Durf Reviews: IRON MAN 3

Durf  Reviews: IRON MAN 3

Marvel's Phase 2 has officially begun with Iron Man 3! Does it live up to the hype, or does it disappoint? Read on for my take on the highly anticipated threequel... SPOILERS AHEAD!

Review Opinion
By Durf - May 06, 2013 04:05 PM EST
Filed Under: Iron Man

After months of waiting and building up excitement, Marvel's Phase 2 is here with Iron Man 3. The hype has been continuously building and growing over the months, and fans have been chomping at the bit to see it. This third installment follows the very successful Iron Man and Iron Man 2 and looks to replicate their success. While Iron Man is universally regarded as the best Marvel Studios solo film, Iron Man 2 definitely inspires a myriad of different opinions and is regarded by most to be Marvel Studios' weakest film to date. So will Iron Man 3 live up to the billing of the first installment, or will it end up more like the second installment? Well, let's find out...

WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT



One thing that has been undeniably true of the Iron Man franchise(and Marvel's movies in general) is that the cast has been great, and this one is no different. Paul Bettany is back as Jarvis, and is fantastic as always. In a somewhat minor role, William Sadler gives a good performance as President Ellis. Jon Favreau is not in the movie for very long, but does make good use of his screen time and is pretty good. Rebecca Hall turns in a decent performance as Maya Hansen, even if the role is slightly limited. Don Cheadle is much better as James "Rhodey" Rhodes in this one, and is actually quite funny. He also has much better chemistry this time around with Robert Downey Jr. Although her role is fairly minor for most of the movie, Gwyneth Paltrow is great as always as Pepper Potts. Newcomer Ty Simpkins surprisingly holds his own as Harley and has very good chemistry with Downey. The relationship between the two is very well done and at times very humorous. James Badge Dale's Savin is a very menacing and deadly villain, and seems like a legitimate threat to Tony Stark in this one. Ben Kingsley is fantastic as both "The Mandarin" and Trevor Slattery. As "The Mandarin" Kingsley is menacing and seems like a legitimate threat, and as Trevor Slattery he is very funny and entertaining. Guy Pearce is great as Aldrich Killian, and is the best villain in the Iron Man series to date. Pearce is very convincing as the menacing villain and presents a very challenging opponent for Iron Man. However, the real star of the show is of course Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark/Iron Man. As always, his performance as the genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist is perfect. He hits the full spectrum with the character. At times he is hilarious and other times very serious and dramatic. It almost seems now that Downey has become the living embodiment of Tony Stark.



Aside from the cast, there are a lot of things to like about this movie. Although it can be a bit much at times, the humor is very good and the movie is hilarious. Even the end credits scene with Bruce Banner is funny, and it's nice to see Bruce cameo as well. The references to The Avengers and the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were nice and done well without trying to force it down our throats. Tony's paranoia and trauma resulting from the events of The Avengers was well done and was believable as something that would really happen after events of those nature. It is made quite clear that Tony now knows that there are far greater dangers than he even knows about and that he feels the need to be prepared for anything. Even though initially I was against it, Pepper getting Extremis was actually pretty cool and allowed her to get in on the action a bit, and that is pretty cool. Harley and Tony's relationship is something that is well done with some great funny moments and almost at times feels like a father-son relationship and friendship. As with every Marvel movie, the effects in this movie are great, especially the Extremis effects. Savin and Killian make very good villains. All the action scenes are great and are the best in the trilogy. The mansion attack and the Air Force One rescue scenes are great, but the crown jewel of the action scenes is the finale. Perhaps the best part of the scene is the use of all the Iron Man suits and seeing them all in action. In the scene, all the Extremis soldier versus suits fights are very good and at times brutal. Finally we have a good final fight against a villain in an Iron Man movie. It is the longest and best fight of the trilogy and is a pretty satisfying ending battle. Overall, the finale is the second best action scene in a Marvel Studios film to date for my money.

