Darkness and Light - Review of "Iron Man 3"

[I saw this movie last night and I have so, so many scattered thoughts about it (all of them good, don't worry), but I want to get something coherent out before tomorrow when all the geek-blogs get their Siskel and Ebert crap together.]

Spoiler Warning!

How does a movie bring you down to the depth of despair, but still makes you laugh out loud?  I have no idea. But Iron Man 3 did exactly that.

What I have loved about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is how much character development there is across the board.  Even the "sidekicks" get it (Pepper got quite a bit and I think Jane Foster is going to get some similar treatment, if the trailer for Thor: The Dark World is any indication).  It would have been so easy for them to take Tony Stark and send him straight back to his garage, snarking with JARVIS and being his same sarcastic-yet-lovable self.  And while we get some of that in Iron Man 3, it is clear that we are firmly into Marvel: Phase 2.

Just to get an idea for how clear this is - I took notes for this movie while in the theater.  Because I am just a nutcase like that.  And a good portion of my notes (the few I managed to get written down while my eyes weren't glued to the screen) were things like:

- new tone for post-Avengers Marvel
- darker tone - really digging it
- closer and tighter shots - more claustrophobic
- taking some cues from The Hunger Games - televised politics, terror in front of the camera
- some lighter moments - hearkening back to the earlier Iron Man movies, but still so dark

Basically, this movie felt like they were taking cues from The Dark Knight, but not completely.  This is still Tony Stark, not Bruce Wayne.  The filmmakers don't ignore what makes Tony Stark's story so compelling and why he is such a popular character - he a brash and cocky guy, but he still has his share of vulnerability and he deals with it in the most unorthodox ways.  The movie even touches on that at the end - the Iron Man suit has become a cocoon for Tony to wrap himself in and shut himself off from the world, even to the point that he builds the suits during his prolonged bouts of insomnia.  Now, he did that even before he became Iron Man - he wrapped himself up in the "live fast and free" lifestyle that we saw at the beginning of the first Iron Man and that we see here at the start of this movie (just to remind us how far Tony's come).  For most of his life, Tony has pretty much been a jerk to other people.  But even through all that, there's always been this little spark of goodness that started building the day Tony escaped from being held hostage in Afghanistan.  That's what Iron Man was about - a real pain-in-the-ass guy who learned to be somebody that could actually be a hero.  While he never loses his swagger or his bravado (for better or worse) - but he's living for something beyond himself.  And that is a beautiful thing to watch.

I've never kept it secret that of all the Marvel superheroes, Tony Stark is my absolute favorite.  It could be so easy to write him off as this self-centered, pompous jerk - but you never feel like that's his whole story.  And the reason for that is that his friends are still there for him, though they don't lie down and take Tony's crap the way a lot of other people do.  Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, even JARVIS (even though he's a programmed entity - but he still gets his digs in) - you can't be a total waste if you've got people of that caliber behind you.  And I think that's the story of the first two movies (plus The Avengers).

So, Iron Man 3 is what you get when you take Tony away from everything that's supported him throughout his life (especially since becoming Iron Man) and make him do everything on his own with very little outside help.  Now, Tony doesn't trust anyone beyond himself and a few close friends.  Which is why taking him to Rose Hill, Tennessee in search of Extremis was a brilliant move on the screenwriters' part.  As tough as Tony acts and talks, he is almost worthless without outside help.  Especially in this movie, where he's dealing with the PTSD and frequent panic attacks (those scenes where Tony just about loses it - those were hard for me to watch, but they added so much to the story).

I guess the main thing I took away from Iron Man 3 is how vulnerable Tony Stark really is.  And he shows that vulnerability by locking himself away from everyone he cares about (even Pepper - though he does tell her that she's the only reason he's been able to keep it together since New York) and building more Iron Man suits.  What I thought had been a massive spoiler in the trailer turned out to be a "Holy crap - this is... wow!" moment.  Because Tony has been working on all these suits and all these different modifications (like the fact the suits can move on their own without having someone inside them), just to keep the bad memories at bay.  And none of that is working for him.  Even when one of the suits threatens Pepper, Tony just breaks down the pieces, but he doesn't get rid of it.  Contrast that with the end of the movie when Pepper's become one of the Extremis soldiers and that same Mark 42 suit targets her, Tony has JARVIS blow up that suit (and he subsequently destroys the rest of the suits - meaning that he doesn't need them anymore.  He doesn't need to work on all that stuff just to keep his sanity together).  The final scenes of the movie show that between his house in Malibu being attacked and the battle on the oil rigs in Florida, Tony's figured out that he doesn't have to hide from his weaknesses anymore.  He can still be Mr. I'm-So-Freaking-Awesome-and-Badass, but also recognize that he needs help from other people just as much as they need him.

