I have extremely mixed feelings about Iron Man 3. After the MCU seemed to be getting better and better with each passing film, this film seemed like a step backwards. There are faults with this film that really should be the fault of the universe, but you have to address these faults because the movie certainly doesn't. This film is not only a very underwhelming direct sequel to The Avengers, but it's also seems to end the character arc of Tony Stark on a very ominous and bizarre note. While not necessarily a horrific film, it's still not nearly the film that we were looking forward to when we chose to see this before we saw Thor: The Dark World or Man of Steel. Plot: Suffering from a mix of intense anxiety and PTSD following the events in The Avengers (which was not set up during the last film nor hinted at), Tony Stark spends most of his time building up a massive inventory of Iron Man suits that are not only defective and lack the kind of power his older suits had, but also causes friction with his girlfriend, Pepper Potts. But this is pushed aside when a series of bombings committed by a mysterious man known as the Mandarin, who injures one of Stark's friends and ultimately attacks Stark's home. Stark escapes, but his suit is too weak to make the return trip back to California. This results in Stark having to take action without his inventory of suits and without much help from his friends (and I don't mean the Avengers, but we'll get into that later).
Stark manages to track the Mandarin to Miami, where he learns of his plot to kidnap the President and that the bombings were often the cause of soldier subjected to a new element that causes "explosive" side effects. When Potts is subjected to the element, Stark takes the fight back to his new enemy and fights to save the world before the country falls into darkness.
What's Bad?: Where are all the Avengers? Okay, Thor is battling throughout the Nine Realms and gets a free pass. But where are Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Hulk in all of this? And for that matter, where is S.H.I.E.L.D. in all of this? Am I supposed to believe that Rhodes stealing Tony's suit in the second film got their attention, but the President of the US getting kidnapped doesn't? How can a guy call himself Captain America and not take to action when the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED FREAKING STATES OF FREAKING AMERICA gets kidnapped?
Also, the lack of much Iron Man action in Iron Man 3 is also a bit annoying. This movie really should be called:
Tony Stark: Regular Man
One last thing that irritates me is the ending. When Tony beats the Mandarin, in an effort to show his devotion to Pepper, he has JARVIS destroy all of his suits and even has the surgery he needed to take the shrapnel from near his heart. This leads me to question as to how he would be able to wield the Iron Man suits in Age of Ultron along with how his relationship with Pepper went during the next Avengers film.
What's Good?: While the bulk of this film irritates me, there are a few fairly decent moments and things throughout. While I've never been a real fan of Gwyneth Paltrow, she is pretty entertaining in this film. She does a pretty good job in what is probably her last film in the MCU.
And of course, Robert Downey Jr. is still freaking unreal as Tony Stark. The only character who fits the bill of his MCU character flawlessly from start to finish is still awesome in this film, despite his lack of real action in this film.
Overall: This is easily the weakest film of the MCU I've seen so far. It doesn't answer much of my questions and actually manages to confuse me more than it does enlighten me. Nevertheless, it was certainly better than some of the other films of the Summer (cough Monsters University cough), and still provides me with enough of a ride to make me not hate this film. Not the worst, but you can skip this one.
Final Grade: 72, or C-
Next: Thor: The Dark World
Then: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Later: Guardians of the Galaxy
Finally: The Avengers: Age of Ultron
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