Iron Man a Shell of Himself
*This review may contain spoilers*
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| Iron Man 3 - Theatrical Poster |
Now onto the negative. The entire movie is brimming with plot holes that ruin the movie. With so many plot holes, I'm surprised as to how Marvel green light the script in the first place. I'll also try to refrain from the many similarities the writer borrowed or rather "took inspiration" from the Dark Knight Rises, none of which are executed well.
The main villain they set up turns out to be nothing but a joke with no intent or purpose. What was Aldrich Killian or rather "the Mandarin" after? Me and my friends talked about this is in the car and all of us were left scratching our heads. Early in the film, we watch him get rejected by Stark in a business proposal. He eventually rises to power and seems to be after Stark's money to help with his initiative. Later on, he does not seem to need it anymore. OK? More importantly, the reveal of his master plan winds up being as one-dimensional as any super villain: world domination. The motives? None are really given it is almost as if the writers took the viewer for granted and simply expected him/her to accept anything without comprehension. The mandarin ends up being nothing but a little more than a stereotype in this regard of the typical "terrorist".
Furthermore the MacGuffin of this movie is the development of extremis virus. Some hosts that accept it don't explode and turn into regenerating superhuman while others blow up. Without giving any spoilers we see some extreme cases of survival with people that have the extremis virus and it makes you wonder how did all the other extremis people die with just one shot from iron mans suit? This is neither explained nor hinted at throughout the movie. Also in the beginning of the movie they introduce the idea of people with the extremis virus requiring some sort of vaccine or supplement to keep the virus subdued or active within them but this is later not heard of or explained later on. This omission would have greatly enhanced the extremis MacGuffin. There are so many inconsistencies with the extremis virus that this main plot element causes everything else to fall.
As for everyone praising the development of Tony Stark as a character i say what development? Iron man 1 developed Iron man and Iron man 3 developed Tony Stark? Then name this movie Tony Stark not Iron Man. Most of the action sequences played out with Tony Stark running around and fighting "bad guys" in Tennessee more like a Bourne film. In fact Tony Stark is barely in his suit throughout the movie. When he is, the suit malfunctions as if designed by a kid and not a world genius Tony. The suit is either without power or just breaking up into pieces. How can a genius scientist who designed a fully functioning suit in the desert with limited tools, not able to make one with all the tools at his disposal. Furthermore how can a genius whose afraid for his life never have a suit that's fully charged? As for Tony's development the writers introduce a more human side of Tony in the sense of him suffering anxiety attacks due to the events of the Avengers. However this plot point which would have been an important asset in Tony's development is also forgotten and down played. Anxiety attacks come and dissipate in mere minutes giving no credence to Tony and how it changes him. Tony receives a more human and fearful side to him due to his anxiety but this illusion quickly lost when he gives his address on national television to a international terrorist. It's often as if the writes didn't know what they were doing. Making Tony fearless for one scene to further the plot and then fearful the rest of the movie.
The writers also decide to give Tony Stark a side kick in the form of a kid. While i'm pretty certain this was just added so it would appeal to more kids the side kick in the form of a kid is another missed opportunity. While the kid could of been used to show Tony's humanity and develop him as a character, its often in these scenes we see Tony at his worst and same old arrogant nature. Furthermore the introduction of the kid greatly diminishes Tony's ability to withstand even the most dire of circumstances. Throughout the movie the kid operates as if his mom doesn't exist and Tony's recluse in his house goes unnoticed by any adults what so ever. The addition of the kid adds another cliched hostage scene that pays homage to an anti-bullying message in the middle of the movie.
Lastly, looking at this movie from an entirely entertainment view forgetting the plot inconsistencies is still disappointing. Only one action sequence stood out to me. Whereas Iron Man 2 was no more than a mere set up for the Avengers it still had its fair share of action set pieces. The only scene i can think of in this movie is the aircraft scene highly advertised in trailers. Not surprising, tony wasn't even in his suit throughout this scene. In fact this is the greatest draw back of Iron Man 3. With Tony not in his suit anymore it takes away the danger and heroic nature of Iron Man putting himself out there to save people risking his own life despite how arrogant he may seem he still has a caring heroic nature. In this movie its more like he is risking metal and his money rather than himself in order to save people. The whole time his suits are malfunctioning and not co-operating. Iron man can fight Thor and an army of aliens in the Avengers in his older suit without charging much at all and it doesn't malfunction but blowing up his house with missiles causes his suit to malfunction. Also keep in mind the suits are way more enhanced since the avengers so if those "old" suits could withstand Thor how can the news ones not.
This movie was thoroughly disappointing, the only redeeming quality was the aircraft fall action scene and the laughs which is no surprise since that is what Shane Black is known for.
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