I came to these conclusions after discussing the ending with my roommate - the ending where Tony has surgery to remove the shrapnel from his chest, thus rendering his trademark electromagnet completely unnecessary.  While I did a bit of a double-take at that at first, it makes a lot of sense the more I think about it.  And this is going to sound odd, but go with me here on this - the shrapnel was almost a lame excuse for Tony to stay "special."  What I mean by that is that Tony thought he's only worth something if there's some external force making him remarkable - his company, his money, his inventions, his fast-living lifestyle.  But the arc reactor and Iron Man slowly replaced that - and his experiences made him reassess what was really important (the events of Iron Man 3 - like coming thisclose to losing Pepper and everything else around that - probably moved him further to that end).  I mean, he still has this need to tinker and fix things (because that's what he does - he even signs his note to Harley as "The Mechanic") so Iron Man isn't completely gone - it just isn't going to take over Tony's life.  Besides - he can still be a superhero.  But it's going to be in a much different place in his life and it won't be so connected to him as it was when he had this glowing metal thing installed in his body.

Wow. I've spent most of this review navel-gazing and I really haven't talked much about the rest of the movie.  I did NOT see the Mandarin twist coming.  I thought the trailer had spoiled all the cool stuff - like multiple Iron Man suits and Pepper getting a suit (which, I thought that was awesome when Tony saved Pepper by diverting the suit to get her out of harm's way).  But to turn the Mandarin into this complete and total joke - and then reveal who the real Mandarin was… holy crap on a cracker, that took some balls in the screenplay department!  That was either going to be totally awesome or totally shit.  And it went the former route (thank goodness).  It was brilliant turning it into the loser who is almost in direct competition to Stark Industries (remember Justin Hammer?  Yeah, he was a dork), but it turns out that said loser is really kicking everyone's ass seven ways to Sunday.

Other things I liked -
 - Happy Hogan is a "Downton Abbey" fan.
 - The giant bunny. Tacky, yes. Endearing and really funny? Of course!
 - The whole movie takes place around Christmas and was released in May.
 - Pepper: "That was really violent!" (I think in the comics, she gets a suit and becomes Rescue. Which, I would not be opposed to that happening in the movies).
 - Harley! I mean, I never envisioned Tony Stark getting along with a kid without there being major character issues, but those interactions were gold.
- The Barrel of Monkeys skydiving scene - and then it turns out Tony wasn't in the suit at all (but I did scream when that semi busted up the Iron Man suit - and then all of a sudden, Tony's talking again.  Like it's no big deal).  I mean - jeez - way to scare the crap out of me!
- I talked a lot about how dark this story is - but there was TONS of humor in the dark moments too.  I don't know how many times I burst out laughing right in the midst of something so grim and dark and serious.  I thought the movie struck a perfect balance between both extremes and I appreciated that a lot.
- Post-credit sequence - turns out this whole movie has been Tony laying on Dr. Bruce Banner's couch and telling him the story.  After enjoying Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers, I was thrilled to see him back in even this small capacity.  Bruce and Tony need more screen time together.  They're just awesome.

All that being said - I liked the changes and the newness of this movie.  At the same time, I'm a little worried that we've seen the last of Tony Stark (at least, the Tony Stark we've come to know and love).  There are rumors that Robert Downey, Jr. is wanting to call it quits, which I can see why and I would almost be okay with… but at the same time, I'm not ready to say goodbye to Iron Man.  I mean, I love all the Avengers and the Marvel characters, but for some reason I cannot get enough of Iron Man.  He is hands-down my absolute favorite and I love the way RDJ plays him and I'm not ready for it to be over (at least, not without more warning than a credit sequence showcasing all three Iron Man movies).  I guess I can get over it and enjoy the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe - but it's not the same (I don't do well with change, guys.  I just don't).

(Dear Disney/Marvel - If Robert Downey Jr. asks for more money - give it to him! Don't care how much it is - it's worth it!!)

The Verdict Is (FINALLY!) In

I had to see it twice, but I finally have thoughts to share on The Avengers.  Spoilers below the decidedly NOT spoilery (but very funny) video.

 

I have a fun little story to tell.  Actually no, it's not that fun. But it explains a great deal.

The one movie theater that I love going to is the Jordan Landing Cinemark.  This place is a pretty spiffy theater while still being fairly reasonbly priced - the seats are roomy, the staff are friendly and they make their snack bar hot dogs out of unicorn tears.  No, really - they are that good (it's the one time I can justify paying $4 for movie theater food).  This theater is also attracts - shall we say - more higher-class clientele.  I have never had a bad experience going to a movie at Jordan Landing.

