a villain (especially in Tales from the Crypt, which is where I know him from the most). It would have been far more surprising if Pepper had died. Oh yeah, and of course Tony does something really good for the kid, which was also expected.

It is a shame because the first 2/3s of the movie were really intriguing and did a great job building up the movie, and then it all just fizzled out into predictability and boringness.

As I said, I enjoyed the movie. I think it is better than the second movie, but my god, they need to just start doing different things with these characters.

[krosfyah]

And now that it has been a few days since Iron Man 3 came out, I feel more inclined to discuss what I hated about it. However, before I actually talk about it, this is going to be full of spoilers, so do not read anymore if you haven't seen it yet.




You have been warned.




The movie played it way too safe. What I mean by how safe it was played is that instead of keeping Mandarin a bad ass terrorist, they went the safe route so not to offend anyone but having it all a hoax. They made it so that Killian was indeed the true villain of the movie, which was predictable. Then they go and infect (or whatever) Pepper, so obviously she survives falling into the fire. Fine, whatever. But then it just so happens that Tony knows exactly how to cure her so everything is back to status quo at the end of the movie. And the vice president being a villain was also predictable because the actor playing him always plays a villain (especially in Tales from the Crypt, which is where I know him from the most). It would have been far more surprising if Pepper had died. Oh yeah, and of course Tony does something really good for the kid, which was also expected.

It is a shame because the first 2/3s of the movie were really intriguing and did a great job building up the movie, and then it all just fizzled out into predictability and boringness.

As I said, I enjoyed the movie. I think it is better than the second movie, but my god, they need to just start doing different things with these characters.

I want to watch the 2nd again because I don't remember why I felt it was just ok. (I feel this one is just ok too, but being fresh in my mind and disappointing me where it did I wonder if upon a revisiting i won't dislike 2 as much.) but I don't recall why the 2nd wasn't so good. (more so I want to see if it's more so that it was just more of the same (my biggest peeve with the IM Movie franchise) or if there was something specific that didnt sit well. I didn't HATE IM2 but I didn't love it either.

[Nemisythe]

Clear like poo.

No, seriously, glad you liked it, but for me he solved that one too easily off camera.

Well they probably figured that with the story and script running, it would bookend the story without taking too much time. And considering the story is told by Tony, it was something he would likely say like, "oh yeah and I used the technology to cure myself" that short cause he was storytelling the whole movie and remember he does have an ego.

But what got my slightly Peeved was that it would've been SO COOL if they would've hinted that the surgeon performing the operation was no other than Dr. Steven Strange who was one of the world's greatest surgeons!!!!

And what many are not realizing is the fact that the Ben Kingsley character who played the mandarin in the film received plastic surgery to look like the Mandarin!!!

Now it hasn't been confirmed due to the fact that the contracts are expired for the Iron Man franchise (as Downey has been locked in for appearances only in other features), so they had to wrap it as such but the left THE RED HERRING just in case! And considering this franchise hasn't implemented any off-world adventures (minus the Avengers call back) the choice not to have a full Mandarin with space rings is plausible! I would truly believe that after Avengers 2 the gates for such things will be more available for something like Mandarin's rings which if contracts for more Iron Man movies are reached, we may get a true Mandarin!!!

Which is the other reason why the end credit scene was what it was, to tie up the Downey narrative, and not show anything other... We will hopefully get the Avengers 2 kickstart in Thor as I'm sure something will connect to the Guardians of the Galaxy movie!

[krosfyah]

Well they probably figured that with the story and script running, it would bookend the story without taking too much time. And considering the story is told by Tony, it was something he would likely say like, "oh yeah and I used the technology to cure myself" that short cause he was storytelling the whole movie and remember he does have an ego.

But what got my slightly Peeved was that it would've been SO COOL if they would've hinted that the surgeon performing the operation was no other than Dr. Steven Strange who was one of the world's greatest surgeons!!!!

And what many are not realizing is the fact that the Ben Kingsley character who played the mandarin in the film received plastic surgery to look like the Mandarin!!!

Now it hasn't been confirmed due to the fact that the contracts are expired for the Iron Man franchise (as Downey has been locked in for appearances only in other features), so they had to wrap it as such but the left THE RED HERRING just in case! And considering this franchise hasn't implemented any off-world adventures (minus the Avengers call back) the choice not to have a full Mandarin with space rings is plausible! I would truly believe that after Avengers 2 the gates for such things will be more available for something like Mandarin's rings which if contracts for more Iron Man movies are reached, we may get a true Mandarin!!!

