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Plot Summary
Review
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Hello, Movie Buffs!
It seems like the Marvel films like Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, all follow a similar pattern. The first film is an introduction, origin story where the main character has an awakening and comes into their powers and/or becomes a superhero (like in Iron Man 1 and The First Avenger). Then follows the second film where the hero is now embracing their powers, then they come to a somewhat small personal crisis - Captain America’s past, Iron Man’s health scare, and Thor’s somewhat damaged relationship with Loki – only to face an enemy that may just be their match. And finally, we have the third installment of the trilogy. Here the hero has gone through the hardships of both films and has now come to a new level of maturity only to lose pretty much everything and/or everyone and now they have to build themselves back up. They have to discover who they are without the suit or the shield or the hammer. Despite Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor following a similar pattern this does not make the films any less amazing. It is interesting to see the journey our heroes take, how that journey affects them, and the person they become in the aftermath.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has obviously done better with superhero films than DC Extended Universe. Not to say that DCEU is horrible but there is something special about an MCU film. MCU films are thrilling, humorous, and encourage you to follow along with an ever expanding and all encompassing plot story. Iron Man 3 is no doubt the best film in the trilogy. The characters are performed beautifully and spot on. The cinematography is superb, the action is great, and the story has depth and incentive. The film is both funny and serious at the appropriate scenes. Iron Man 3 is co-written by veteran action-movie writer Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), and first-time feature film writer Drew Pearce (Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation). Together the writers have created a plot that has some elegant twists and focuses on a clever revelation of one’s identity. Both writers have the ability to blend action with humor, and here we are given two exciting action scenes. I won’t spoil the movie but I can say this. The first scene involves a certain famous airplane and the exhilarating act of a forced free-fall, while the second the ever elaborate final-countdown climax. I cannot find fault with this film so it is confusing that there were a good number of negative reviews, mostly of which were from avid comic book fans.
A lot of these negative reviews seem to revolve around the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley – Enders Game, Thunderbirds, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time) character in the film is vastly different from the comic book. In the comic book, the Mandarin is supposed to be some sort of evil wizard, which is little strange because if the film followed the plot of the comic book then it probably would turned out to be Iron Man meets Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. In the film, his character is genuinely clever and touches on some current problems in third world countries. And while the Mandarin is not a super evil guy in the film as he is more of a henchman, he does add some suspense to who the actual villain is. So if the Mandarin did have 'magic rings' then it would be reminiscent of the ‘One Ring’ in Lord of the Rings and if he had stayed true to the comic books then I believe the film would have suffered. In addition, there is a good amount of audience members that have never read the comic books for any of the Marvel films (such as me). The writers need to create a story that not only appeals to the hearts of avid comic book fans but also holds a level of reality to it so as to entice the non-comic book fans. In other words, the heroes need to be believable in a way that makes one feel like the character is absolutely real. Another negative review appears to be the fact that the film tends to focus more on Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr. – Sherlock Holmes) than is does on Iron Man.
Personally, I found this to be the most pleasing part of the whole film because we already know him as Iron Man, we have already seen most of what the suit can do in Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), and The Avengers (2012). But what we haven’t had the chance to do is see the man behind the suit, and I don’t mean Stark the playboy billionaire inventor but rather who is Tony. When you take away the suit and the Stark name who is he underneath it all? In this film, we see that Tony Stark is now a more genuine person compared to the previous films and The Avengers (2012) film. But in the aftermath of The Avengers film we see him struggle with its mental fallout and now he has to overcome his own weakness before he can once again become the hero we know and love. Ultimately it is his creation that saves day, not him and while it’s okay to be a superhero one must understand that it’s not everything. One day he could be Iron Man and the next he could find that the world no longer needs him but as long as he knows who he is regardless of the suit then that is all that matters. Here he matures as both Tony Stark and Iron Man, and as a result, we are given a story that is emotional, intellectual, and enchanting. In Iron Man 3 he faces genuine adversity and the unsettling
Overall, Iron Man 3 is an excellent film with great visuals, exciting action sequences, a great cast, the story is a balance between fiction and reality. Despite the negative responses of certain characters not being true to the comic books or that the story focuses too much on Tony Stark, audiences cannot dispute that Iron Man 3 is a worthy addition to the MCU and Iron Man trilogy. The message of the film is the struggle of Tony Stark and the question on whether or not this is the end of Iron Man as we know it. I highly recommend this movie to everyone as the best film in the trilogy and easily on par with The Avengers.