However, not everything about this one is great. How Tony is able to call the Mark 42 suit to himself and assemble it is never really explained. I don't think that everything needs to be spelled out for the audience, but some further explanation for this would have been nice. AIM is name checked a few times, but we never get to see them and their facilities. Also, their connection to the government and the Iron Patriot armor is never really fleshed out. The motivations for Killian to become the villain are murky and fairly weak. His motivations don't really go beyond making money off of a war by selling things to both sides. Ben Kingsley's role is actually fairly small and he seems wasted in this one. One disappointing aspect of the finale of the film is the lack of demonstration of the abilities of the various suits. Also, Tony does not really use that many of the suits during the battle and the ones he does use, the abilities of the suits aren't really shown off. There a few things that do need further discussion including War Machine/Iron Patriot, the ending of the film, and "The Mandarin."



From the marketing of the movie, you would think that the role that War Machine/Iron Patriot plays is significant. Well, that is really not the case. Not only does Rhodey not put on the traditional War Machine armor, he barely does anything in the Iron Patriot armor. The only action that Rhodey sees in the suit blowing open some doors while looking for "The Mandarin" and to take President Ellis away from the final battle in the movie. Most of his time is spent looking for "The Mandarin" and being embarrassed by bad intelligence when he arrives at the wrong site. Also, he is made the butt of a joke about his password for his armor's software. Basically, he is made into a giant joke in the movie and doesn't fight anyone or anything in the movie. He doesn't even participate in the final battle, which is a huge missed opportunity and a disappointment. Overall, the lack of War Machine/Iron Patriot action is a big disappointment and a large strike against this movie.

Even though the finale is spectacular and well done, the ending has it's problems. The destruction of the suits is very disappointing and confusing. It seems like a waste to have Tony build all the suits just to use them once and then destroy them. We may not see any of those suits and what they can do again in the MCU as a result. This begs the question, what was the point of having all those suits anyways? Also, giving up being Iron Man seemed out of character for Tony and reckless even for him. After all he has seen and his pledge from the first film to protect the people, it really does not make sense that he would take out his arc reactor and give up being Iron Man, even if it is to be with Pepper. Taking the Extremis out of Pepper didn't make sense either, as it was a way to make it much easier to protect her. Tony wouldn't need to always be there since Pepper could protect herself. That really sticks out as a flaw in logic for the movie. However, chances are Tony won't give up being Iron Man long and will come back soon. He may even rebuild some or even most of the suits, as I'm sure he kept the designs for all of the suits he destroyed. Still, the ending is still a little disappointing due to the stated reasons above, despite the potential to correct these flaws in future movies.

The biggest problem with the movie however, is "The Mandarin." From the time we found out that he would be in the movie and saw the first trailer, we thought that he would have a large prescence in the movie and be a great villain. What happened instead? "The Mandarin" turned out to be nothing more than a bumbling, weak actor pretending to be a bad guy and being used by the real villain. This has to be one of the biggest slaps in the face in recent movie history. While the character of Trevor Slattery is funny, the destruction of "The Mandarin" is a travesty and a severe misstep for the movie. The potential of using Iron Man's greatest foe from the comics is completely wasted by not even attempting to continue on the path that the early parts of the movie set up for him. As disappointing as it would have been still to not have the trademark 10 rings, it still could have been great to have The Mandarin as he was set up early on in the movie. Instead the character is used as a joke and a throwaway gag. Aldirch Killian's reveal that he is actually "The Mandarin" is equally insulting and ill conceived. There is still the hope that the real Mandarin might still be out there, but there is a slim chance of that happening. This giant middle finger to the fans of the comics and is the one unforgivable flaw of the movie.

So, how does the movie stack up overall? While not on the level of Iron Man or The Avengers, this is still overall a pretty good movie. It is easily better than Iron Man 2 and a pretty successful third entry into the franchise. However, the flaws that it does have hold it back from being a truly great movie. If you go in with the expectations that this will be on the level of the first movie or The Avengers, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. If you just go in expecting a fun movie with great action and humor, you will be satisfied. Overall, it is a good entry into the MCU and the Iron Man franchise and a decent start to Marvel's Phase 2.



