@Nobodyman:
It's a good movie, but…
1. RDJ's snarky nonchalant is getting a bit old to me. He even makes a wisecrack after seeing Pepper "die".
2. Tony's PTSD episodes were kind of a weird random thing that didn't go anywhere
3. I wouldn't mind the Mandarin twist so much, except the villain we actually got was really weak
4. Personally, the stuff with people being vaporized was a bit much for me. Like, they're invoking imagery from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Well, for 1, 3 and 4 I can't argue with taste (though I don't remember the post-Pepper death quip, I just remember him looking shocked, and then "quipping" about her being perfect when he sends his armor at Killian); I can just say that I thought Guy Pearce as Killian was an absolute riot, and made for easily my favourite fight in the MCU (Iron Man vs something other than robots!!). Dude was just so delighfully hammy that he felt right at home in the sort of Lethal-Weapon-esque atmosphere of the movie for me. I think thats why I love it so much; Iron Man 1 and 2 and some of the others feel more like "MCU movies" to me, whereas Iron Man 3 feels more like a really fun standalone 80's/early 90's action movie, which just happens to feature an MCU superhero. Like Winter Soldier with its spy thriller feel, Guardians funky Space opera kitsch, or now Ant Mans heist comedy, it just had so much personality.
Ben kingsley in Mandarin-mode was intimidating as all hell, yes, but I was quite happy to trade the grit n' serious' for the more exhuberant fun tone. Super Scary Terrorist Mandarin being the villain would've made for a movie with a much darker tone, like was teased in the trailers, but personally i'm glad that Iron Man didn't go too Nolan Batman. Again, thats just me.
For the PTSD episodes, I actually liked them quite a bit; They humanized Tony greatly, in that he went through some messed up shit and doesn't just laugh it off, and I also found them very interesting from a storytelling POV; I can't say it as well as Devin Faraci, so I'll just dump this here in stead
[hide]The events of The Avengers render Iron Man Three a fascinating postscript, where Tony has to deal with the PTSD of his trip through the Chitauri wormhole. This is where we get to the point about Tony not retiring.
In the year since New York Tony has dealt with his PTSD in the same way he dealt with his Afghanistan PTSD: he makes suits. But while the original Iron Man armors were generalized protection systems, post-New York Tony starts making individual suits for any possible problem that could come his way. He becomes obsessive, looking at the world as a series of dangers from which he must protect himself. The suits are a symptom of that obsession, a wall that he’s putting between himself and every single part of life.
When he destroys those suits he isn’t destroying Iron Man, he’s destroying the idea that Iron Man can handle his every fear, his every danger. He’s trying to deal with his trauma as opposed to cocooning himself away from it. When he removes the arc reactor he’s removing the crutch on which he stood, and metaphorically he’s removing the barrier to his heart. At the end of the movie he very clearly states, “I am Iron Man.”
But here’s the thing about Tony Stark: he’s a problem solver by nature. That can be trouble when it’s coming from a negative place, but it’s his true super power. And when Ultron opens we see that Stark has been continuing to try and solve the problem of security. He’s created the Iron Legion, a small peace-keeping task force that is low-powered and controlled by JARVIS. They’re basically intended not as warriors but as traffic cops, helping to protect innocents in scenarios where the actions of The Avengers put them in danger.
But when the Scarlet Witch shows Tony a destroyed future, his PTSD kicks in again. It’s important to understand that while standard narratives would have a hero getting over his PTSD, in reality you never do - you just live with it, hopefully dealing with it but never leaving it behind. And that PTSD can return, can rear its ugly head and fuck you up all over again. And that’s what happens to Tony.
Tony’s post-script has now morphed into a new arc. The guy who didn’t give a shit in Iron Man now cannot stop giving a shit. His journey has taken him from shirking responsibility to accepting responsibility to, in Ultron, embracing ALL the responsibility.[/hide]