IRON MAN 3 (3D) – FULL SCREEN TIME REVIEW
Plot? When one of Iron Man’s friends is injured through one of the Mandarin’s terrorist attacks, Tony Stark egotistically declares a personal war on the criminal. When the Mandarin seems to accept the challenge and successfully manages to destroy everything but Tony Stark himself, our hero eats humble pie for the rest of the movie.
Recommend it? Pfft, if you’ve seen Iron Man 1 and 2, you’re going to see the 3rd film no matter what I say. So many Hollywood producers are banking on that. I’ve noticed over the past two weeks that there’s a lot of negative nit-picking of this film – tearing apart the plot mechanics and criticizing it because it has the regular Hollywood format – but to be honest I feel that’s unfair. Iron Man 3 is no better or worse than any of the other Marvel films. In fact I enjoyed this one because I felt that the stakes were really high for Tony Stark, unlike the previous two films where it was just a battle over who had the better suit. But you can’t blame the fact that Hollywood films seem rather formulaic – they’re made that way because that’s the traditional style of storytelling and that’s what translates well into other cultural groups, and therefore it’s the smartest format if you want a decent financial return for your movie investment. Are you tired of it and want to see a film that has a non-traditional way of storytelling? Then see Cloud Atlas. Oh wait, you probably didn’t. If you were a Hollywood film producer, would you make a film that’s artistically exciting but a risky investment, or would you make a film that’s most likely going to earn three times the production cost? Stop whinging – Hollywood keeps making these types of films because people like you keep paying money to see them!
With all that said, Iron Man 3 is a very entertaining movie with great special effects that look great on a large screen (Vmax or Imax preferred). Though while I defend its typical 3 act, character inner and outer conflict structure, it does have its flaws and some of the story beats could’ve been hit a bit better, but I’ll talk about that in the spoiler-heavy discussion section lower down the page. To maximize your enjoyment of this film, I do strongly recommend that you at least watch the first Iron Man and The Avengers so you have some background context. Though there’s a limit, and if you watch too much, say of the actual Iron Man series and comics, then you’ll just hate this film, like a few of my Iron Man fan friends that watched this with me. Apparently for the film they’ve changed a lot of the Mandarin’s character and even Iron Man himself, and my friend’s reaction reminded me of those Transformer fans who are now out for Michael Bay’s blood.
So… I guess, if you’re just an average person who’s completely ignorant of the canonical history of Iron Man, then you’ll enjoy this film. And if you’re not… you’re still going to watch it and whinge anyway, you unintentional Hollywood franchise supporter you.
There’s a scene at the very, very end of the credits (I have it quoted lower down if you didn’t stick around). Meanwhile it seems that everyone saw this film the first weekend it came out. Most sessions are dead – you only need to book ahead if you plan on seeing it Friday or Saturday night. Watch it soon if you want to catch it on Vmax/Imax. I don’t think the 3D’s all that necessary.
(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD)
Further discussion? I like the fact that this movie isn’t yet another suit vs. suit, and rather this time around it’s more like suit vs. genetically modified humans. It’s a different kind of enemy and I genuinely felt that Iron Man was out of his league for a lot of the story. However whilst I enjoyed the high stakes, I must admit that I worried that Iron Man 3 was going to suffer from what screenwriter and analyzer, Blake Snyder, describes as “Double Mumbo-Jumbo”.
Double Mumbo-Jumbo is the term used to describe what happens when something is added to a film, which causes the audience to drop their suspension of disbelief. For most part, audiences are willing to go along for the ride, accepting certain things set up in the movie’s world. Like Harry Potter – there are wizards out in the world who go to school to learn more about magic. Cool – audiences will accept that. But if halfway through a battle with Voldemort, Ginny says, “Hey, let’s open a portal and call our wizarding brothers and sisters from other dimensions”, yeah that crosses a line. “Whaaaaat? There are other dimensions now?” an audience’s knee-jerk reaction would be. Or for another example, it would be like the Winchesters from Supernatural suddenly battling aliens – angels, demons and other monsters of mythological lore are all cool and established in the world, but for some reasons aliens are just classified as something else and audiences will naturally reject it. The Box starring Cameron Diaz is a good example of a movie suffering from Double Mumbo-Jumbo.
