Road to Endgame: Iron Man 3 (2013)

Directed by Shane Black
Release Date: May 3rd, 2013
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle
Box Office Worldwide: $1,214,811,252

Iron Man 3 (2013): Coming off the monumental, mind-shattering, loin-shaking success of The Avengers, Iron Man 3 follows Tony Stark dealing with the alien attack in New York in a very real way. After going through a wormhole, Stark is rattled to the core and is dealing with anxiety and maybe PTSD.

Though this movie isn’t one of my favorite MCU movies, and definitely not the favorite among general audiences, this movie does a great job to make Stark feel like an actual human being. Someone we can relate with or at least someone to empathize with.

Plus, we get to see, like, 30 Iron Man suits… so sign me the F up.

Anywhoozle, here are my positives/negatives on Iron Man 3

Positives

• I already alluded to it but Stark dealing with PTSD brings another layer to Stark’s character. It feels like we don’t get a lot of superhero movies where we see the hero go through some form of PTSD like a normal human being would do after battling aliens. Iron Man 3 hit a home run with the basis of the story.
  • To go along with the PTSD angle, I love that Stark still screws up even though he is progressing through the movies and becoming a better person. He still has his slip-ups which, again, makes him feel like a real human.
• Kind of piggybacking off of the first point, Stark and Pepper Potts’ relationship feels like a real relationship. It’s far from perfect and has plenty of ups and downs which makes it feel so real and appealing!
  • I’M BIG INTO FICTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS… SUE ME.

• The banter between Stark and Harley (the kid that helps Tony) is wonderful. Both Tony & Harley are lovably snarky and sarcastic with one another and it’s very entertaining.
  • Ty Simpkins, Harley’s actor, is phenomenal, too. I don’t think the kid has been in anything else… but he killed it in Iron Man 3.
• There are a couple of real fun action scenes. Air Force One blowing out of the sky is intense and fun. The helicopter attack on Tony’s house is nuts! And the final battle scene between Extremis and the Iron Legion is solid!
  • IRON LEGION FTW. I do wish, however, there was more of the Iron Legion in the movie, but it was still fun while it lasted.

• Mark 42 is an awesome concept and makes for an awesome suit-up.

Negatives

• Aldirch Killian was put into the lead-villain role because Marvel corporate (not director Shane Black, nor Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige) thought having a female (Maya Hansen) as the lead villain would damage toy sales… what? Killian was an okay villain but if you would had a Maya Hansen, someone who had a closer tie with Tony, as the villain then there’s a more compelling villain.
  • This was when Marvel Studios had to answer to Marvel corporate and thank god Feige and Marvel Studios is separate now… because that one decision to change a movie because they think TOY SALES WOULD TAKE A HIT BECAUSE A WOMAN IS THE LEAD VILLIAN WHAT THE HELL IS THAT GARBAGE CENOAWEIFN;OINDOAE WNOECJH.

• The Mandarin twist was met with major pushback. A lot of true Marvel nerds hated it because they made a mockery of the Mandarin. I actually respect Shane Black for having the balls to pull that twist off, but I didn’t like it. The way they built up The Mandarin before the twist was great. They built him up to be a realistic terrorist and they shot it down once they made him a goofy puppet. I still don’t dislike it as some extreme nerds, but I didn’t love it.
• War Machine/Iron Patriot was kind’ve wasted in this movie. We never see War Machine in action like he is in the comics. It was a disappointment after getting a taste of his destruction in Iron Man 2.

Overall Grade: C+

Iron Man 3 is comparable to Iron Man 2. Both movies have flaws but are also entertaining enough to make it a good watch. IM3 has a couple of big flaws, in my eyes, with the Mandarin switch and Aldrich Killian being picked as the main villain over Maya Hansen. That being said, it had a lot of terrific character development with Tony that it made up for any flaws. AND YES IRON MAN 3 IS A CHRISTMAS MOVIE!

MCU Ranking

1. The Avengers (Hands down #1 at this juncture.)
2. Iron Man
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
4. Thor
5. Iron Man 3 (Just a tiny bit ahead of IM2)
6. Iron Man 2
7. The Incredible Hulk

NEXT UP: Thor: The Dark World… oh boy