- Location: Gig Harbor Galaxy Theatre
- At least Iron Man 3 is to be commended for recognizing that Iron Man's arch-nemesis the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is a distasteful and utterly stupid character. From his comic book history as a walking Asian stereotype to his magical alien rings, there's nothing about this unfortunate creation to suggest that he should ever have appeared on the big screen. And yet, I must reluctantly admit that the most impressive and daring aspect of Iron Man 3 is certainly how they handled this awkward, yet unfortunately essential, villain. It's not comic book canon by any stretch, but it's the one shining uni-beam of creativity in an otherwise perfunctory and disappointing sequel.
- But long before Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) encounters the Mandarin, he finds himself facing a whole host of other, more immediate problems. One is that the normally unflappable supergenius is experiencing panic attacks as a result of his traumatic trip through a wormhole (and back!) in The Avengers. We gather that his relationship with the unquestionably loyal Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) has suffered, too, given that Tony has cloistered himself in the lab, churning out new Iron Man prototypes every day. Further complicating matters is the sudden appearance of Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), a tech nerd-turned-ubermensch who has apparently discovered the 21st-century equivalent of the Charles Atlas method, a drug-infusion process known as Extremis. What precisely he and his colleague Dr. Hansen (Rebecca Hall), a bioengineer and old flame of Tony Stark's, or his suspicious assistant Savin (James Badge Dale) have planned is initially unclear, but one guesses that Killian hasn't forgotten that time Stark snubbed him at a New Year's Eve party.
- So how does the mysterious Mandarin fit into all of this? Adopting a look and manner that reflect a bizarre pastiche of Western collective anxiety, the Mandarin has been disrupting American culture in the worst way imaginable, namely by interrupting its television programs. His daily broadcasts of terroristic "lessons" are bad enough, but the real threat seems to come from a series of untraceable explosions for which he keeps taking credit. When Tony's largely superfluous bodyguard Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) gets injured in one such event, Tony issues a public declaration of war against the Mandarin. At this point, Dr. Hansen shows up unannounced just as helicopters arrive to destroy Tony's house, leading to an immensely confusing underwater scene. From there, it's an unexpected trip to snowy(?) Tennessee, a side quest with a kid (Ty Simpkins) to investigate a dead soldier, some palling around with the newly-christened Iron Patriot (Don Cheadle), battles with Extremis-infused baddies (Stephanie Szostak), and even a fairly impressive rescue operation involving Air Force One. At times, these disconnected events resemble a plot, but unfortunately they're mostly there to give Iron Man something to do next.
- It's difficult to isolate a single problem with Iron Man 3 since the real issue feels more like a production-wide dearth of enthusiasm and inspiration. Was the music of AC/DC, notably absent from this film, the secret source of the series' vitality all along? Unfortunately this endemic lack of energy extends to both the actors, including the heretofore reliable Downey Jr., and director Shane Black, who should have urged Favreau to get out of the hospital bed and back into the director's chair. While the film's most interesting character is certainly the Mandarin for reasons I've bent over backwards to avoid detailing, the best sequence is tellingly its final credits, which are played over a weird but fun 70's homage to silly spy action films. I guess I'm thankful that we finally have a Marvel movie that doesn't permit Samuel L. Jackson to march in and advertise the next installment, but wouldn't it be better if this (or, for that matter, any) superhero franchise could generate a third film that didn't suffer from such palpable ennui?
- I didn't get to mention Paul Bettany as JARVIS, William Sadler as the President, or Miguel Ferrer as the VP. Or the unexpected cameo by Shaun Toub and the expected one by your old pal, Stan Lee. Also, Bill Maher and Joan Rivers as themselves. There was also a post-credits scene featuring Mark Ruffalo, but aren't we all a little too old for those now?
- AIM but no MODOK? What gives?
- Killian has a tattoo of Fin Fang Foom while The Mandarin has a modified Captain America shield.