***Marvel Cinematic Universe (In order of how you should watch them)***
Iron Man (2008)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Thor (2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Ant-Man (2015)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Black Panther (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Untitled Avengers film (2019)
Untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel (2019)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (TBA)
“My armor was never a distraction or a hobby, it was a cocoon, and now I'm a changed man. You can take away my house, all my tricks, and toys, but one thing you can't take away - I am Iron Man.”
- Tony Stark [last lines]
Final Vote
Worth Seeing: 4.7 of 5 star
Worth Buying: 4.7 of 5 stars
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Movies Similar
Ant-Man (2015)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Avengers (2012)
Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (2015)
Avengers 3: Infinity War (2018)
Avengers 4: Untitled film (2019)
Black Panther (2018)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (TBA)
Hulk (2003)
Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 (2019)
Thor (2011)
Thor: Dark World (2013)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Avengers (2012)
Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (2015)
Avengers 3: Infinity War (2018)
Avengers 4: Untitled film (2019)
Black Panther (2018)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (TBA)
Hulk (2003)
Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 (2019)
Thor (2011)
Thor: Dark World (2013)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Cast & Crew
Writing Credits: Drew Pearce, Shane Black, Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby, Warren Ellis, and Adi Granov.
Produced by
Victoria Alonso --- executive producer
Mitchell Bell --- associate producer
Stephen Broussard --- executive producer
Louis D'Esposito --- executive producer
Jon Favreau --- executive producer
Kevin Feige --- producer
Alan Fine --- executive producer
Stan Lee --- executive producer
Dan Mintz --- executive producer
Charles Newirth --- executive producer
Brad Winderbaum --- unit producer: China
Lars P. Winther --- associate producer
Bing Wu --- executive producer
Wen-ge Xiao --- executive producer
Music by Brian Tyler
Cinematography by John Toll
Film Editing by Peter S. Elliot and Jeffrey Ford
Casting By Sarah Finn
Production Design by Bill Brzeski
Art Direction by Alan Hook, Desma Murphy, Jay Pelissier, Brian Stultz, and John Eaves.
Set Decoration by Danielle Berman
Costume Design by Louise Frogley
Cast:
Robert Downey Jr. --- Tony Stark
Gwyneth Paltrow --- Pepper Potts
Don Cheadle --- Colonel James Rhodes
Guy Pearce --- Aldrich Killian
Rebecca Hall --- Maya Hansen
Jon Favreau --- Happy Hogan
Ben Kingsley --- Trevor Slattery
James Badge Dale --- Savin
Stephanie Szostak --- Brandt
Paul Bettany --- JARVIS (voice)
William Sadler --- President Ellis
Dale Dickey --- Mrs. Davis
Ty Simpkins --- Harley Keener
Miguel Ferrer --- Vice President Rodriguez
Xueqi Wang --- Doctor Wu
Shaun Toub --- Ho Yinsen
Pat Kiernan --- Pat Kiernan
Josh Elliott --- Josh Elliott
Thomas Roberts --- Thomas Roberts
Bill Maher --- Bill Maher
Joan Rivers --- Joan Rivers
George Kotsiopoulos --- George Kotsiopoulos
Ashley Hamilton --- Taggart
Tom Virtue --- Thomas Richards
Yvonne Zima --- Miss Elk Ridge
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