In defense of Iron Man 3
I’m going to take the week off from talking about Iron Man’s Ablative Armor Model 23 — as I do sometimes in my blogs categorized as Beyond Axol — to discuss Iron Man 3. Of all the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this one is probably the most contentious, a love-it-or-hate-it experience. For most people, it comes down to their views on how the movie handled The Mandarin. We’ll get to that.
I mostly love it. Oh, it’s not a perfect movie. But it’s so fun that I just go with it. Thor: Ragnarok is the only movie that can hold my attention better, but Iron Man Three (as the closing credits spells it out) still ends up in my top seven MCU movies.
So I figured I’d write a blog defending this divisive film from its detractors. I‘ll start with the Good, then hit the MIxed and the Bad over the next few weeks.
I think you’ll like this blog series. You know how I can tell? Because we’re connected.
Why Iron Man 3 Is Good (and Sometimes Great)
The Barrel of Monkeys
Let’s start off with my favorite part of this movie. The “unwilling skydiving” scene is simply heart-pounding. The camera is shaky but not nauseatingly so. It conveys the intensity of both a) falling to your death, and b) feeling helpless to save people. Subsequent viewings with the meta-knowledge that real skydivers fell 200 times only adds to the thrill.
How long does that scene feel? I would have guessed more than three minutes. But from the time the Prodigal Son leaves the plane until the people touch the water, it’s 1:40, so visceral and terrifying that it stretches time.
Oh, one more thing. This two-second shot right here:
Unbe-frickin’-lievable. In many modern movies, we’re actually too close to the action. We can be nose-to-nose with a dragon as it belches fire, or we can stand next to a car explosion. But this shot right here shows the power of seeing something horrible from a distance. It’s almost casual in the way it explodes, but still carries the horror from far away. Plus it leads to the rain of flaming airplane parts later in the scene, which makes it even more exciting. If I’ve whet your whistle for this scene, you can watch it here.
The Mandarin
I’m not going to apologize for it! The Mandarin from the comic book has an incredibly racist past, so having a British actor play a man of vaguely Middle Eastern man with an Asian moniker is either really problematic or, if you subvert the audience’s expectation, pretty ingenious. Ben Kingsley plays the part perfectly, especially since he’s not trying to affect any particular accent and instead creates his own.
Why do I think messing with the Mandarin is okay? While the MCU might have been well under way by Iron Man 3, there was no guarantee that Robert Downey, Jr. was even going to return for Avengers: Age of Ultron. The writers of the film most likely knew that, so I can see them thinking, “This entire Iron Man series only gets to highlight three villains. We might as well burn one of them in order to give the movie a nice twist.” Comics are different from movies; in movies, you can go ahead and ruin a character if you don’t have to worry about them coming back in 30 issues.
For those who were fans of the comic book version of the Mandarin, I can see how they felt betrayed. But for the bulk of people who have no attachment to the character, the twist was worth it.
The House Party Protocol
I’m a sucker for suits. I love the designs of them, the colors of them, the reasons they were built. Well, I’m not a huge fan of the ones with claws, but other than that I’m a fan. So I love the House Party Protocol.
Many people claim that the HPP was just a way to sell toys. That’s true on the high-end market; I count around 21 of the 35 new suits got the $250 Hot Toys treatment. But the number of regular toys from Iron Man 3 totaled a surprisingly low number; I only see Hotrod, Iron Patriot, and Prodigal Son released mass-market. So it wasn’t about selling to kids.
Speaking of suits…
Silver Centurion
The concept artists for Iron Man 3 are unsung heroes. They created 35 new armors for the film, and sometimes they looked to the comics for inspiration. Starboost is a nod to many space armors, which includes the Ablative Armor. Python has the Black and Gold’s (Model 42 in the comics) color scheme.
But there’s no stronger connection between the MCU and the comics than Silver Centurion. While every suit from Marks 17 through 42 had a name, Silver Centurion is the only name that came over from the comics. It also kept the same colors and arc reactor shape. The concept artist, Andy Park, started reading Iron Man comics during the SC’s run between Iron Man #200 and #230. I also started reading Iron Man around this time, so I have a special connection to this suit as well.
Tony used the SC suit in Iron Man 3 more than any other armor bar the Prodigal Son. You can read more about the MCU/comic connection in this blog.
The Mystery
After Phase 1, Marvel started to subcategorize their movies to keep them fresh. It’s often pointed out that Winter Soldier is a spy film, and Ant-Man is their most comedic. Iron Man 3 is a mystery, with Tony figuring out why all these bombs are going off across the country. It’s a nice way to spice things up a bit.
The Nixed Bully Subplot
There were scenes where Harley is being tormented by bigger kids on four-wheelers. Getting rid of this was the right idea.
Seeing Yinsen Again
In a movie that has Tony mentoring a kid, it’s good to see the short-term mentor that Tony had in the cave. Though he showed up just a few seconds in a flashback, it lined up nicely with the convention Yinsen mentioned in the first movie.
Helicopter Takedown
Throw a piano at one! Throw a rocket at another! Yes!
A Helping Hand
J.A.R.V.I.S. saved Tony from drowning by ejecting the gauntlet and then pulling him out. That’s something to make just about everyone I watch this movie with say, “Oh, cool!”
Boosted Beatup
When fighting Killian, Tony gives Killian a knee and a backslap, both boosted by repulsors. Slick move.
The Tuna Fish Sandwich
This movie contains the peak of RJD’s smart-assery, a testament to his acting and Shane Black’s writing/directing. I love the tuna fish sandwich. I love “we’re connected.” His dismissal of Harley’s dad going out for scratchers gets me every time. Hispanic Scott Baio is a great callback to a scene in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, another Black film. Basically, Iron Man 3 is about having fun with the dialog, which I always endorse.
Next: The Mixed
And there you go: a bunch of stuff that I believe Iron Man 3 got right. But it’s not all fun and games. Next blog I’m going to take a look at the MIxed, the stuff that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. See you there!
You can bet he’ll be showing up.
