*IRONMAN 3 SPOILER* What did you think about the movie twist and use of character plot in IronMan3?

[Blackfire001]

I'll say AGAIN
We are about to discuss a fun tidbit of information that if you haven't seen the movie can and possible WILL kill the first act for you.

So for those who saw the movie lets look at two very big things for marvel.

Advance Idea Mechanics (AIM) Resurrectors of MODOK (Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing)

And the fact that (SPOILER!)
The mandarin isn't a villian. Yea... this took me very much by surprise. In fact I was almost angry at first then I paused, took a breath, then said to myself "Lets see where they take this."

No Magical Alien tech. No ten rings to rule them all. Just straight plot device and a fun one at that.

So my questions to you.

Do you think the plot device worked?
Did you love it, hate it, or chafe the fence on it?
Are you a comic purist or are you happy to see the Movies take some levels of poetic licence with the content to make good films?

 

[EeveeElectro]

It was... interesting. I was confused as hell. The Mandarin is a villain in his own right? Who is this Trevor guy?! Does comic book Mandarin not exist in the movie universe? I haven't read any Iron Man comics although I am planning to, but I was baffled. Killich (?) is a different character but he said he was the Mandarin? :s

My mind nearly popped but I suppose it was clever. Killich was never mentioned in any trailer or promo poster as far as I know so that was a very good twist. I can imagine the hardcore comic book fans are in FULL RAGE MODE. As long as it doesn't completely poop over the Iron Man story, I don't mind if they tweak things.

Also I LOVE Ben Kingsley! ♥

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I thought it was a very clever and funny twist, I definitely didn't see it coming and it really showcased Ben Kingsley's acting talent. I also think it suited the world of the Iron Man movies more, superpowered beings and magic are more up Thor's alley. Though after all what Bob told us about the Mandarin, his super martial arts and 10 rings he would definitely have made for an awesome showdown with Iron Man in the end. But Guy Pearce delivered quite a deal of bad-assery in the end.

But the biggest disappointment about Iron Man 3? THE FREAKING BIG ARMOUR!!!! It seemed like it was going to be a big part of the final showdown, and it might even have been the Hulkbuster armor to be a part of Avengers 2. But no, it was only on screen for a few seconds and then forgotten entirely.

With that said, it was definitely a good movie.

 

[Terminate421]

The supposed twist I kinda saw coming. Only because Pepper was in the same room as her supposed ex. It's scenes like that that kinda hint at future conflict.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I also think it suited the world of the Iron Man movies more, superpowered beings and magic are more up Thor's alley.

But Thor and Iron Man share the same cinematic universe right now, don't they? They teamed up in The Avengers, so all the "magic" from the previous Thor movie works right into the Iron Man canon. Which I think is a bit preposterous in light of the first two Iron Man movies, which were more or less grounded. Suddenly, boom: mutants! aliens! gods! magic! portals! Would comic book Mandarin really bit that out of place in an Iron Man movie?

OP: I was surprised, and chuckled at the "big reveal". But I didn't think it was THAT clever. Just an out-of-the-blue twist that was kinda funny and lame at the same time.

 

[Mike Richards]

Considering how comic book fans usually react to these kinds of things (yes I'm being a bit unfair singling them out specifically, but it seemed the most relevant) I thought it was an incredibly brave move, and a pretty awesome bit of storytelling as well.

I never would have expected anything like that if not for the fact that one reviewer said there was a thing part way through that half of everyone will love and half of everyone will hate, and pulling some kind of switch up with the villain seemed more likely then killing off Pepper. I just didn't think they'd go that far with it.

Put me down firmly in the 'love' category, along with everything else about this movie.

 

[Nokturos]

Wasn't a fan of the twist. The actual villain of the movie was incredibly lame.

 

[takemeouttotheblack]

I'm not really a fan of the plot twist. I mean, Ben Kingsley does a great job, but I did think it was a missed opportunity to create a really interesting recurring character who might potentially work as a chessmaster-antagonist for future Iron Man/Marvel films; throughout the franchise, the same plot happens again and again; a seemingly primary antagonist from a foreign country acts as an initial antagonist before being cast aside to an extent later on in order to make way for shady US business type. While this is nice once or twice, and gets played with a bit in IM2 concerning who's really in charge, by the time IM3 came along, I was kind of hoping for a kind of overarching villain that could act in a kind of Nick Fury/Loki role in the long run.

Instead, the opportunity was missed in exchange for a plot twist that was actually kinda dull. The entire film already set itself up as a discussion of America; the three characters of Rhodes, Potts and Stark reflect different aspects of American life, and the very fact it revolves around the Presidency, Air Force One and a discussion of patriotism would have really opened up a potentially long term villain who could be a constant thorn in their sides. To name but a few topics that would have to be dealt with by Stark and co, would be the image of America abroad, the motivations of a terrorist, whether the Mandarin could be viewed as a semi-tragic figure acting out of bitterness and revenge or a highly selfish individual using the mask of religious warfare to stroke their ego, and probe for interesting results the conflict between technical superiority and religious/personal desperation and hatred that modern terrorism/freedom fighting is centred around.

In short, silly, missed opportunity which left the film in need of something different.

Also, re the comments about crossover of types of threat (Magic/technology vs more normal, political threats [Iron Man vs Thor]), I take the view that generally, it's better to keep each to their own apart from during the Avengers. Each character's appeal comes from the way they react to their own villains and their own worlds. ironically where I think IM3 got it right was not talking about gods and magic etc, while I think Avengers didn't play enough on the relationship between Thor and Loki.

 

[tunderball]

I honestly didn't know how to feel about it. Looking back at all the trailers with the Mandarin playing such a huge role it's hard not to feel as though that was the film I wanted to see.
That being said the film I saw was still awesome and I actually like the fact that it pulled a massive curve ball.

