Saw it. Liked it. Fell asleep. Not because of the movie. Just really tired. Pretty surprised at a couple twists.
With prices as they are, it still surprises me that people fall asleep at movies. =p
(Then again, not every place is jacked up like NY. Hell, in Virginia, they have Stadium theaters where the tickets are 7.50)
Get talked into a chick flick for the wife. Trust me, if tickets were $20 each & I was forced to go, I'd make sure to fall asleep!
M
That's the only problem with the cinema £25 (nearly $40) for a couple, for a couple hours entertainment is crazy. I used to nearly every week. Now I'm lucky to go 4/5 times a year max.
Did love this movie though RDJ awesome as usual. Brilliantly written movie and loved those twists. The bit at the end was awesome too.
I used to go to the theater early on a Sunday. Would stick around for two movies. Definitely got my money's worth.
Saw the movie. And let me say that I didn't like the fact that they cast Ben Kingsley instead of a Chinese actor for the role. It didn't make sense. I am currently enjoying a nice helping of crow pie. Love what they did!
And a 20 minute projector delay scored me and my son 4 free movie passes!
How the Mandarin was used, it was a waste of a great villain.
Yes, but did you see that coming? I really wanted to see a classic Mandarin too and this threw me for a loop. BUT I had a smile on my face the whole time once we find out more about the character...Kingsley did a fantastic job.
I went and saw the film Friday and I had a ball. I thought the film was better than it's predecessor and fit in very neatly after the Avengers film. And we got tweaked versions of three of Iron Man's classic adversaries (well, two really; one is actually a SHIELD adversary): AIM, the Mandarin and the Melter. I've been saying elsewhere that I'm pretty much a purist about how comics should be translated to the screen, but I've also said that I don't mind a bit of tweaking if it works to the favor of the film -- and these worked, by God! I especially loved the whole Mandarin thing -- I just about bust a gut laughing at the reveal. The only thing I wished they had done for the film was to put the AIM scientists into the 'beekeeper' outfits, but that's a minor nitpick. (Maybe we'll see those get developed in future films.) I sure felt like I got my money's worth out of this.
I didn't see it coming. It was a good twist, not at all what I was expecting. It's really more of a nit pick because Kingsley was great,it made me laugh and I did like it. I was really hoping to see some of the classic stuff you see when Iron Man and Mandarin throw down.
Given the 10 Rings stuff from IM and now the treatment of Mandarin in IM3 I like to think it was Killian using the name of an almost mythical figure for his figurehead...I don't think it precludes the existence of a "real" Mandarin at all.
The Mandarin was an out of date idea when he first appeared in 1964, let alone in 2013. This version nicely subverts the purpose of the racist myth behind those sort of characters.
I didn't see it coming. It was a good twist, not at all what I was expecting. It's really more of a nit pick because Kingsley was great,it made me laugh and I did like it. I was really hoping to see some of the classic stuff you see when Iron Man and Mandarin throw down.
Was anyone else waiting for the double twist? Having the mandarin acting the actor? This may just be poor Marvel back knowledge on my part, but I noticed that at the reveal he wasn't wearing his rings. I was half expecting them to be put back on at some point to reveal it was all part of his master plan.
Was anyone else waiting for the double twist? Having the mandarin acting the actor? This may just be poor Marvel back knowledge on my part, but I noticed that at the reveal he wasn't wearing his rings. I was half expecting them to be put back on at some point to reveal it was all part of his master plan.
It would have undermined the theme of the movie though to do that.
They'd already done the US military-industrial complex supplies terrorists with weapons story in the first Iron Man. If it had been The Mandarin, magic alien rings and all, it would be too much of a rehash.
Instead we got a more satirical version, where there wasn't any terrorists in the first place, just the idea of them would be enough to create the necessary fear and fund that military-industrial complex.
Plus, you had the exploitation of the common soldier by the arms industry (that bit doesn't work so well, as apart from the Chinese Theatre guy, all the Extremis folks seem pretty into the plan).
That's a much more interesting story than doing a straight take on a Fu Manchu rip off character in 2013.
Was anyone else waiting for the double twist? Having the mandarin acting the actor? This may just be poor Marvel back knowledge on my part, but I noticed that at the reveal he wasn't wearing his rings. I was half expecting them to be put back on at some point to reveal it was all part of his master plan.
It would have undermined the theme of the movie though to do that.