Which is the other reason why the end credit scene was what it was, to tie up the Downey narrative, and not show anything other... We will hopefully get the Avengers 2 kickstart in Thor as I'm sure something will connect to the Guardians of the Galaxy movie!

I thought the plastic surgery was just to look different. I mean facial recognition software could have easily placed who this guy really is, but they gave him the plastic surgery to skirt that trouble. anyway we will see.

and yes it would have been so cool if there was some hint that the surgeon was Steven Strange.

[Master Joezilla]

Sorry, this is a dumb statement. That's like saying you want nothing but 2 hours of action without a plot. Without character development. Well I got three movies just for you. They are called Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, and GI Joe Retaliation.

I don't think he's saying that he wanted a no-brainer action flick, just more Iron Man screentime with Tony in the armor flying around and blasting things. You know, doing Iron Man type stuff. I wanted more Iron Man time too, not different suits of armor falling off him every few seconds. That's my second, middling problem with this flick.

The first is the Mandarin. While his reveal is better received on these forums, it's the talk of the comic movie boards on comic book sites. I'd rather that the Mandarin was an actual terrorist who favored Chinese iconography like the trailers suggest. No, he doesn't have to be outright comic book Mandarin with the alien rings of power, but making him a terrorist could have linked him with the group who first captured Stark. He could have been their shadowy leader.

And we're getting Hot Toys and Marvel Legends figures of this guy.

Finally someone understands!

[Darth Latveria]

Some general thoughts, and in some cases, responses to questions/comments in the thread:

I really enjoyed the movie. I loved the humor and had a great time watching the movie. However, I feel that there were many flaws in the movie a well.

I was ecstatic by their not using magic rings. I do not now, nor do I ever, want to see magic vs tech in the marvel movies. My least favorite marvel movie thus far is Thor (which I still greatly enjoyed), and personally hope that outside of the thor-related stuff, they sidestep magic entirely. That said, although I thought Trevor was hilarious, I'd have preferreed Mandarin to be a legitimate threat. His terrorist persona was very intriguing and I wish that was the "true" persona.

I didn't care for the final battle. I don't like Tony using dozens of armors, nor did I particularly like the extremis soldiers. The armors themselves seemed pretty subpar, but given that Tony was likely cranking out an armor every 10 days or so, I doubt QC was high on his list of priorities.

I believe that Tony's armors keep running out of power simply because their power requirements, when fully utilized for long periods, are greater than the output capacity of the little arc reactor. Just because the arc reactor is essentially unlimited in nature, that doesn't mean that it can produce an unlimited amount of power at any given time. I liken it to why the original little arc reactor, created in the cave, didn't work so well with the Mark 3. It can keen on pumping out juice, but it comes out at a trickle, while the suit requires a full-on blast of it.

Finally, Aldritch's firebreathing was not a reference or homage to Fin Fang Foom. It was a direct tie-in to Mallen, the original extremis villain, who happened to breathe fire. That said, I noticed the serpent tattoos and didn't make the connection to FFF, so good catch to whoever pointed that out.

[Dragon78]

Oh, we will be getting magic in the marvel universe.

[krosfyah]

I didn't care for the final battle. I don't like Tony using dozens of armors, nor did I particularly like the extremis soldiers. The armors themselves seemed pretty subpar, but given that Tony was likely cranking out an armor every 10 days or so, I doubt QC was high on his list of priorities.

Except the Mark 7 or 4 or whatever his standard armour is was JUST as fragile as the others. Tony Stark IS Porcelain Man!!

[Darth Latveria]

Except the Mark 7 or 4 or whatever his standard armour is was JUST as fragile as the others. Tony Stark IS Porcelain Man!!

If you mean the last armor shown in a non IM3 movie, then I think it's 7 from Avengers. But to be honest, I don't recall any of the armors from those movies really being shown outside of them being blown up during the attack on Tony's residence. Interestingly, I find myself wondering if they had the capability of 100% Jarvis control like the newer armors.

If you mean the standard armor from this movie, it'd be the Mark 42, which would presumably suffer from the same QC as the others from 8-onwards. It was even stated as being a prototype, so it was still fairly buggy.