The bigger 'twist' (if you like) for me was Tony Stark giving up being Iron Man at the end, we all know that Iron Man will be back in the future. Hell it even had 'Tony Stark will return...' plastered 007 style over the credits. So I don't really see the point in making a huge deal over him blowing up his suits in a deep and meaningful way as if his character had just come full circle for him to jump back in the suit in Avengers 2.

 

[Madgamer13]

I had just watched the movie today and thankfully didn't run into this thread before I watched it. While I didn't see this particular twist coming, it wasn't all too suprising to me. I did understand the linking of terrorism to the bad guys though, which is a clear poke at the war on terror crazyness which has happened in the wake of 9/11.

Making the Mandarin an actor face for the terror organisations linked to AIM amused me to no end.

I would have loved to have seen more of the massive suit that burst through that crate however, it looked like a sweet piece of kit, it even had vauge resemblence to a Warhammer 40k Terminator armour. Amused me even further.

The ending does leave questions for me if an Iron Man 4 will come out, considering how this movie adaptation seemed to be very focused on Stark's psychological and physical problems. Now that all those problems are resolved, how is he to continue?

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I loved it, didn't see it coming and thought it took real balls to decide to run with that for their story. Also what they did with extremis was a bit different and I liked that as well, if I wanted to see the exact same comic story, I'd just read the comics.

I see people complaining about the fact he got surgery to remove the shrapnel near his heart, saying it's a "magic" fix. Medical science makes advancements every day, in their world, probably even more so. Who's to say it couldn't finally be done years after his injury.

I honestly didn't know how to feel about it. Looking back at all the trailers with the Mandarin playing such a huge role it's hard not to feel as though that was the film I wanted to see.
That being said the film I saw was still awesome and I actually like the fact that it pulled a massive curve ball.

The bigger 'twist' (if you like) for me was Tony Stark giving up being Iron Man at the end, we all know that Iron Man will be back in the future. Hell it even had 'Tony Stark will return...' plastered 007 style over the credits. So I don't really see the point in making a huge deal over him blowing up his suits in a deep and meaningful way as if his character had just come full circle for him to jump back in the suit in Avengers 2.

I don't think he gave it, it was more of fresh start with it and him promising Pepper to sort of slow down on the suit making, no need for 50 of them kind of thing, you may be right though, but as you say, he will be back.

 

[BM19]

I loved it.
The entire time I watched the Mandarin's terrorist broadcasts, something felt a little... Off to me. But the twist explained everything: Of COURSE it was off -- it wasn't genuine! Killian was BS-ing it the whole time, inciting terror to make a threat, then controlling both the threat and the government behind the scenes.
Killian was particularly impressive, though I can't tell if it's just because Guy Pearce did such a good job or if the "nerd revenge" cliche was handled just well enough overall to not seem trite.

Granted, I haven't read the comics much, so maybe those who are more invested me be a bit miffed.
But Aldrich's "speech" at the end as he came at Stark saved it for me. Just like Tony Stark is Iron Man, with or without the suit, Killian is the Mandarin -- with or without the avatar. "No more false faces."

Honestly, I'm a bit more weirded out by how easily Stark had those shrapnel shards removed. I mean, seriously? Why didn't you do that sooner?
Also, explaining how those choppers got to Stark's place without being detected would have been nice (they were posing as news choppers, Tony's "biologist" ex jammed the radars when she got there, super secret tech, SOMETHING).

Still, overall, I'd rate it almost on par with the Avengers.

 

[BM19]

The Mandarin doesn't make any sense in the film.

Why would you create a terror icon that has links to middle eastern terrorist groups but dresses in an oriental motif. It's just stupid.

And I can't say that I'm not disappointed that they didn't use him as the big antagonist for the final fight. It'd have been much more entertaining than what we got.

That bastardisation of the Extremis virus was just banal. Why can someone who burns up a little bit cut through the suits like they're made of butter? You're not telling me that those idiots were burning hotter than the plasma weapons he brushed off in the Avengers.

I mean, it looks like Tony's suits suffer from movie ninja syndrome.

The more of them there are, the easier they are to kill/destroy.

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed. The extremis virus represents a very large step in the evolution of Stark's suits. And I understand that they wanted to have more character development than technological development. But to use the extremis plotline and then ignore the only interesting thing about it. Well, it's just silly.

That's the point -- it IS stupid. Killian is the one who put it together, so of course it isn't authentic. It was just a ruse meant to stir up terror and panic, as well as give "an enemy with a face" for them to rally against. That whole supply and demand spiel. Killian was going to not only create demand, but control it.

As for the Extremis virus vs the suits, most of those suits were prototypes Tony made as a distraction. They weren't of the best material; they were just concept designs he made to keep his mind busy after New York. I do wish we got to see a bit more of the Hulkbuster, but eh -- maybe next time.
And there's always a chance that Tony and Co took that Extremis data from AIM afterwards and were able to use it for the next movie. After all, Tony's whole deal is keeping the best tech for himself -- with the megalomaniac out of the way, why not take that research and see what you can make of it? We'll see.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Killian being a bad guy was pretty obvious but I didn't see the Mandarin being an act thing coming.
I thought it worked quite well.. I'm not really sure why people would be angry about it but I haven't read the comics so I guess that's to be expected.

 

[Fappy]

As a longtime Iron Man and Mandarin fan I have got to say I actually enjoyed the twist quite a bit. I am a bit disappointed that the Mandarin won't get the representation he deserves on the silver-screen, but what we ended up getting instead was pretty damn entertaining nonetheless.

 

[VoidWanderer]

While the twist was well done... can you prove he is just an actor?

Is it not possible that when he gets let out and hides in say... China for a while he finds... something?