They'd already done the US military-industrial complex supplies terrorists with weapons story in the first Iron Man. If it had been The Mandarin, magic alien rings and all, it would be too much of a rehash.
Instead we got a more satirical version, where there wasn't any terrorists in the first place, just the idea of them would be enough to create the necessary fear and fund that military-industrial complex.
Plus, you had the exploitation of the common soldier by the arms industry (that bit doesn't work so well, as apart from the Chinese Theatre guy, all the Extremis folks seem pretty into the plan).
That's a much more interesting story than doing a straight take on a Fu Manchu rip off character in 2013.
Yeah totally agree with you. The little voice in my head was saying 'please don't do it', as it comic books and movies anything can happen. But I'm glad they didn't to the double turn though, as you say it would have taken away a lot from the spirit of the movie.
I didn't see it coming. It was a good twist, not at all what I was expecting. It's really more of a nit pick because Kingsley was great,it made me laugh and I did like it. I was really hoping to see some of the classic stuff you see when Iron Man and Mandarin throw down.
Was anyone else waiting for the double twist? Having the mandarin acting the actor? This may just be poor Marvel back knowledge on my part, but I noticed that at the reveal he wasn't wearing his rings. I was half expecting them to be put back on at some point to reveal it was all part of his master plan.
I was for just a minute after the reveal of the twist. The more that Kingsley acted like Ringo Starr, which I was thinking at the time, and Tony also later said, the less I was thinking there would be a double twist.
I went and saw the film Friday and I had a ball. I thought the film was better than it's predecessor and fit in very neatly after the Avengers film. And we got tweaked versions of three of Iron Man's classic adversaries (well, two really; one is actually a SHIELD adversary): AIM, the Mandarin and the Melter. I've been saying elsewhere that I'm pretty much a purist about how comics should be translated to the screen, but I've also said that I don't mind a bit of tweaking if it works to the favor of the film -- and these worked, by God! I especially loved the whole Mandarin thing -- I just about bust a gut laughing at the reveal. The only thing I wished they had done for the film was to put the AIM scientists into the 'beekeeper' outfits, but that's a minor nitpick. (Maybe we'll see those get developed in future films.) I sure felt like I got my money's worth out of this.
I agree. The Avengers stuff in IM2 doesn't bother me as much as some. I think mostly it bothers critics because they don't really consider themselves "fans". They are judging the movie and feel like all the Avengers build up hurt IM2 as an individual movie. I have seen some regular people say that as well, but much less often than critics. To me, taken in context with all of phase 2, the Avengers/SHIELD elements in part 2 is kinda cool.
I think this fits in nicely as a follow up for Iron Man and a continuation of the Marvel Movie Universe after Avengers. I don't understand fans who are like, "but uh... where's the Hulk and Thor and Captain America." C'mon, really? Don't you read comics? Haven't you watched cartoons? Superman doesn't call Batman everyday, Batman doesn't call the Flash everyday. Thor is back on Asgard and he'll be coming back to Earth later this year, but only I'm guessing after some stuff goes down on Asgard. Captain America? Is it really so hard to imagine Captain America working with special forces trying to work on something else? It's Iron Man's problem and he's freaking dealing with it. Its not on the same level at all compared to what the threat was in Avengers. That was truly the world being in danger, this was not. As for the Hulk, I'm pretty sure Banner tries to limit his time as the Hulk, even if he does have more control over it than before... plus... he was IN the movie.
Need to see it again, since I fell asleep. But the more I think about it, the more I like this movie.
How the Mandarin was used, it was a waste of a great villain.
I agree, as far as recurring villains for I.M. the Mandarin was pretty much at the top of the heap, as you said "a waste" that could've been salvaged if there was something at the end to indicate there was a real Mandarin behind the scenes manipulating everything. I enjoyed the movie itself, the Extremis storyline was cool, the bits with Happy, Rhodey, the new mentally controlled armor were all great, I just got a little bummed out over the Mandarin thing.
It would have undermined the theme of the movie though to do that.
They'd already done the US military-industrial complex supplies terrorists with weapons story in the first Iron Man. If it had been The Mandarin, magic alien rings and all, it would be too much of a rehash.
Instead we got a more satirical version, where there wasn't any terrorists in the first place, just the idea of them would be enough to create the necessary fear and fund that military-industrial complex.
Plus, you had the exploitation of the common soldier by the arms industry (that bit doesn't work so well, as apart from the Chinese Theatre guy, all the Extremis folks seem pretty into the plan).
