Iron Man 3 reaction post (now with sticky)

[whizzy.livejournal.com]

The time is nigh!

Please contain reactions, discussion, flailing, or anything of a potentially spoilery nature to the comments of this post.

Comments

[tendre-posion.livejournal.com]

I LITERALLY RAN THE FULL SPECTRUM OF EMOTIONS.

I'm going to make the call that this is on par, if not better than The Avengers.

Also, if you don't or didn't stay for the post credit scene. I FEEL BAD FOR YOU BRO.

[whizzy.livejournal.com]

Argh, so jealous, I can't wait!

[suzvoy.livejournal.com]

I'M SEEING IT TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!

[lysryu.livejournal.com]

Such an incredibly enjoyable movie!

I loved the direction they took with Pepper (so much love!) and everything about the movie is just so much win.
I'm sad that RDJ and Gwyneth's contracts are up but hopeful that we'll see more of them in future MCU movies.

I am in agreement with tendre_posion's assertion that IM3 is very likely as good as or better than The Avengers.

The after credits scene was utterly adorable <3

[kyun610.livejournal.com]

SEEING TOMORROW
Accidentally ruined the bit about the villain for myself by checking a website with spoilers (I thought they were the spoilers that I already knew...but no) but excited anyway (!!!!!!!!)

[melpemone.livejournal.com]

Nearest thing to perfect I can think of. It's going to blow fandom's mind. It seriously subverted my expectations and I am genuinely good with this. I don't actually know what else to say - I'm trying to put together a post about it but there's SO MUCH THERE. I loved it loved it loved it.

I went to a screening organised by my local comic book store. The whole audience burst into spontaneous applause at the Stan Lee cameo. :)

[del_rion]

spoilery bits below... I think.

Seen the movie twice. Loved it. Things really cleared up a bit on the second viewing... but not enough that I don't want to see it again, and again... (next time on Saturday :D)

Was anyone else disappointed that Tony didn't actually get Extremis? (Although I wholly approve of JARVIS going badass with the suits. It felt like J had a bigger role here than before, and the "don't leave me buddy" part broke my heart a little, so soon after the bots...)

Also, anyone else bothered by how they decided that 'oh, inoperable shapnel can now be removed, after all this time?' (I like Tony's chest decoration, what can I say; it's such a part of who he is.) And what is he going to fill that hole with?

Iron Man 3 ships Science Bros!

Also, so many emotional tears while watching the bots in the house, trying to hold onto each other as they all fell towards the ocean. (I'm fully convinced there were bits and pieces of all of them on Tony's trailer at the end...)

[partytimexelent.livejournal.com]

I was totally looking forward to the Extremis storyline, oh my gosh, and the whole removing the shrapnel after all this time definitely bugged me too. It was hard to believe that this brilliant man who discovered an element couldn't find a good surgeon somewhere to get that taken care of.

"And what is he going to fill that hole with?"

Love, my dear. He's filling it with love.

AGH SCIENCE BROS! (too bad they didn't talk about science, I'm still waiting for that magic moment) What I loved about that scene was how completely random it was! It had nothing to do with the movie and it said nothing about the next movie, which is usually the purpose of including those scenes. I bet RDJ just begged and pleaded for them to get Ruffalo in there, for at least a few minutes (although it felt like seconds, am I right?! That was so not long enough!) and it paid off. Bruce would totally fall asleep listening to him, I loved it.

I did think the ending kind of sucked though. It's like.... ugh..... Tony would never do that. I know the circumstances were high and all and any normal person would certainly do what he did but..... they have to have Tony as Iron Man. They just have to, there's no way around it, whether you look at the comic books or box office. I really hope they don't spend time in Avengers 2 trying to convince Tony to be Iron Man again. That would just....suck.

But for the most part, I loved it! They finally let Tony be the awesome sweetheart he is without making it seem cheesy or unbelievable (except for the ending). I hated IM2 for that reason-- they went too far towards his narcissistic asshole side and it was hard for me to empathize with him. But with this one? Well done. Just.... well done.