Until last Monday night and The Avengers.

I've talked about this before - In the lead-up to this movie, I was as excited as anybody (excepting, perhaps, the people who grew up reading Marvel comics. But that’s a whole ‘nother ballpark).  I have thoroughly enjoyed the Marvel superhero movies and I’ve loved all the continuity that’s gone into these stories. But most of all, I love the characters and seeing where these superheroes come from.  It's a real treat for me, as someone who isn't steeped in Marvel Comics lore, to have a glimpse into these stories and feel like I can be welcomed into the universe and know what's going on without the burden of having to know the source material inside-and-out (which I would love to do, but there's a crapton to read through - never mind having to get it all in the right order).

Sadly, I was delayed in seeing The Avengers, but I had a good reason.  My aunt passed away last week and her funeral was on Saturday in Nevada.  I spent Friday traveling, Saturday at the funeral and with family and coming back home, Sunday passed out on the couch in a pile of travel-worn goo with no desire to go anywhere or do anything.  But I figured I could go see it Monday night after I got off work at 9:00 at night - hopefully the audience would be small and I could enjoy my experience.

Well, turns out the late Monday night showing was a horrible idea.  In short, this is what I had to endure:


- The idiot teenagers who had probably sneaked out of the house so they could canoodle with their boy- or girl-toys in the back of a darkened theater while alternately snickering “OMG his boots r sooo gay!” (meaning Captain America in the dressed-down version of his uniform). Oh, and they kept laughing even after the jokes were over and done with.  Do you know how maddening it is when you are trying to watch an incredibly intense battle sequence and you've got the cast of Degrassi behind you giggling over Odin-knows-what?

   - The married fanboys who finally convinced their extremely skeptical wives to go see it with them. The wives then start clucking to each other about some goofy housewifey thing and how ridiculous their hubbies are being but said hubbies wouldn't give them a moment's peace until they counted this as date night... ALL DURING THE FRIGGING MOVIE!! *headdesk*

   - This one doesn’t bug me as much because at least this audience member is interested in the movie. Still irritating, though. But there was also that one kid who was sugared-up on candy and Coke and keeps asking “Why’d Loki stab that one guy?” “How did [insert character] do that one thing?” “I wanna fly!” Love your enthusiasm, kid, but can you wait until you get to the parking lot?


So, when I walked out of the theater, I was not happy about the movie.  I was too distracted by my very rude and annoying fellow movie-goers and I didn't get the experience that other people got when they tweeted how wonderful this movie was.  And I was extremely annoyed by this because I honestly wanted to love this movie.  In fact, last night I came home and wrote up a whole big thing about how I was so disappointed in the movie and how could they screw it up and what is everyone else thinking and I'm so pissed about this... but then I thought that maybe a second viewing would help.  I then decided to go again after work today and see if I liked it better a second time.

(Don't worry - I did end up liking this movie.  Quite a bit, actually.  I later went back during a matinee to see it again and ended up in a much more amenable audience and figured out that was most of my problem the night before).

At first, I blamed it on the fact that I am not familiar with director Joss Whedon at all.  At the risk of having my geek-cred called into question, I have to confess that I have never been on the Whedon bandwagon.  It’s not a matter of me not liking his stuff; it’s a matter of me never actually watching anything of his.  The most I know about Whedon is that he created Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and a great swath of the sci-fi/fantasy fandom thinks he’s God (I am not being critical here, mind you. I'm just saying that I don't have enough experience with Whedon to make that assessment for myself).

One thing I learned here is that Whedon has a very distinct method of storytelling and it's something I had to be prepared for and I wasn't.  He's like Neil Gaiman in that regard - if I hadn't read at least some of Gaiman's work before seeing "The Doctor's Wife," I would not have know what was going on in that story and I probably would have been similarly disappointed.  However, once I understood how Whedon does things, I was totally on board.  One thing I had difficulty with was the humor - more specifically, the timing of the jokes.  Like Agent Coulson quipping "So that's how it works" after he shoots Loki with the Big Ass Gun after Loki's fatally stabbed Coulson.  That was just one of many mood whiplash moments that had me going "Wait - WHAT?" during my first viewing.