The first two Iron Man films are quite realistic as far as comic book stories go. A genius mechanic building a high-tech suit? Yeah, that’s plausible and fits within the rules of our own world. But genetically-infected humans that can burn others through their touch? That’s more in the fantasy realm, and so Iron Man 3 teeters on the edge of Double Mumbo-Jumbo. But this is solved by the fact that Iron Man 3 follows the events of The Avengers. Iron Man’s world now includes aliens, which is why, if you can accept that, monster humans are now ok. In fact, I feel the screenwriters addressed this issue by having Iron Man suffer PTSD from his alien battle – Tony Stark is trying to grapple with the idea of aliens, just like the audience.
But by directly referring to the events of The Avengers so heavily in order to make the Mandarin plot plausible for audiences, it brings in other problems. For instance, where are the other Avengers? I think the writers tried to answer this by saying that the Avengers initiative was created for global threats – the Mandarin is an American issue. Fair enough. Why should Thor care? But if it’s and American issue, then what the heck is Captain America doing? Playing a friendly game of chess with Vladimir Putin?
However, the idea of a super hero suffering from PTSD really fascinates me, although I feel it’s wrapped up too quickly. I’m just not entirely sure how that inner struggle really relates to his outer struggle in the film, where normally they go hand in hand. Speaking of inner conflicts, the other issue Iron Man 3 tries to tackle is the concept of who exactly is Iron Man? Is it the man or is it the suit? The movie practically bashes the audience over the head with the message “it’s the man”, but I don’t think many would agree judging the action of the film. Iron Man is the suit. Sorry Tony Stark, but you’re kinda boring and useless without it. The action speaks louder than the words. I can’t help but feel that while trying to neatly wrap up this little trilogy, they managed to wipe away everything that made Iron Man unique, including Tony Stark’s reliance on the arc reactor. Uh, that’s what made Tony special. Sure, he’s really smart and a great mechanic, but seriously, anyone could wear the suit and do the same job as him. Heck, just shove a martial artist in there instead and they’ll do a better job… actually, Jet Li dressed as Iron Man would be amazeballs… Damn, I wanna pitch that movie now.
Anyways…
If you didn’t stick around till the very end of the credits (because let’s face it, they were bloody long and it’s awkward sitting there a full five minutes after the lights have come up) then you unfortunately missed out on the final scene. But don’t worry. I’ve seen it enough times now that I can practically quote it. So without further ado…
As the credits continue to roll, Tony Stark’s voice is heard.
TONY: And I want to thank you for listening. It’s been really helpful to get this off my chest and out into the atmosphere. Not bottling this up inside. I think that’s what makes people sick, you know?
TONY is now pictured sitting in a chair. A psychiatrist’s office?
TONY: Wow, I never knew you were such a great listener. To just be able to share my intimate thoughts and feeling with, it just cuts the weight of it in half.
The camera pans to Tony’s left and we see BRUCE BANNER sitting in the ‘psychiatrist’s’ chair. He’s asleep sitting up, his glasses held loosely in his right hand as he rests his head on his right wrist.
TONY: Like a snake eating its own tail, everything just comes full. You’ve just been able to really help me process-
Bruce does a sleepy noddy, causing his glasses to fall from his hand and onto his lap. He wakes with a start. The movement catches Tony’s eye.
TONY: You with me?
BRUCE: Uh, I (unintelligible utterances)
TONY: What were you? Actively napping?
BRUCE: I – I, I, I, I… drifted.
Tony gives a disappointed look.
TONY: Where did I lose you?
Bruce strokes his 2-day-old stubbly beard. It makes a raspy sound, causing me to wonder if he had a microphone taped to his chest for that scene, or if the sound guys just had fun creating that in foley.
BRUCE: Elevator in Switzerland.
Tony is now annoyed and disappointed simultaneously.
TONY: So you heard none of it?
BRUCE: I’m sorry. I’m not that kind of doctor. I’m not a therapist. It’s not my training. I don’t have the-
Tony’s not cutting him any slack.
TONY: -What? The time?
BRUCE: Temperament.
Tony ignores Bruce’s subtextual plea for him to stop.
TONY: That reminds me. Oh God, my original wound. 1983. I’m fourteen years and I still have a nanny. That was weird.
Bruce throws his head backwards and tiredly rubs his face wondering if it’ll ever end.
The screen goes black. The words “Tony Stark will return” appear.
And that’s the story of how all the Iron Man/Hulk pairing fanfics began.
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