I just wanted to hold him the entire time and I'm glad Pepper was there to do it for me. =)

[chariflame.livejournal.com]

I blurted out all my feelings and opinions into a really messy Tumblr post (http://scheduledfordeletion.tumblr.com/post/48827963528/iron-man-3) when I got back from the midnight showing this morning, but here goes nothing...

I was really happy with it. I was nervous about how they were going to handle Extremis, mostly - doesn't anyone get nervous seeing their beloved fiction adapted for the big screen? But it was so much better than expected. The visuals, and all the characters and plots! I was iffy about Iron Patriot too, but they made it work really well with the same hints of corruption/perversion of an icon as in 616.

Seeing Pepper in action was amazing, but I don't know how I feel about the long lasting effects of the ending, though. Only time will tell, I suppose! The Mandarin twist and Tony-not-even-getting-Extremis twist were fantastic. Kind of sad about the arc reactor, but it was inevitable/understandable.

Oh man... Tony's anxiety, though? It really hit home. It was slightly uncomfortable to watch from how much it hit home, but that's only a testament to how well they did it. They added some humour in (that kid was pretty brilliant) but it was still a serious concern. I think those scenes are what will stay with me the longest, I really liked the way they were handled.

[jungle-dizzy.livejournal.com]

I agree about Tony's anxiety being well done to the point it was uncomfortable to watch! And they did seem to handle the issue with care, I was so glad. :>

[derpkid.livejournal.com]

Saw the movie, enjoyed it immensely :D A++++.

SPOILERS AHEAD aha

I really liked the way they handled the Mandarin! :^) Meta as fuck. I was pretty much Tony in that scene, to be honest ("ARE YOU F- KIDDING ME ????????") but I'm glad it took that route instead of having to explain the origins of his name which would've lead to MAJOR awkwardness.

Other points of highlight include RHODEY oh god he was great (PICKING UP CALLS IN THE MIDDLE OF PAKISTAN NBD), this movie really made him for me, and the whole TEAM STARK dynamic going on - that Tony definitely didn't operate so alone anymore? And PEPPER, come on, PEPPER, pepper, cries into carpet, PEPPER was so great; the TonyPepper was also nice to see in terms of Tony being: receptive to cuddles! Opening up about his anxieties! Buying extravagant gifts (in the form of giant, oddly shaped bunnies)!

That's one thing I really liked tbh - Tony's characterization in this movie. I'm glad he was a dick without being too much of a dick and his scenes with Harley are excellent. I mean even he says it upfront to Pepper at one point that yeaaaah you're in a relationship with me, you're already kind of compromised anyway, sorry but not sorry. BASICALLY IT'S LIKE WATCHING A FANFIC, ALL THOSE FANFICS YOU'VE READ COME TO LIFE ON SCREEN. I'm happy this is canon. I'm glad that he was still affected by the events in New York (I mean for continuity's sake and also TonyFeels). JUST SO MANY THINGS, so many things, about this movie, basically.

Overall IMO it was a really solid movie that balanced humour and seriousness really well; which is amazing considering the AMOUNT OF CONTENT IN THIS MOVIE? I never felt overwhelmed when actually seeing the movie but after getting out of the cinema, I realised that was a pretty heavy movie in terms of details. I gotta say it's definitely up there with the Avengers (or maybe even better).

Now thoughts about ending: I thought the ending was pretty cool; it was a pretty safe way of leaving it open enough in case RDJ bows out (UNLIKELY as hell) but he's really probably gonna come back for future movies. it meant he had to drag his stuff all the way to New York if anything (what with the post-credits scene, and Tony salvaging his robot babies from the wreckage, I mean HE'S GOTTA SEND IT SOMEWHERE). I'm actually pretty sure the damage done to his body was fixed with some version of Extremis (I mean he did tell Pepper he was going to "deal with it" and it's ambiguous as fuck but I'd like to believe there is some connection between possibly removing extremis from her and etc and etc).

Man, I can't even. I just want the movie to come out for people already so that they can see it and flail just as much. That's why I'm doing it here instead of Tumblr, god.

[del_rion]

I'm actually pretty sure the damage done to his body was fixed with some version of Extremis (I mean he did tell Pepper he was going to "deal with it" and it's ambiguous as fuck but I'd like to believe there is some connection between possibly removing extremis from her and etc and etc).

