!!!

[redbrunja]

Let's start at the end:

• Bruce being in the end tag was brilliant. When the screen cut to black I legit whoop-shrieked.


• What this movie did brilliantly - so, so brilliantly - was take away in very, very believable ways, all of Tony's tools, so you really rooted for him.


• THE BANTER, MY GOD, THE BANTER. TONY WITH THAT KID IN NEBRASKA OR WHEREVER. TONY WITH THE FIRE-CHICK. TONY WITH PEPPER, THE ONE THING HE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT.


• In general, this was just a much, much tighter movie than Iron Man 2, minus the self-indulgent air force one scene and the ridiculously over-long and confusing climax.


• I'm not sure how I feel about Tony getting the arc reactor removed from his chest.


• Because I saw the trailer, I knew Pepper was going to survive her fall - so I spent all the minutes just counting down until she showed up to kick ass. I kind of wish that had been a surprise.


• But Tony and Pepper's banter! THEIR BANTER.


• Stiles' dad! Jaye's dad! ...maybe Juno's dad?


• Also, I feel like Pepper and Tony should never have a biological kid? Can you imagine how obnoxious he would be when Pepper was pregnant? Or delivering the kid? Ugh, Pepper would have to get Natasha to forcibly remove Tony from the hospital. I think Tony is EPICALLY BRILLANT uncle material, though.


• This movie was ridiculously Christian and America-centric. Like, unbelievably. And I don't think having the Mandarin be a ploy totally made up for that? I'm surprised it did as well as it did for foreign audiences.

Comments

[qualapec.livejournal.com]

Basically? In all honesty, there were things I either really really loved or really really hated in this movie. There were a lot of moments that I absolutely loved and were perfect and hit every mark, but as a whole? There are a lot of things I'm deeply 'meh' about, too. I'll have a full post on my LJ probably, but Pepper was by far my favorite part of the movie. I also loved the banter and all the little character moments to pieces, but so far I'm not sold on the overall plot one bit. l might feel differently after I see the movie a second time, but for now I'm looking at it only as something to cradle the smaller moments, not as something that had a lot of internal consistency.

I do think the Mandarin as the construct of a white guy, planned to be everything that white people were afraid of, was a brilliant move. It was kind of disappointing, since they were billing him as the main villain, and a part of me thinks it would have been more interesting to have Killian and Mandarin both be the final bosses, but as it stands it was a surprisingly excellent commentary on how narratives portray "terrorism".

Also, there was WAY too much action to be honest. I left feeling kind of shellshocked, so I'm still kind of having a hard time organizing my thoughts/reactions in full and pulling the movie into the larger MCU narrative.

And I just flat-out have no idea what to make of Tony not having the arc reactor anymore (and I honestly think it was kind of a stupid decision, since the arc reactor is SUCH a recognizable bridge between Tony and Iron Man). HOWEVER, it left me feeling very hopeful about how far the MCU is willing to go to differ from comics canon, which is something I've been arguing for for the better part of a year. Other aspects of the ending were confusing and wrapped up way too quickly/ambiguously.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I am also looking forward to a second viewing to determine my overall opinion. Because while I think it was a better movie than IM2, I seem to remember loving IM2 more? Which was weird. I want to figure out if there was just something missing to make me not LOVE LOVE the movie, or if it was just a case that anything after Avengers was going to be slightly disappointing, or what.

I really hope you do a long write up of IM3, because I REALLY want to hear your thoughts.

I do think the Mandarin as the construct of a white guy, planned to be everything that white people were afraid of, was a brilliant move. It was kind of disappointing, since they were billing him as the main villain

I thought that was actually quite a cool fake-out.

Also, there was WAY too much action to be honest. I left feeling kind of shellshocked, so I'm still kind of having a hard time organizing my thoughts/reactions in full and pulling the movie into the larger MCU narrative.

Oh, god, totally. That Air Force One scene was totally self-indulgent, and at points in the climax I couldn't tell what was going on with all the suits of armor and the faceless mooks and was just (metaphorically) tapping my watching going, 'when is Rescue going to show up? when is Rescue going to show up?'

And I just flat-out have no idea what to make of Tony not having the arc reactor anymore (and I honestly think it was kind of a stupid decision, since the arc reactor is SUCH a recognizable bridge between Tony and Iron Man).

