We begin PHASE 2 with Iron Man 3 (2013). I’ll begin with some honesty. The Iron Man trilogy is not my favorite. I think they are, for the most part, excellent, however, they struggle with balancing Tony’s arc towards selflessness with his most interesting trait being his cocky attitude. How can Tony grow-up without becoming a nauseating moralist? I think this film does the best job balancing that struggle by allowing Tony to admit that he struggles with it himself. How others view him is important to him. After the event in New York, he’s afraid and begins to become obsessed with his work. He, once again, makes a decision that gets those around him in trouble. Tony’s arc, in the end, is one of seeking balance. All his foibles and all his heroism belong to him, but how can he manage to create a positive outcome without losing what's important to him?
So, my first thought about this one is that the Mandarin is disappointing. I understand why they didn’t do a comic book accurate Mandarin. Everyone does. It does seem, however, that they could have found a clever way to respawn the character in the world of the MCU. Instead, they use the character as a red-herring plot twist to hide the real villain, Aldrich Killian. The villain is interesting because it is the first time the MCU uses a villain that has a different type of power or ability than the hero. They had to find a way to up the ante as the follow-up to The Avengers. Tony couldn’t fight another terrorist with a suit. This time, he fought a terrorist with superhuman, heat-creating, regenerative abilities. This difference in abilities makes for creative fight scenes. Director Shane Black comes in with the house-party protocol fight scene and it does not disappoint. The villain's motives are at best childish. He decides to take over the world because Tony Stark snubbed him at a party. Don't get me wrong, Tony should be nicer to people, but blaming him for this guy becoming a war profiteer may not be fair. Perhaps, Stark Industries put the idea in his head. Who knows? The film puts more emphasis on the "childhood bully revenge story."
I like the addition of Harley. It is too bad they haven’t found a way to work him into more projects. That type of character has been replaced by Peter Parker. Don’t get me wrong, the new Spiderman movies are incredible, but I think Ty Simpkins performance was one of the highlights of Iron Man 3. It is a good antithesis to how he used to treat people. This kid helps him in more ways than one and Tony is grateful for it. It also plants the seed for the idea of Tony having children.
Quick Hits
Where are the other Avengers? Where is SHIELD? The other Phase 2 movies offer excuses, but this one doesn’t really.
Even with the serious material, such as PTSD, the film is still very funny.
Everyone is on about THE AVENGERS!
The Stan Lee cameo is as a judge in the beauty pageant in Chattanooga.
The VICE PRESIDENT IS EVIL BECAUSE HE HAS A WHEELCHAIR BOUND, DAUGHTER! WHAT!?!
The Home Alone style sequence is so much fun to watch.
He’s the Mechanic.
This film marks the end of Tony fighting the villains his father created and the beginning of fighting villains he created. Whether or not either Howard or Tony are directly responsible for this myriad of characters is beside the point. The “hero” character takes responsibility for the chaos whether or not the chaos is their fault. Tony is such a large and looming figure in the world of the MCU that actions that are meaningless when enacted by an everyday person become world-changing when enacted by him. That is a lot of responsibility to put on a guy. So, the fact that he goes on to create Ultron seems a legitimate response to the pressure.
Tony, without the suit, is still a hero. Tony needed to prove this to himself. His arc is awesome and feels complete. They blow that up in Ultron to keep him around. He takes several steps backward as a character, but growth isn’t linear. He is Iron Man.
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