8.5/10

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bagadoosh
bagadoosh - 5/6/2013, 4:47 PM
Solid and perfectly balanced , very nice work brother
Durf
Durf - 5/6/2013, 4:49 PM
@Steve: Thank you and have fun in Iceland sir

@Dio: thanks bro

@world: lol, and thanks

@wee wee and bags: thanks brothers
Durf
Durf - 5/6/2013, 4:59 PM
@nik: thank you sir. especially for the Upton bomb

@seph: thanks bro, glad you liked it
sephiroth211
sephiroth211 - 5/6/2013, 5:03 PM
Hell yea Durf, you feel the same way I feel about the film. Everyone did a bang up job, and the things I didn't like never took me outta the film.




Good shit brudda Durf!
bagadoosh
bagadoosh - 5/6/2013, 5:25 PM
 photo clintnod.gif

I will stick with clint on this one
CharlesLord
CharlesLord - 5/6/2013, 8:38 PM
I have some disagreements that we will discuss in chat but heres to the review


Durf
Durf - 5/6/2013, 8:39 PM
@Chuck: will do sir
GeekyCheekyChic
GeekyCheekyChic - 5/6/2013, 8:46 PM
Is there a version of the movie where he gives up being Iron Man ? cuz not in the American one.
He has the shrapnel removed,tosses the ARC,collects up "Dummy" from the rubble,finds his favorite screwdriver and at the end of his monologue says "I am Iron Man"
is Europe getting a different voice over ?
GeekyCheekyChic
GeekyCheekyChic - 5/6/2013, 8:52 PM
you may have to go from 8.5 to a 9 because one of your negative points is very wrong. He didn't give up being Iron Man- that was clear as day for everyone in my theater.
Durf
Durf - 5/6/2013, 8:58 PM
@Baroness: well I did say it wouldn't last long, but I guess maybe you didn't read that part? Also, yes I saw and heard all of that, but it did still feel like he was giving it up. For now...

Also, um no I will give it whatever [frick]ing score I want to

@BandY: damn dude, why don't you tell us how you really feel? lol, but seriously i can respect that dude. I know there are quite a few people who feel the same way you do
GeekyCheekyChic
GeekyCheekyChic - 5/6/2013, 9:00 PM
lol exactly how I felt after TDKR and First Class...just wanted to punch a child right in the mush. :)
Durf
Durf - 5/6/2013, 9:03 PM
@BandY: no worries dude, I knew you weren't bashing the review or anything. And yeah Dale was pretty awesome
GeekyCheekyChic
GeekyCheekyChic - 5/6/2013, 9:04 PM
relax dude give it whatever score you want. clearly the ending went over your head regardless but at least you [frick]ing gave it an 8.5 and took the time to write your [frick]ing review on the [frick]ing site and see how [frick]ing is just a useless word when of all things Im on your side ? maybe you didn't actually see the film and you just didn't like being called out. At no point in time did Tony indicate he was giving up being Iron Man. silly [frick]ing kid.
arrogantswami
arrogantswami - 5/6/2013, 9:10 PM
@Fearless Ben Kingsley is of Asian descent. He's not exactly White.
JoeMomma29
JoeMomma29 - 5/6/2013, 9:11 PM
Yeah it cracks me up that everyone laughed at Catwoman for killing Bane but this was the exact same ending. Pepper killed the main baddie?!?!?!?
Bodwulf
Bodwulf - 5/6/2013, 9:11 PM
Best villain ever
Mandarin ain't easy. photo Iron_Man_3-Ben_Kingsley-Mandarin-Poster-002_zps5e15e6f9.jpg
GeekyCheekyChic
GeekyCheekyChic - 5/6/2013, 9:14 PM
^^^now that's funny
JoeMomma29
JoeMomma29 - 5/6/2013, 9:15 PM
@ Durf you pointed out so many things wrong with this movie but you were really generous with giving it a 8.5. This movie was a 6 out of 10 hands down.
JoeMomma29
JoeMomma29 - 5/6/2013, 9:21 PM
Yeah I liked the extremis soldiers, though I wish they would have developed them a little more. Just a little the explanation was sufficient.
Durf
Durf - 5/6/2013, 9:23 PM
@Bodwulf: Ok dude, that's some funny shit right there

@TheRealRemyLebeau: Thanks dude. That's a very insightful and thoughtful look at it. I'm thinking maybe I originally misinterpreted the ending, but now after further discussion and reading some comment on it(yours in particular) I think maybe the ending does make a little more sense.