[deltadod]

Saw it today loved it!!

[HarryCanyon]

I really liked it and thought it was a nice third installment that improved on part 2 which i liked too, but yet the surprises kind of come off cheap like the bad guy. I can't wait to see Tony return in Avengers 2.

[Nemisythe]

I thought the plastic surgery was just to look different. I mean facial recognition software could have easily placed who this guy really is, but they gave him the plastic surgery to skirt that trouble. anyway we will see.

and yes it would have been so cool if there was some hint that the surgeon was Steven Strange.

You are right to a certain degree but they gave him 'a face' and I'm hoping it could eventually have purpose down the road for a reason. I think the reason they went this route was to at least right now, avoid the Magic / Space Rings because it would have detracted to the trilogy of Tony's story arc. And with Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy, I think those movies need to, at this time remain the movies to introduce to us the Galactic aspect of the Marvel Universe. And possibly maybe after whatever happens in Avengers 2 we can hopefully come back to possibly the real Mandarin and the Ten Rings???? Just a thought...

From what reports, rumors and some podcasts have mentioned in regards to Downey's future movie life in Marvel; it's been stated he's been holding out in order to allow fellow Avenger actors to receive the same amount of pay level he has considering the box office numbers these movies are producing and projected to produce. A pretty honorable thing.

[Darth Latveria]

I think that Krosfyah is likely on the money with regards to the reason for the plastic surgery. Also, I would think that you'd want to avoid someone from Croydon saying, "hey, didn't that guy play King Lear here?"

I personally doubt that they will ever touch on the Mandarin again. If they wanted to use the character in any form other than what they did, he would have shown up in this movie. Mandarin is not iconic or even important enough, in the grand scheme of things, to be revisited. A lot of movies are being made, but in the end, there is a limit to how many will come out and as a result there is likely a limited amount of concern about strengthening rogues galleries.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

I finally saw this today with my wife. Overall this was a very fun, enjoyable movie! I had a great time watching it. MUCH better than IM2. It would have been nice if there was a little more 'suit time', but it really wasn't too big of a deal since Robert Downey Jr. does such a great job as the Tony character. The Easter Egg after the credits was fun!

I don't know it made sense to me. Healing Pepper and removing his shrapnel was because he solved the part of the Extremis formula that was backfiring. How is that not clear, they even took him captive to figure that part out. Because it regenerates he basically used it to keep himself alive while they removed the shrapnel which would have otherwise killed him.

Does not seem like a cheat to me since the reactor he developed in IM2 pretty much "cured" him from having to worry about being poisoned so this was just freeing him completely of the threat he already removed in IM2

Ah, this makes much more sense! For some reason it didn't occur to me that the extremis formula had anything to do with having the shapnel removed. It didn't bother me too much, but my reaction was "Why didn't he do that sooner?" lol. It just made the second movie seem more pointless with all the stuff he went through to create a new element and stop the toxicity. Plus I wondered what they would do about the big gaping hole in his chest. So, this makes a lot more sense.

You guys realize that the suit that kept breaking was simply a prototype that did not even have weapons or a very good ability to fly (due to power issues) right?? Its one thing if it was the suits he had fabricated and tested like in IM1 and 2 but this was about on the level of completion as the original suit he created in the cave that burst apart after he attempted flight and landed in the desert.

It was meant to break apart so he could call the pieces to him, so it stands to reason it would be easier to break apart if impacted.

Its like some of watched a completely different movie with some of these complaints

Just once I wish he had yelled "Blathering Blatherskite" when summoning it.

The issues that he was having the that suit, itself, didn't really bother me.

But I do kind of agree with what the guys from Half in the Bag (on RedLetterMedia.com) had to say about that. At the end of the film he is able to summon all of those other armors to come help. I know that there was some build up in terms of getting Jarvis working at a capacity to allow that to happen, but it would have made more sense if earlier in the movie he had focused on getting Jarvis working to the point of being able to summon just one of those other more reliable suits rather than continuing to rely on the experimental one that kept having problems.

Plus based on the end battle where he kept quickly jumping from suit to suit, with them being able to open quickly and go on him in full all at once instantly, in mid-air no less, having a full suit fly to him in whole seems much more efficient than many separate pieces that can easily get separated.