I know! That was such a pivotal piece of characterization. And in general, I'm not a fan of characters losing their scars, you know?

On the subject of metaphor, though, how cool is it that Tony starts IM1 as "the Merchant of Death" and then gradually moves to he's 'the mechanic' and in a place to fix Pepper? After all the fixing Pepper has done in his life? That was an A+ arc, imho.

HOWEVER, it left me feeling very hopeful about how far the MCU is willing to go to differ from comics canon, which is something I've been arguing for for the better part of a year.

YES! Based on what I heard about this plot in the comic (which did NOT sound like a good idea for a movie) I was really happily surprised that the movie ended with Tony destroying his multiple suits instead of becoming (basically) psychically linked to them.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I've been skeptical about the Mandarin since rumors of the movie, and when I watched it, I kept thinking "this doesn't make sense" because his videos were too vague, his nationalistic iconography too confusing and muddled. Was he Asian or Middle Eastern? We're those Arab kids? I thought the whole thing looked rather shamefully sloppy... and it turned out, those were deliberate errors. Because it was all a facade. It was an interesting choice.

I'm really glad the trailers didn't spoil the glowing lava soldiers. Which, btw, we're insanely neat in terms of CGI.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Because it was all a facade. It was an interesting choice.

I thought so too. And while I don't think it erased the 'rah rah america' vibe of the movie, it DID help to ameliorate it.

I'm really glad the trailers didn't spoil the glowing lava soldiers. Which, btw, we're insanely neat in terms of CGI.

Same here.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

I really like the Iron Man movies in general and think the writing is generally sharper than pretty much all the other action hero movies I've seen. Part of it is that RDJ is just perfectly cast for this role. I can't imagine ANYONE playing it so well and I'm not even a particularly big fan of his or whatever. (I also generally kind of dislike Gwyneth Paltrow for shallow "she's too perfect" reasons and she's palatable as Pepper but I think the movies have kind of also cashed in on the Paltrow perfection and even made it LITERALLY CANON here with "she's already perfect").

And I liked this one too, especially the bits with the kid and Guy Pearce's ridiculously over-the-top Hollywood-movie ploy with Ben Kingsley. But.... I had some conflicting issues about the overall arc for Tony....

I didn't really like that they blew up all the suits or that he lost his reason for becoming Iron Man. I got what they were saying about it being a crutch/armor/distraction, but...Pepper being so glad he got rid of them all felt a bit like her not accepting him for who he was. I guess I thought the "I can't sleep"/PTSD/Panic attacks was actually not very well fleshed out. The suits and being Iron Man was what he was before all the Avengers shit happened so if he was just taking it to an extreme...why couldn't he just realize he could calm the fuck down now? Blowing up the suits and suddenly having convenient surgery that he couldn't figure out how to do before...meh. I didn't like that bit. I'm not sure why they un-super-ized him honestly unless they were done. But they're not.

Also I was v. disappointed about making Rebecca Hall a quasi-villain. Not only was the scene with Pepper probably the first Bechdel Test passing scene in any of these damn movies that was longer than 30 seconds, but..THERE WAS EVEN SLASHY VIBES. Instead of a standing-in-for-slash Bromance, we got a standing-in-for-slash WOmance!! (And I don't even care personally because I never really slash anything but then....I felt they kind of ruined it all by making it a facade and Hall being actually evil/in on the plan. Especially since they didn't really even commit all the way to it and then they turned her back quasi-good for a bit. I'm sure it was supposed to come off as complex/layered characterization for her but...it just ended up annoying me.

Other than those bits though I did really enjoy it. I probably should make a post now that I've vomited my opinions all over your LJ. ;)

Oh wait.... AND... I was hoping the supernova Pepper would turn her into some kind of superhero for good, but they reversed it. :( I remembered your post saying she becomes a superhero of her own in the comics but I guess in the movies she'll always be essentially Tony's nanny/secretary. :/

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

See, I read blowing up the suits as 'he was going to calmn the fuck down and stop making suit after suit after suit'. Like, I read 'clean slate' as he's going to sort of go back to the drawing board with the Iron Man tech instead of making suit after suit to try and feel in control. Not that he was going to stop being Iron Man.

