By Max Kull

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Picking up after the events of 2012’s The Avengers, Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is officially kicked off with Iron Man 3, the conclusion to Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau’s Iron Man trilogy. The action-packed film follows Downey’s iconic portrayal of rich philanthropist Tony Stark as his personal life is torn apart by a ruthless terrorist known as the Mandarin. Combine that with his post traumatic stress disorder he obtained during the battle of New York, and an onslaught of faces from the past who have returned to haunt him- it becomes clear that this is a film about personal growth and rebuilding oneself after experiencing a traumatic and life-changing fall.

 

In regards to Robert Downey Jr.’s titular character, the film gives a sense of closure to the careless, playboy philanthropist we met throughout Phase 1, and elevates the character of Tony Stark as he attempts to rectify the mistakes of his past and cope with his burden of knowledge of an inevitable future facing him and the Avengers. This is definitely a turning point in Tony’s character, as after this film, the narrative focuses on how Tony takes action in preventing the looming threat of Thanos and his army, and we see the once overly-egotistical character take on a more serious and composed role.

 

RDJ definitely gives his performance his all. There is no denying that the man essentially is the real life Tony Stark- but even Downey’s charisma isn’t enough to save this film in its entirety, as it is plagued with a variety of problems- subjective in size, of course, depending on the perspectives of the viewer.

 

In execution, the plot may come off as a bit contrived and, yes, while the holiday setting, action sequences, and performance by RDJ and the rest of Iron Man’s cast were as great as ever, the film falls victim to an extremely problematic villain trope which has been done plenty of times before in comic book movies. To be more specific, the one where an awkward, socially rejected character is turned down or ignored by the hero and later returns as an obsessive, much more powerful foe who is often overshadowed by a second villain and/or source of power. We’ve seen this trope in comic book movies plenty of times before in Batman Forever, the Amazing Spider-Man 2, Wonder Woman 1984, and more- so we should know by now that this concept often results in underwhelming and underdeveloped villain motives and personas.

 

It is also near impossible to ignore the Mandarin controversy- a problem that mainly only resonates with fans of the source material. In the original 1964 comic, the Mandarin was depicted as an extremely offensive Asian stereotype (the name alone should say enough). In this film, Ben Kingsley took on the role, but a twist in the beginning of the film’s third act introduces a new direction for the character that helps to separate him from his controversial history. Naturally, some audiences were enraged by this change and continue to be ignorant of the much more important issue. Over the years, it seems like the hate surrounding Iron Man 3 over this creative decision has died down, likely because of the incredible reimagining of the Mandarin character (appropriately renamed Wenwu) that we have the pleasure of meeting in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

 

So where does that leave us with Iron Man 3? It’s… complicated. While the film suffers from a variety of problems, the ones audiences tend to be the most vocal about revolve around the differences from the source material, so is it really fair to judge the movie based on creative liberties taken by the writers to better align with the story they’re trying to tell? 

 

For me, Iron Man 3 is my favorite of the Iron Man trilogy due to the heavy themes it tackles. Having been in dark places in life before, and even having to deal with consequences from mistakes I had made in the past, I found Tony Stark’s journey in this film to be one of the most realistic issues ever tackled in an MCU installment. It’s important for people to recognize their mistakes, but it’s even more important that they learn to grow from them- past their greatest fears- forgiving themselves and changing their ways in both thought and action while on the long path of self transformation. 

 

While Iron Man 3 may not be anywhere near a perfect film, it certainly reminds us of what makes Iron Man (and many of us) so invincible.