The other thing that bugs me just a bit was that he couldn't give Rhodey a suit because they were all only coded to Tony, but he was able to put the bad guy in the mark 42. Maybe this was a specific feature of just that one suit (which was out of commission at the time of Rhodey's request), but it did slightly have a feel of contradiction for the sake of plot convenience.

Keep in mind that I consider these to be relatively minor gripes, and by no means anything that ruined my overall enjoyment of this otherwise excellent movie!

[krosfyah]

If you mean the last armor shown in a non IM3 movie, then I think it's 7 from Avengers. But to be honest, I don't recall any of the armors from those movies really being shown outside of them being blown up during the attack on Tony's residence. Interestingly, I find myself wondering if they had the capability of 100% Jarvis control like the newer armors.

If you mean the standard armor from this movie, it'd be the Mark 42, which would presumably suffer from the same QC as the others from 8-onwards. It was even stated as being a prototype, so it was still fairly buggy.

Yeah like I said to Mark I don't like criticizing a movie for the WRONG reasons, so I don't count that fully as a flaw, but I thought he got into his 'standard' suit near the end. Something that bugged me too was they made it seem like his suits were all destroyed, Jarvis was buggy but why? Jarvis isn't just in Tony's suit, hell Tony being the man he is would have Jarvis backed up in more safe secure locations that just one, after all the break ins and threats he's had and seen over the years you'd think Tony would have better security at his house. Jarvis should also be fully functional in stark tower and so forth. I mean I get the reason - dramatic tension, but it could have been written better. again ONE LINE of dialogue would make it more palatable and fill that hole.

You are right to a certain degree but they gave him 'a face' and I'm hoping it could eventually have purpose down the road for a reason. I think the reason they went this route was to at least right now, avoid the Magic / Space Rings because it would have detracted to the trilogy of Tony's story arc. And with Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy, I think those movies need to, at this time remain the movies to introduce to us the Galactic aspect of the Marvel Universe. And possibly maybe after whatever happens in Avengers 2 we can hopefully come back to possibly the real Mandarin and the Ten Rings???? Just a thought...

From what reports, rumors and some podcasts have mentioned in regards to Downey's future movie life in Marvel; it's been stated he's been holding out in order to allow fellow Avenger actors to receive the same amount of pay level he has considering the box office numbers these movies are producing and projected to produce. A pretty honorable thing.

That's good if true regarding the salary.


I also think they won't go with Mandarin again. in the MCU Mandarin was a farce and Killian was the main threat. Mandarin was an idea he made up himself. nothing more. I hope I'm wrong but I believe that's it for the Character in the MCU

I was telling my friend about my being disappointed in the movie and I realized, they've been selling this as a beginning of phase 2 - but it feels more the the epilogue to phase 1.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Oh, for anyone who didn't notice.... The actor who played the President in this movie played the Grim Reaper in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.

[Benedict Judas Hel]

I just saw the film and liked it. Even though Tony Stark is not in the armor for much of the picture, I was entertained throughout. I loved all the AIM references and the Radioactive Man cameo.

[TechTrek]

loved the movie, thought i would share a few thoughts:

different sort of movie, not nearly as "superhero" as the previous ones. but that is a good thing. it was just a good movie. nothing beats the first though, that movie is probably going to go down as one of the best origin superhero movies ever.

the humor was good. just like the others, but a FEW moments i felt like they just used it too much. like EVERY single time there was a serious moment, they had to completely jam in a humor moment, and thats fine, but there are a few spots where I wanted the drama to last a little bit.

Loved Guy Pierce. great actor, and great job. Not sure I cared about him saying , "I am the mandarin" that felt a little forced for me. with the fire were they leaning towards FFF?

Pepper bad ass for 30 seconds was sort of "ehhhh"" not sure if we needed it. I would have prefered her not even get the injection, only strapped down. but i could go either way.


Mandarin caught me off guard, but i think in a good way. often we find ourselves, in the comic book world to get NO SURPRISES in our movies, because we "know the story" so in that regard i liked it. and it did make sense in the world we live in.


glad they mocked the iron patriot. they get it. just like the fans, that was appreciated.

[krosfyah]

So apparently the kid signed a 3 picture deal with Marvel to reprise his role.

[Ridureyu]

I really enjoyed the movie. Got called sexist and racist for it.

I love Berkeley!

[Optimus Prime]

I really enjoyed the movie. Got called sexist and racist for it.

I love Berkeley!

What?! Jeez...