This! This is my new headcanon, put to words by you. (and who knows, it might be actual canon one day, because they left that pretty wide open...)

I saw the movie twice last night. Second viewing was... less hectic, I must admit. (Also, not 3D, which I saw first... stupid blurry fight scenes...) But, back on track: I'm not sure how I feel about the arc reactor. They made such a point of underlining that the shrapnel CANNOT be dealt with, in the past, and the offhanded comment about not stopping with Pepper's new condition it was my biggest WTF moment in the whole movie. :S

So, I decided that if I cannot have my favorite nightlight anymore, they must have fixed the hole that remains with some version of Extremis. Because Tony still tinkers, and he's still Iron Man, and he or the armors are never perfect and if he's got a handle on Extremis, then he would... yeah...

(But I'm seriously pissed that they spent about three seconds ruining a continuity with the sharpnel that carried over three movies. I would have been okay with it had they gone into detail, but... yeah... *goes to fume in the corner, burning holes in the wall*)

[strawberrytatoo.livejournal.com]

In short, I LOVED the movie.

I loved Rhodey. Didn't care too much for him in IR2, but he kicked so much ass here.

Pepper! Pepper, let me love you. I flailed when I saw Tony send the armor to her, and she immediately saved Tony in turn when the mansion was blown up. <3

I wasn't too happy when she was seen in her bra, being held captive, and I thought they were going the damsel in distress route, but thankfully she kicked ass in the end (although I´m still not sure why she couldn't keep her shirt, but oh well.)

The ending was a little ambiguous, but I´m happy he didn't end up with Extremis. I do think it's a little dumb that he can now all of a sudden remove the shrapnel, bye arc reactor :(

And while I totally understand that this is an Iron Man movie, and just about Tony, I couldn't help but think 'if you would just call Steve and the guys, you would have caught the Mandarin by now!' :P

[del_rion]

And while I totally understand that this is an Iron Man movie, and just about Tony, I couldn't help but think 'if you would just call Steve and the guys, you would have caught the Mandarin by now!' :P

HAH, Tony probably would have had an anxiety attack during that phone call, and never got the message across...

I do think it's a little dumb that he can now all of a sudden remove the shrapnel, bye arc reactor :(

I'm not sure I can forgive them for leaving Tony without an arc reactor... That was such eye-candy, in a way, and gave the character vulnerability (plus it didn't make much sense they could suddenly operate on the shapnel after all this time, but maybe they'll decided to re-visit that little tidbit should Iron Man appear in MCU again *crosses fingers*)

[allyoucaneater.livejournal.com]

I just finished watching the movie with friends like 3 hours ago and loved the movie so much! It's enough to make me want to watch it again and again (may do this in the later dates). My friends couldn't stop vibrating with glee and spewing metaphorical rainbows.

The perverted part of me kept revisiting the memory of Tony 'dancing' when around the first 3 minutes into the movie (can the tshirt be any tighter? I can see his nipples poking I cannot handre the sexiness why)

Also, the Tony-Harley scenes-- I have so much love for those. One might have thought Tony would be bad with kids but he's like a bro who just recently moved back into the house only to discover he has a baby brother--- or something. I cannot simile.

SO MUCH FEELS AND LOVE I CAN HANDRE BUT NOT WITH GRACE NEVER EVER WITH GRACE

The after credit was perfect. Oh god the look on Banner's face when he tried to stop Tony from continuing I just
(The sciencebros vibe tho <333)

[skull-bearer.livejournal.com]

My reaction post is here (http://skull-bearer.livejournal.com/409934.html#comments)

I... didn't like it.

[liroseify.livejournal.com]

I watched it yesterday! I must say I was surprised by how much I loved it! I plan on watching it again and again probably xD. It was amazing! IM2 was such a let down... The humour in this one OMG! I understand that some people believe it was kind of pointless or messy at times, but I totally saw that coming. It just to be expected in this movies, they sacrifice some of the coherence in sake of entertainment and unlike on IM2 I was totally sold this time!