That's a much more interesting story than doing a straight take on a Fu Manchu rip off character in 2013.
Instead we got a rehash of the "Evil Industrialist"; Stane, Hammer, Killian.
The Mandarin was an out of date idea when he first appeared in 1964, let alone in 2013. This version nicely subverts the purpose of the racist myth behind those sort of characters.
You can certainly argue the Mandarin was conceived with cold war sensiblities, but over the decades he's become quite the badass villain, sort of like I.M.'s Dr. Doom. Quite frankly, after Stane, Hammer, Osborne, Octavius, Conners, Brock, Stryker, Shaw having an "ethnic" evil guy would be a change of pace, not racist.
Instead we got a rehash of the "Evil Industrialist"; Stane, Hammer, Killian.
That's sort of comes with the territory -- 'evil industrialists' are rather a big part of Stark's world. Frankly, I think Killian actually fits more into the 'evil technologist' vein, given the general modus operandi of AIM... and evil technologists are also a big part of IM's mythology.
The Mandarin, as portrayed in the comics, is really more of an 'anti' villain, in that he is 'anti' anything that Iron Man or Tony Stark represents: he is anti-industry, anti-capitalism, anti-democracy, anti-progress, and, despite his own use of technology, anti-technology. He represents an old, established regime of regimented thinking and social castes; IM represents the new and the future. That kind of adversarial relationship would have been interesting, I admit.
But I think the concerns of racist imagery and portrayal, intentional or not, was a legitimate concern, and I think they took the right direction for the film. Having seen the movie, I find that I do much prefer the twists they took for the version of the Mandarin that they used.
I thought the movie was great. I liked the reveal with the Mandoran. I thought it was an interesting twist. I loved the armor battle at the end with the enhanced humans. Just seeing them all in the air and attacking was awesome. Oh. I loved the "after the credits" scene. I thought it was a fun interaction with two characters and I hope to see more of that.
I thought the movie was great. I liked the reveal with the Mandoran. I thought it was an interesting twist. I loved the armor battle at the end with the enhanced humans. Just seeing them all in the air and attacking was awesome. Oh. I loved the "after the credits" scene. I thought it was a fun interaction with two characters and I hope to see more of that.
Agree. People are bummed because it wasnt a preview towards the next Marvel movie. Well, we don't really know that it wasn't... right? I mean, what if there is a Hulk movie and we saw him working at one of Stark's places. Might seem like a preview then, wouldn't it.
Besides, it still showed us something we've never seen. I mean, guys.. the Hulk was just chatting it up with Iron Man. Ya know.
You can certainly argue the Mandarin was conceived with cold war sensiblities, but over the decades he's become quite the badass villain, sort of like I.M.'s Dr. Doom. Quite frankly, after Stane, Hammer, Osborne, Octavius, Conners, Brock, Stryker, Shaw having an "ethnic" evil guy would be a change of pace, not racist.
He's not a cold war character though. He's Yellow Peril racist caricature dressed up in cold war clothes. Sure he's not as bad as Yellow Claw, but he was barely used for years in the comics.
Michelinie/Layton, whose work most defines the movie Iron Man, never used him during their first run.
Even before that he was never used that much. He averaged about two appearances in monthly Iron Man comics a year pre-Iron Man #116 (M&L's first issue). At most 5 appearances, sometimes none. Between that and #259 in 1990, the Mandarin made SIX appearances in the monthly Iron comic (3 Denny O'Neil issues, 2 from M&L's second run, and a Howard Mackie filler).
It's not until the Byrne's run in the 90s that Mandarin had a massive presence in monthly Iron Man comics. That died again by the 2000s, until the movies arrived and we had so many Iron Man comics, that statistically you were going to have put Mandarin in some of them.
Totally agree, in large respect hes a huge racist stereotype. Now, that doesn't mean they could NOT have had a chinese villain if they wanted to, but he was never going to be like the comic Mandarin. Also, they are trying to make money, they want to be able to show their movie in China, so having the comic mandarin would have hurt that.
@Planeis YES! I loved seeing the two characters interact the way they did. Also, imagine if this would lead to a Hulk movie that was akin to something that is currently in the comics. Indestructible Hulk for the big screen. Hulk: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. That would be awesome. Even if it doesn't lead to something, it was a great scene and something that I thought was very funny.
