Iron Mannerisms: Flight of the Fe Nitwit
I’m working thru SGU again so I’ll get to that one.
Yesterday was Iron Man day. The first one still holds up really well, considering everything it introduces. The third on the other hand is among Marvel’s worst.
I have fond memories of IM, we opened Glendale with that title. Buildup started at noon, screening started as soon as we had film ready. By midnight, every print was done except the one saved for me. I kicked everyone out for the night, shut the place down, ordered a replacement reel, then fired up my own screening around 2 in the morning. That opening day wound up being a 21-hr shift, and for that opening it was worth it.
The second opened while I was at Sherman Oaks. We had staff that did announcements before each show; greetings and promos and such. But whenever there was a big opening, I liked to be the one to make the announcement. I remember standing in front of 300 fans for our first midnight showing, and cracking a joke (“and starring Don Cheadle as Terrence Howard”) that got a laugh! So my brief standup career was glorious, and I retired at my peak.
It wasn’t until yesterday though that I realized they cut Howard from the first film, too. The second opens with a repeat of the press conference that ended the first. At one point in the sequence, Rhodey leans right into Stark’s ear; in the second’s opening Stark is at the podium alone.
2 isn’t so bad, despite the party sequence and its unfortunate associations with Raimi’s My Chemical Spider-man.
By IM3 I was at Winnetka. That building was a problem child, so we didn’t have the space to be too into the movies. We were too preoccupied with turning around years of shitty management. It’s just as well, IM3 isn’t much to get invested in. The villain is a sideshow, there’s a happy ending that isn’t, and Pepper is indestructible now?
_____THEN WHY DIDN’T SHE SNAP THANOS AWAY?
Beyond that, if Pepper’s not blowing up, then Stark was able to get Extremis sorted out, right? Stark ends the film removing the lightbulb, so I always figured he got the Extremis treatment as well…
_____SO THEN WHY DOES THE SNAP KILL HIM?
Makes no sense.
This what I was saying- the solo movies enliven the characters, the team-ups kill them. At the end of IM1, Stark is reborn as Iron Man. IM2 ends with him getting a new power source and into Pepper’s pants; IM3 ends with him becoming (metaphorically) stronger than his suits. But A1, A2, A3, and A4 just beat the shit out of him.
By far however, IM3 is his worst outing. Shane Black completely wastes the Mandarin just like Chris Nolan did to Two-Face. And what was that ending? All those suits exploding, like Stark has graduated to something more profound. But when he next shows up in Ultron, Stark is clearly still depending on mechanical prosthetics. It’s like taking away Thor’s eye just to give him another one. Give the man a chance to rock the patch, you know?
That said however, the mechanical suits are cooler than the nanotech bubble. It’s similar to a Batman/Superman difference- the suits are planning, ingenuity, industry. The nano is any easy save. The working behind it has to be some real Robotechnology though, those sequences move too fast to be entirely coordinated between Stark and his AI.
Also Tony may have died but Happy got old pretty damn fast. Really settled into the corporate life, I suppose. Landing Marissa Tomei is a nice consolation though.
About The Author
davetwsprocket
Dave didn't get the memo until, like, just now. He is capable with arranging words, but only just getting started at getting those words to actually do anything. He is motivated by a disrespect for authority, and towards finally doing what's right. He's good with people, but that's a learned skill- his natural inclination is to be far, far away. He's a Leo.