Iron Man 3 Musings

So unlike the rest of world who has already seen it, I finally saw Iron Man 3 last night. I've been hearing rumors of plot twists and complaints so I've purposely avoided reading reviews and any comments on IM3 related articles (like on ScreenRant.com). And I'm glad I did so.

But before I continue one with my opinion.... Spoiler Alert!

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The Mandarin

Initial reports about the character said that the 10 rings the Mandarin wear are not like in the comics with special powers... and now we know why. Since the first Iron Man, there has been hints of the 10 rings but it was more of the terrorist organization, so many of us thought that the Mandarin would be revealed as the leader of this organization. Considering who he was in IM3, that even gives more explanation about the rings. Of course, this has the "fanboys" in an uproar because the Mandarin is an iconic villain to Iron Man (much like Joker and Lex Luthor) and they feel the movie ruined the character. I don't agree.

1. It was a great plot twist because comic fans did not see it coming, and for non-comic fans who didn't know who the Mandarin was, it still worked.
2. That doesn't mean that in some future movie (possibly without RDJ as Stark/IM), there could still be a character for the REAL Mandarin with REAL power rings.
3. It went along with the Iron Man theme of weapon makers using the government to further their agenda.

I also thought it provided a nice comic twist and Ben Kingsley was quite funny in his "down time" mode.

Extremis

Much of what I remember from Extremis was that it allowed Stark to control electronics and to "hide" his suit on him. I forgot the whole "super soldier" origins so I was a little thrown by how they used it in the movie. And while it didn't quite follow the comic story, I think it was very faithful to the concept of Extremis (even to the point where Killian spit fire). I even liked how they used it to be human suicide bombs.

I don't really like the Extremis usage in the comics where Tony becomes more than human. It's his humanity when he's not in the suit that draws me to the character because he has to rely on his intelligence, innovation and technology in order to be superhero. I know at the end that Stark uses Extremis to make his heart normal, I just don't hope that in future movies, they don't use it the same way as it was in the comics. I prefer how they are using those microchips embedded in his skin to control the armor pieces.

Too Much Stark

A large portion of the movie is Stark doing things without his Iron Man armor and I've read comments that didn't like that. Why not? It's a consensus that RDJ makes the Stark character work, so why does it matter if he's in the suit or not? It's almost like he's a McGyver that has access to armor when he needs it. It also shows that Tony is strong even without the armor and that is appealing in my opinion.

No SHIELD, No Avengers

I've read people questioning why there is SHIELD or fellow Avengers is this movie. Why would there be? It started of as a personal vengeance and then for a good portion of the film, Stark was considered dead or missing so why would SHIELD, Cap, Hawkeye or Black Widow show up during his escapades in Tennessee and Miami? They did mention Stark using the SHIELD database so he could investigate the bomb site... and there was a cameo after credits. This is an Iron Man movie, if you want more wait for the SHIELD TV series and Avengers 2.

Too Much Humor

What? Would you rather it be like the Nolan Batman movies where Stark is slurring and lisping his lines? Why do you think people liked Joker and Catwoman... because they brought some humor into the movie. Stark is a snarky guy, humor is the core of an Iron Man movie.

All in all, I thought it was another good Iron Man movie. Many think Iron Man 2 wasn't as good as the original... and compared to IM3, I guess 2 is the weakest of the trilogy... but they were all great. A better series to me than Batman (Gasp! I really only like The Dark Knight of the trilogy).

My one nitpick... lots more death in this one than the previous two.... scared my kids.