Well, I really enjoyed it! In my view it's better than IM2, I didn't know Guy Pearce was in it or his 'think tank'. However, one niggle, when you watch it you might notice your hometown mentioned as part of the Mandarin's backstory. That really took me out of the film for a moment and was an unnecessary 'local customisation' of the film.
I mentioned above that I thought the scene where Killian mentions that Slattery/Mandarin was well reviewed as King Lear in [insert local town name here] was an unnecessary customisation of the film. Listening to the CGS review it seems that it was actually the proper line in the script. I don't know if I should be complemented or insulted over my hometown's use... :-?
Comments
And a 20 minute projector delay scored me and my son 4 free movie passes!
http://kotaku.com/why-many-in-china-hate-iron-man-3s-chinese-version-486840429
They'd already done the US military-industrial complex supplies terrorists with weapons story in the first Iron Man. If it had been The Mandarin, magic alien rings and all, it would be too much of a rehash.
Instead we got a more satirical version, where there wasn't any terrorists in the first place, just the idea of them would be enough to create the necessary fear and fund that military-industrial complex.
Plus, you had the exploitation of the common soldier by the arms industry (that bit doesn't work so well, as apart from the Chinese Theatre guy, all the Extremis folks seem pretty into the plan).
That's a much more interesting story than doing a straight take on a Fu Manchu rip off character in 2013.
I think this fits in nicely as a follow up for Iron Man and a continuation of the Marvel Movie Universe after Avengers. I don't understand fans who are like, "but uh... where's the Hulk and Thor and Captain America." C'mon, really? Don't you read comics? Haven't you watched cartoons? Superman doesn't call Batman everyday, Batman doesn't call the Flash everyday. Thor is back on Asgard and he'll be coming back to Earth later this year, but only I'm guessing after some stuff goes down on Asgard. Captain America? Is it really so hard to imagine Captain America working with special forces trying to work on something else? It's Iron Man's problem and he's freaking dealing with it. Its not on the same level at all compared to what the threat was in Avengers. That was truly the world being in danger, this was not. As for the Hulk, I'm pretty sure Banner tries to limit his time as the Hulk, even if he does have more control over it than before... plus... he was IN the movie.
Need to see it again, since I fell asleep. But the more I think about it, the more I like this movie.
I especially love that Iron Man fought enhanced humans, rather than armored opponents.
I wouldn't have minded seeing her keep her super strength and badassery.
(This didn't effect my love of the movie.)
I enjoyed the movie itself, the Extremis storyline was cool, the bits with Happy, Rhodey, the new mentally controlled armor were all great, I just got a little bummed out over the Mandarin thing. Instead we got a rehash of the "Evil Industrialist"; Stane, Hammer, Killian. You can certainly argue the Mandarin was conceived with cold war sensiblities, but over the decades he's become quite the badass villain, sort of like I.M.'s Dr. Doom.
Quite frankly, after Stane, Hammer, Osborne, Octavius, Conners, Brock, Stryker, Shaw having an "ethnic" evil guy would be a change of pace, not racist.
The Mandarin, as portrayed in the comics, is really more of an 'anti' villain, in that he is 'anti' anything that Iron Man or Tony Stark represents: he is anti-industry, anti-capitalism, anti-democracy, anti-progress, and, despite his own use of technology, anti-technology. He represents an old, established regime of regimented thinking and social castes; IM represents the new and the future. That kind of adversarial relationship would have been interesting, I admit.
But I think the concerns of racist imagery and portrayal, intentional or not, was a legitimate concern, and I think they took the right direction for the film. Having seen the movie, I find that I do much prefer the twists they took for the version of the Mandarin that they used.
Besides, it still showed us something we've never seen. I mean, guys.. the Hulk was just chatting it up with Iron Man. Ya know.
Michelinie/Layton, whose work most defines the movie Iron Man, never used him during their first run.
Even before that he was never used that much. He averaged about two appearances in monthly Iron Man comics a year pre-Iron Man #116 (M&L's first issue). At most 5 appearances, sometimes none. Between that and #259 in 1990, the Mandarin made SIX appearances in the monthly Iron comic (3 Denny O'Neil issues, 2 from M&L's second run, and a Howard Mackie filler).
It's not until the Byrne's run in the 90s that Mandarin had a massive presence in monthly Iron Man comics. That died again by the 2000s, until the movies arrived and we had so many Iron Man comics, that statistically you were going to have put Mandarin in some of them.
:-?