Phase II Begins: Iron Man 3

The latest, and possibly final, installment of the Iron Man films is a mixed success.  On one hand, it's high action with new themes, and Stark's loveable snark is turned all the way up to 11.  Sadly, the film is overcrowded with undeveloped elements and nonsensical plot developments.  For most, it may be an improvement on Iron Man 2 since it's a true hero's struggle  from start to finish and the lessons learned are much stronger, but that doesn't excuse an unfocused story, a mish-mashed villain, and frankly, a significant disservice to the source material.

NOTE: This is a review of IM3 as a film in itself and what it bodes for the future of Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Some Spoilers ahead.

One of the film's strongest components is Stark's recovery from the events of The Avengers.  None of the other Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are present to dilute his story; it's all him.  His recovery ties into his relationship with technology.  For the Phase I films, he used his armor as a weapon and shield to protect both himself and others, but the battle against the Chitauri proved it wasn't a survival guarantee.  He put a foot in death's door to win the day and the experience did not inoculate to the fear of death.  It only compelled him to overcompensate by compulsively building new and different Iron Man suits.  The possibility of his body failing increased his dependence on technology.  I'd also like to think that the decision to use his yellow armor was deliberate choice since yellow is a color associated with cowardice in certain American vernaclular.  In the Mark 42 suit, Stark appears mighty and fearsome to cover his anxiety and fear. 

"I am Iron Man."

Inversely, his antagonists' powers have biological roots.  Super soldiers on a drug that allow them to rapidly heal themselves and superheat their skin.  The results are certainly over-the-top, but I did appreciate their being a counterpoint to the Iron Man armor rather than an augmentation as we'd seen previously.  It's also noteworthy that there's an addiction component to their powers.  A fatal overdose causes them to explode.  Despite being opposites in nature, both Stark and his opponents are similarly dependent on the source of their powers.  Their climactic battle illustrates the defining attributes of the two.  Machines wear out and have to be replaced.  Living beings are enduring because they can heal and recover, but once their killed, they're gone forever.  Stark's defeat of the villain by scrapping his armor is effective because it illustrates a shedding of his machine dependence for a trust in his own mortality.  He casts off his fear of frailty and dependence on the suit in a single climactic moment.  Unfortunately, it's completely ruined by the villain's respawn and then Pepper saving the day in some forced quasi-feminist statement.  Call me old fashioned, but the love interest can be as helpful as they want as long as the actual hero, or heroine, gets to save the day. 

"Drone better."

Pepper's upstaging is not the least of the film's sins.  There are several characters and plot developments that appear randomly or just don't belong.  Maya Hansen, the secondary female character played by Rebecca Hall, has a far more negligible contribution to the plot than Johansson's Agent Romanoff did in IM2.   There's also a child character who, while amusing, does very little than pad out the film.  There's also an unnecessary action sequence and a flimsy mystery arc that take the film nowhere.  I blame many of these flaws on the confused nature of the villain.  Aldrich Killian, played by Guy Pierce, shifts from a corrupt businessman to a psycho super human to an all out political terrorist.  The latter of which is completely unmotivated from the first two acts of the film.  The Mandarin, who starts as a nice fusion of the original character and a Bin Laden contemporary, turns into a missed opportunity with a disappointing payoff.  It's even more unfortunate given the great performance by Sir Ben Kingsley.  It seems someone didn't get the memo that he was supposed to be Iron Man's nemesis. 

"Some consider me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher."

The end of the film suggests the character is on the cusp of a major change, possibly a recasting.  All the trademarks built up over the previous films, such as his house, suits, and heart magnet, are removed, leaving a clean slate for the character after Avengers 2. Overall, it feels like an ending to a period in Tony Stark's life rather than the beginning of a new act.  Unlike the Phase I films, there are no hints on what's coming next.  It's all about Stark, and while his personal payoffs are good enough, it's a rather tough road getting there. 

Rating: C
The many things that work really well are cancelled out by whole lot of pointless padding.


Marvel's Cinematic Universe is at a crossroads.  The producers and executives have cleared the first major hurdle of establishing a series of interconnected films into a viable film venture.  Now, what will they do with that kind of establishment?  The potential is there to create a well crafted saga for the Avengers while the minor heroes support it peripherally.  Many reports suggest there is a plan regarding the Avengers that will play out into a full story.  On the other hand, the various projects coming through development suggest that Marvel intends to inflate their universe and hurl it as far as it will go.  In effect, translate their comic universe to the screen.

Phase I of the series is a solid introductory volume that establishes characters, stakes, relationships, and villains.  It's effective as a first act of the series.  I'm hopeful that the series will play out into a three act structure.  This is a formula that's very common in Hollywood, and the reason why so many series cap out as a trilogy.  The first act is introduction and establishes the conflict. The second is the main conflict, with the protagonist(s) at a very high point in the middle and at their lowest by the end.  The third act is the climax and falling action to close out the story.  Star Wars, The Dark Knight, and X-Men all followed this in their trilogies, but The Avengers is already a lot bigger than that. Instead of a trilogy of movies, I'm hoping for a trilogy of Phases.

Phase II is showing indications of being a second act.  Upcoming films, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, have distinctly foreboding titles.  Joss Whedon has also gone on record to say that Avengers 2 will "twist [the] knife" and be the "Empire Strikes Back" of the series.  It's too early to say what he means by this, but my money is on the death of Tony Stark since Whedon is notorious for killing characters in happy relationships and it would make for a powerful act two finale.  

There are a few projects in Marvel's lineup that suggest the plan is expansion rather than conclusion.  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a proposed TV series that would center around the fallout from The Avengers.  It's also expected to resurrect Agent Coulson.  If Coulson were to return to the films as well, the two would be fully interdependent to make sense, which would weaken the viability of the a tight story arc in the films.  Guardians of the Galaxy is also an odd variable.  It's still in pre-production, but the story is a space based adventure involving humans in an alien environment.  Frankly, I'm a little worried about it given the disastrous Green Lantern.

It seems to be agreed upon that each Avengers film concludes a Phase or volume.  Avengers 3 will therefore be the deciding factor of a continual or conclusive story for the superhero team.  This is a long way off and the only project slated for Phase III is the Ant Man film.  Whether he's brought in as a late addition to the Avengers or a stand alone hero is unclear.  Whedon recently gave a statement of his desire for an Avengers finale that would involve Thanos as a big bad behind various series conflicts.

Remember him?

I trust Joss Whedon to create and develop a great narrative with a decent finale.  I don't trust Marvel and Disney to let him.  Marvel is clearly trying to get several comic titles on the screen while the iron is hot and doing so may involve expanding and extending the universe as needed.  Disney is enjoying its bottom line and won't let a gift horse stop running until it dies, despite any natural stopping points.  They'll just keep following Stan Lee's lead: 

"Excelsior."