AIMing low: Iron Man 3

I saw Iron Man 3, the first movie in the series not directed by Jon Favreau and the first post-Avengers Marvel Studios movie.  I’m going to try not to give away too many spoilers, but there are a few glaring problems with the film, both stand-alone and in the greater collective of the Marvel movies.

First, let me get this out of the way.  While the comic nerd in me rankled at it a bit, I think that the way in which they handled the Mandarin was well-done.  It was really one of the only ways to deal with a character who is so entrenched in Iron Man lore, yet is a racist relic of ‘60s Cold War anti-communist paranoia (not to mention a rip-off of Shiwan Khan from the Shadow pulps).  I also like that AIM has finally made an appearance in the Marvel Movie-verse (NOT a spoiler; it’s mentioned in the first few moments of the movie).  Oh, and I get a kick out of the fact that William Sadler (the bad guy from Die Hard 2; Death from Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey) plays the president.

Okay, having said that, let’s move onto the problems.

As I mentioned in my observations on The Avengers, Jim Rhodes is in possession of the War Machine armour, except now it’s been re-branded as the Iron Patriot and it’s revealed that AIM was contracted by the government to make modifications to the armour for Rhodes’ sake.  Wait, what?  Tony Stark is in good standing with SHIELD, is continually making modifications and upgrades to his armour, and is available after the end of The Avengers.  Why not simply get the guy who made the armour in the first place to make the modifications, especially since the government should have learned that lesson after Iron Man 2.

Speaking of Iron Man 2, the ending of Iron Man 3 raises some disquieting questions about the whole nature of Iron Man, as a character and concept.  So, Tony activates all of his Iron Man suits to assist him in the climactic battle of the movie (again, not a spoiler: it’s been in every trailer since the first one).  These suits are guided, ostensibly, by Jarvis, meaning that they are empty and controlled by AI.  There are two things to ask here.  First, if this sort of thing is possible, why does Tony ever even need to be in the armour, let alone in the field?  Wouldn’t it be safer for everyone involved if Iron Man were just remotely controlled?  Secondly, doesn’t that plan seem a little… familiar?  Basically, Tony Stark’s plan has all the hallmarks of Whiplash’s incredibly destructive attempt at revenge in Iron Man 2, (presumably) minus the corporate villainy of Justin Hammer.  Yet, we as the audience are still expected to cheer for Stark because, well, who else are we going to cheer for in the movie?

On top of all of that, it’s clear that the movie was made by the writer of Lethal Weapon.  By the end, the names could be changed to Iron Riggs and War Murtaugh.  I’m not going to say any more on that, because spoilers.  Oh, except, for this.  Hey, Rhodes?  Why would you give a civilian with no training and no un-Iron Manned combat experience a loaded weapon and ask him to act as back-up, rather than calling in fully trained military personnel?  Just curious.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the movie, however, isn’t merely an internal one.  The entire movie finds itself standing in the shadow of The Avengers.  There were several points in the film where I found myself wondering why Tony doesn’t just contact available Avengers teammates for help, or why his teammates (or the government, for that matter) don’t come to his aid considering some of the major attacks which occur in the film.  There’s no reason that they shouldn’t, and the post-credit sequence shows that at least one of them was available.  However, it isn’t an Avengers movie, it’s an Iron Man movie, and that seems to be the main reason for leaving Stark to fend for himself.  This logic seems spurious, however, considering there was absolutely no effort made to explain why Stark wasn’t getting super-powered help, yet the film continuously makes reference to the New York battle at the end of The Avengers.  As Fury said at the end of the first Iron Man, Stark’s ‘part of a bigger world now’, and yet none of the Avengers can be arsed to even check in on Tony after several attempts on his life.

Speaking of Fury, and by extension, SHIELD, where did they disappear to?  Rhodes points out that no government agency is able to track the Mandarin, but surely this inability doesn’t extend to the organization which was able to keep tabs on Bruce Banner at his most inconspicuous, right?  Wait, what’s that?  SHIELD isn’t even mentioned?  Ummm… Why?  Aren’t they an integral part of tying the movies together?  Just because Coulsen is dead doesn’t mean that SHIELD doesn’t have any other agents.  Once again, however, this is supposed to be Tony’s movie (and, I guess, Rhodes’.  He really only winds up playing sidekick, though, an issue I had also touched on in my discussion on The Avengers).

In the end, I had the same feeling walking out of Iron Man 3 as I did walking out of Spider-Man 3.  I’ll leave you to interpret whether that’s a good thing or not.