I'm not thrilled about the arc reactor being taken out, because it's so iconic, and I am not a fan of removing people's scars or not letting lost things stay lost.

I remembered your post saying she becomes a superhero of her own in the comics but I guess in the movies she'll always be essentially Tony's nanny/secretary. :/

If by nanny/secretary you mean 'CEO of his company' and the reason Stark Industries is still profitable, then yes.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Maybe that's how it will be. I mean obviously he'll continue to be Iron Man. They even went so far as to say put a "Tony Stark will return" disclaimer after the Bruce bonus scene, but.. I just wonder how. (And I couldn't help but think it was such a waste of tech/materials to blow up the suits. There was nothing wrong with the suits.)

Yeah, I think taking the bullets/arc reactor out was just super easy/convenient/even sort of lazy storytelling. Just suddenly he can figure out how not to need it...?

The CEO thing seems like a convenient plot device to me though and always has. Maybe if we had more than just the token scene of her as the head of Stark industries where Tony comes in and pesters her at work... I vaguely recall Iron Man 2 doing better at that but...also...wasn't she basically his secretary in the first one and then suddenly she's running the whole company in the second one? Her career has always been kind of sketchy/reactionary to whatever Tony's doing. Almost like she has to babysit his company too because he's off being Iron Man. Maybe she's much better fleshed out in the comics (which I haven't read), but in the movies....she just doesn't have any definition separately from Tony IMO.

[lady-with-cats.livejournal.com]

i was so 'omg' when pepper turned around and then she was like, "who's the hot mess now?". just. you both are so made for each other, haha.

i thought beyond the mandarin turnaround - which i enjoyed immensely - the movie was rough on "american politics" but not in a way that really damning/beyond surface level? the president's a dick, the vp is corrupt, and yet. that's as far as the commentary goes. and i guess you could argue they don't really have time to go into the political landscape of the mcu!america but if they really wanted to talk about reactionary politics then they could have worked it in. you've got captain america floating around again, that's got to say something.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

just. you both are so made for each other, haha.

They are. They truly, truly, are.

i thought beyond the mandarin turnaround - which i enjoyed immensely - the movie was rough on "american politics" but not in a way that really damning/beyond surface level? the president's a dick, the vp is corrupt, and yet. that's as far as the commentary goes.

imho, they didn't even go that far. I didn't have any particular problems with the prez (also a lot of affection for him from his time as Jaye's dad on Wonderfalls) so the movie seemed to have a very clear 'yay america!' that wasn't helped by all the judo-christian/christmas stuff.

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

I really loved it. The only thing I was worried about going in was the Mandarin because I'd heard his characterization was racist in the comics so the way they totally faked us out was fantastic. I love that Tony had to deal with his trauma and that he was forced to fight out of the suit in so many scenes. And Pepper! Pepper! Also HOLY at Paltrow's abs! Daaaamn gurl! I can't say I like that they got rid of the arc reactor but I was glad they ended it by him saying "I am Iron Man." The growth of Tony in all these movies has been so well done and I love that we saw Pepper and Rhodey (less so Rhodey) playing a role in that. Also I liked that they showed Tony not at all concerned about Pepper's meeting and that they showed her doing business as CEO and the Forbes cover.

Bringing in Bruce at the end was fantastic! I was hoping to see more of his/Tony's friendship and was hoping they'd do it in a way that didn't detract from his other important relationships so this was perfect.

Can't wait to see it again. :]

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I love that Tony had to deal with his trauma and that he was forced to fight out of the suit in so many scenes. And Pepper! Pepper

Agreed! Pepper looks fucking FANTASTIC.

I was hoping to see more of his/Tony's friendship and was hoping they'd do it in a way that didn't detract from his other important relationships so this was perfect.


It really was. I shrieked when we saw Bruce at the end.

[lokifan]

This movie was ridiculously Christian and America-centric. Like, unbelievably.

Huh. I thought it was very US-centric, but actually not as much as Iron Man. That film actually makes me quite uncomfortable to watch. This one was pretty much on par with most American blockbusters, I thought. Although that might have been influenced by my having seen The West Wing now, so I wasn't like "what is an Air Force One?" :)