Also, I kinda figured on nanobytes but they didn't really explain it(unless I missed it?)

@JoeMomma29: Yeah I may have been a little generous, but despite the flaws I found the movie to be very enjoyable. But I know not everyone will feel the same way I do and that's ok
continuezero
continuezero - 5/6/2013, 9:33 PM
You know what I don't care that they basically threw Mandarin under the bus and made him a total loser but you would think he'd get a bit more respect. I don't think any major character in a CBM has ever been so purposefully eliminated and basically removed from existence from MCU. Like I mean at least kill em off if you don't like em. He just got so shafted for really no reason.
continuezero
continuezero - 5/6/2013, 9:36 PM
Like just don't use em if you're just gonna destroy em. Plenty of shitty characters that suck and just don't get used.
Durf
Durf - 5/6/2013, 9:36 PM
@TheRealRemyLebeau: you bet and yeah I guess it does help the movie a bit when you think about it from that point of view

@continuezero: yeah he really did shafted really hard
3XmenAndaBabyHope
3XmenAndaBabyHope - 5/6/2013, 9:43 PM
This was a pretty awful review, you seem to see things in only black and white. Tony did not give up being ironman. He did say "I am Ironman" after all. And being a huge War Machine fan I was disappointed with the lack of screen time for him but there's no way that that can be considered a major strike against the movie, that's whiney comic book fan s**t. I thought Rhodey was awesome in the movie and contributed a fair share in the final battle.
continuezero
continuezero - 5/6/2013, 9:56 PM
I think my problem was it almost felt like a Bond Film starring Tony Stark. Good movie but really doesn't feel like part of the trilogy.
kirbyfan
kirbyfan - 5/6/2013, 10:10 PM
I'll wait for this one on DVD.
lnTylerWeTrust
lnTylerWeTrust - 5/6/2013, 10:16 PM
Finally watched it! Can't believe they pulled a Fox on us. Really? [frick] you Shame Black, piece of shit. Fans have been dying to see Mandarin, and the what happens? They sacrificed him for a laugh. Can't believe Feige let that go. Not even in Marvel the characters are safe. Hopefully Thor can redeem Marvel, for now can't for that and Star Trek
marvel54
marvel54 - 5/6/2013, 10:55 PM
i just saw iron man 3 i need to apologize to shane black he did a great job hopefully next time they use the real mandarin but the movie was great i give it 9/10
Phlegmbot
Phlegmbot - 5/6/2013, 11:38 PM
I appreciate your passion for reviewing, but you really make a lot of leaps in logic which don't track.

For instance, who says the suits all have different uses? Nothing in the movie indicates this -- you know this from the comics. Also, what does seeing those suits in the rest of the MCU have to do w/anything?

Review what's ON THE SCREEN.

And speaking of what's on the screen, I'm uncertain how you can give this an 8.5 out of ten when it's pretty clear, by *your own* review, that the plot and character arcs (not that you really discussed the arcs too much) make little sense. No doubt, the action was great, the effects were great, some of the dialogue was great...So what you're saying is that those things being, for the sake of argument, perfect, are 85% of the movie?

My point is: In order to really enjoy IM3, you have to check your brain at the door. Not one plot point in it stands up to any level of scrutiny (as you point out re: the Mark 42, Pepper, the Mandarin, etc [you didn't even mention the attack on his house, which made no sense]). For me, that's at LEAST 50% of the film. I'd give it a 5 out of 10. How much do plot, story, and character mean for you?
Superheromoviefan
Superheromoviefan - 5/6/2013, 11:49 PM
exelent review
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