But the second go-round, I was expecting the humor so I was able to better pay attention to the characters and story (helped that the audience wasn't guffawing for five minutes at every little deadpan snark).  In fact, the humor actually enhanced Tony Stark's character, which I did not think was possible.  Tony is hands-down my favorite of the Avengers because he does possess a dark sense of humor and he can pull-off snark in a very natural way.  Plus, his brand of snark actually serves a purpose - I loved the scenes with him and Bruce Banner (the Hulk) looking for the Tessaract and Tony just keeps poking the proverbial bear with the stick (all the while knowing exactly what he's doing).  That's the other thing I love about Tony Stark - he's the scientific genius who can rattle off equations and technobabble, but still keep his "Mr. Cool" billionaire persona.  Also, Tony's interactions with Steve Rogers (Captain America) are pure gold.  Tony and Steve are near-perfect foils to each other - Tony's the dark, sarcastic genius of the bunch while Steve is the All-American Boy Scout who follows orders yet still commands respect, which I love (he is the legendary First Avenger, after all).  It would have been so easy to relegate Cap to be the idealistic idiot wearing spangly Spandex, he became the leader of the Avengers almost by accident and it worked so well.

Also - I have to give mad props to Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner.  I tried watching both Hulk movies prior to seeing The Avengers - yeah, I couldn't do it.  They were both kind of long and boring and I just couldn't care.  I'm going to try to Edward Norton movie again, but really, I don't think I need to.  I think I know enough of the Hulk's backstory and his personality just from watching The Avengers.  Really, this movie did for the Hulk as a member of a team what two whole movies of the Hulk as a solo-act did not do.  That either speaks volumes in favor of Ruffalo and Whedon or it speaks to the incompetence of the guys in the other movies (personally, I like to keep things positive, so I'm going with the first one).

Chris Hemsworth is an awesome Thor and Tom Hiddleston is a fantastic Loki.  I am such a fantasy geek - you tell me something's magic and I will buy it (as long as there are set rules and you stick to them).  Everything for me doesn't have to be totally grounded in hard-core, proven science (or even plausible science fiction).  My opinion from when I saw Thor has not changed - the concept of Asgard and the demigods is such a treat.  I get that Thor is a very different hero from any of the others and it takes a certain kind of writer to bring that to bear in this ensemble cast and this is another area where Whedon gets it right.  I love that Thor and Loki are given opportunities to explore their family relationship - Thor gives Loki a chance to quit his Earth-domination crap and come home.  Thor also feels a responsibility to the Earth and wants to stop Loki from causing problems.  But Loki's been slighted and he's going to cause as much havoc and mayhem and he's going to have fun doing it (Hiddleston's performance when he's yanking everyone's chain while being held prisoner on the SHIELD aircraft carrier is wonderful.  He's another one who does the deadpan snarker very well).

I want to touch briefly on Black Widow and Hawkeye - I want their origin stories.  I don't know if those movies are in the works (or maybe just one for the both of them, since it's made evident that their paths cross early-on), but that is something I dearly want.  Maybe it's a tad unnecessary at this point, but I don't care - I WANTS IT, PRECIOUSSSS!!  They are both fantastic characters - either apart or together and I want to see more of that.

(Oh, and every single time someone said “Tessaract,” I kept thinking of the Tessalecta from Doctor Who. Which is completely different).

This is getting insanely long, but here are some of my favorite moments that deserve special mention (there were so many good ones that it was hard to keep this a reasonable length):

- The Hulk beating the ever-loving snot out of Loki.  Especially after Loki started in on his "I'm a god and you will bow to me you stupid human-thing" speech.
- The old man in Germany standing up to Loki when everyone else has bowed down.
- Iron Man patching "Shoot to Thrill" by AC/DC into Black Widow's jet's PA system.
- Loki in a suit. I know he's the bad guy and all but... damn...
- Agent Coulson explaining to Thor that he got Jane Foster somewhere far away from all the bad stuff happening and Thor being appreciative about it (okay, my little sappy female heart got a little mushy there)
- Anything Agent Coulson does or says (his total fanboying over Captain America was really sweet)
- Nick Fury telling the shadowy SHIELD board of committee director-leader-people that their idea to nuke Manhattan is a "stupid-ass decision."
- And I'm sure I forgot a few, but I'm sure someone else will point them out.

Anyway, Whedon did a pretty good job with this movie (though to be perfectly honest, I would have seen this no matter who the director was - but Whedon was an excellent choice).  The cast was great and the story was put together well and I don't know what else to say about it other than I want another one.  Like, right now. Because that was way too much awesome to be confined to one movie.  There must be more. MOAR, I say!

PS - I still would recommend seeing a movie at Jordan Landing if you're ever in town.  It's not their fault a bunch of ninnies all went and saw the same movie on the same night and ruined my initial experience. But if I find out who those kids were, I would not be opposed to toilet-papering their houses.