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So I don't know if anyone wants to hear MY thoughts on Iron Man 3 (or is it Iron Man 4, no really) but surely if you've seen it we can geek out in the comments together?
My completely spoiler free impression:
Totally worth the $3 convenience fee extra I paid to have my tickets online for Friday, opening weekend.
My more intelligent commentary can't really keep out general references to things that might possibly spoil something, so if you're being a purist,
The thing I so, so love about the Iron Man movies as superhero movies is that they interact with the political environment we have and know in an intelligent way. Terrorism is not mined for explosions and plot points, but an organic part of a psychological makeup of the world. It makes Tony's vigilante ways make sense.
And this movie really came back down close to what the first one did with using the character's own fear of these things we fear (violence with political intent) to make the hero's problems gripping.
It's not that aliens are invading. Instead it's that we don't know what the aliens want, they will not be reasoned with, and we are outmaneuvered. i.e., Avengers.
Which, I thought was insulting to call Iron Man 3 at first. But after watching this, it's kind of awesome how they've worked it out to go from one arc into another with the baggage of the first in this one character's life coming to the fore. And I think it's a matter of matching tonally. Thor and Captain America were both less sarcastic, more spandex. Which is why I'm not particularly enthused for the next ones coming out. ...I'll see them eventually.
The reason Tony Stark is way more interesting to stick with through a movie, for me, is that he's generally awesome in every day life. Instead of it being some reversal of a common citizen levelling it up and getting badass to meet the challenge, or being recreated into a new superhuman--it's his vulnerabilities that make the stories happen.
He's an arrogant bastard, and everyone kind of wishes he was dead except Pepper--voila, part 1. He's an arrogant bastard doing good and therefore his old enemies are even madder about him and his old allies aren't too thrilled, either--voila, part 2.
Part 3? He's an arrogant bastard whose finally aware he's a human being, so he has 1) death to fear 2) loss to fear and 3) not always the greatest decisions about where his technical wizardry should lead him.
It is incredibly fun to watch someone who's so together have to deal with malfunctioning technology, as I think really needed to happen at some point in this franchise. It was also terribly fun to have him come up against the exact kind of person who cannot be manipulated the way Tony is used to manipulating people, and it's a "taste some of your own" deal, and he knows it.
Lastly, I've been trying not to think about it, but writing up this review (of sorts) I can't really push it away. I'm pretty sure the tone of the film is meant as a farewell from RDJ to doing Iron Man movies. Will he be back in the next Avengers, etc.? Probably. But this was kind of wrapped up in a way that's hard to repackage to not look that way. And that makes me incredibly melancholy, though I think an artist having respect for their own limits, and their own wishes, is really great.
My completely spoiler free impression:
Totally worth the $3 convenience fee extra I paid to have my tickets online for Friday, opening weekend.
My more intelligent commentary can't really keep out general references to things that might possibly spoil something, so if you're being a purist,
The thing I so, so love about the Iron Man movies as superhero movies is that they interact with the political environment we have and know in an intelligent way. Terrorism is not mined for explosions and plot points, but an organic part of a psychological makeup of the world. It makes Tony's vigilante ways make sense.
And this movie really came back down close to what the first one did with using the character's own fear of these things we fear (violence with political intent) to make the hero's problems gripping.
It's not that aliens are invading. Instead it's that we don't know what the aliens want, they will not be reasoned with, and we are outmaneuvered. i.e., Avengers.
Which, I thought was insulting to call Iron Man 3 at first. But after watching this, it's kind of awesome how they've worked it out to go from one arc into another with the baggage of the first in this one character's life coming to the fore. And I think it's a matter of matching tonally. Thor and Captain America were both less sarcastic, more spandex. Which is why I'm not particularly enthused for the next ones coming out. ...I'll see them eventually.
The reason Tony Stark is way more interesting to stick with through a movie, for me, is that he's generally awesome in every day life. Instead of it being some reversal of a common citizen levelling it up and getting badass to meet the challenge, or being recreated into a new superhuman--it's his vulnerabilities that make the stories happen.
He's an arrogant bastard, and everyone kind of wishes he was dead except Pepper--voila, part 1. He's an arrogant bastard doing good and therefore his old enemies are even madder about him and his old allies aren't too thrilled, either--voila, part 2.
Part 3? He's an arrogant bastard whose finally aware he's a human being, so he has 1) death to fear 2) loss to fear and 3) not always the greatest decisions about where his technical wizardry should lead him.
It is incredibly fun to watch someone who's so together have to deal with malfunctioning technology, as I think really needed to happen at some point in this franchise. It was also terribly fun to have him come up against the exact kind of person who cannot be manipulated the way Tony is used to manipulating people, and it's a "taste some of your own" deal, and he knows it.
Lastly, I've been trying not to think about it, but writing up this review (of sorts) I can't really push it away. I'm pretty sure the tone of the film is meant as a farewell from RDJ to doing Iron Man movies. Will he be back in the next Avengers, etc.? Probably. But this was kind of wrapped up in a way that's hard to repackage to not look that way. And that makes me incredibly melancholy, though I think an artist having respect for their own limits, and their own wishes, is really great.
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Date: 2013-05-11 09:51 pm (UTC)From:I have to imagine that they needed to see how 3 did. And also, with the glut of other sequels coming out probably were a bit unsure of reception of any one of them.
I would like to start a campaign for a Bruce&Tony show!