Spoiler: Yeah, the only thing I didn't like was Tony Stark magical operation to remove his reactor... That barely 15 seconds scene made me mad! Oh well!

[jungle-dizzy.livejournal.com]

flailing and weird English ahead:



I LOVED IT!

I'm trying to write a reaction post in my journal but it's already too long, hahaha. Too many feelings!

Basically, thanks to the trailers I was expecting Tony's life to suck so much in this movie, and while it did, I'm glad there was space for humour. It was way more fun than the second, in my opinion.

The twist with the Mandarin was so bizarre that I liked it. I was squeaking what-the-hell's during the whole scene, it was great to dodge spoilers once in my life. xD


I wasn't liking the amount of importance they gave Aldrich during the promotion, and was really worried about what they were going to do with the Extremis story line. Turned out they just re-wrote everything, lol. But it was good, and I liked his role.

Pepper was awesome. JARVIS too. And Rhodey, I was worried about what they were going to do with him, but he was perfect.



The only problem was that I was expecting Tony to lose the arc reactor in this movie. Because of Extremis.
The actual solution was kinda... meh. :/

[w-a-i-d.livejournal.com]

I loved it, except there was this wonderful moment when Ms Extremis and Iron Man were the ULTIMATE POWER COUPLE and could have fought baddies together for evermore and then she was all "Oh, I have incredible superpowers, this is terrible, fix me!" and he was all "I don't need to wear a flying suit of armour any more, let me get rid of that," and ... these were very sensible, touching decisions. In a detached kind of way I approve. BUT WHY YOU TAUNT ME WITH EVERYTHING I WANT FROM LIFE THEN WHISK IT AWAY, FILM, YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD?

I loved what happened with Extremis, though. It's my favourite story, and yet I kind of hate it as a thing, I like Tony as "just a guy in a suit." And conversely, I love Pepper getting a chance to wear a suit and kick arse, but she suffers from the usual promoted love-interest/sidekick problem of just being a copy of the main hero with no origin story beyond having the right boyfriend. This fixed both problems beautifully, and the tension of expecting him to get it and the twist of what actually happens

And I think the traditional Mandarin is pretty racist, so this was a fantastic solution, and the whole film felt surprisingly progressive to me, from the surprisingly sensitive handling of the anxiety issues to the fact that PEPPER SAVED HIM TWICE!!! There whole last half of the film was a damsel in distress plot and then it wasn't and she killed the baddie! There may have been air-punching.

Sorry, this is a Cap/IronMan board! But as of this film, however much I like comics!Tony/Steve, I will now never be able to break MCU Pepper and Tony up, all slashing will have to involve threesomes. OH WELL.

[cellia.livejournal.com]

Totally agree with you on everything here!

[monicaop.livejournal.com]

I saw it last week, the 26th, and I just watched it again... both times in 3d and wow!!! This movie was completely awesome, as some had said is as good as The Avengers, and he does it all by himself, no other heroes about!!

Just wow, RDJ totally delivers!! He's completely amazing!! And I loved what they did with his image as the beginning of the movie and at the end, after Extremis!!! Pepper totally rocked it!!! I loved her as bad ass!!! Rodney was ok, he's not my favorite but I liked the character the most in this movie, Happy, is soooooo cute!!!

I totally loved the twist, and wow, the after credits scene??? Wow!! I so love Banner!!! :D I can't wait to watch it again!!

[tracy7307.livejournal.com]

GOD GOD GOD I CANNOT GET RID OF THE HEARTS IN MY EYES. ALL THE TONY FEELS EVER

SPOILERY COMMENTS BELOW AND CAPSLOCK SQUEE




PEPPER OMFG. I GOT A SHE-BONER AT THE END OF THE FILM WHEN SHE WAS BEING ALL BAMF ON ALDRICH!

ALL THE FUNNY STUFF! SARCASTIC "WE'RE CONNECTED!" LOLLLL HOW MUCH DID I LOVE HARLEY?

TONY AND ANXIETY ATTACKS. I SWEAR TO GOD THIS FIC HAS TO EXIST SOMEWHERE.

ALL THE ACTION! HIS SUITS COMING TO SAVE THE DAY. THE ATTACK ON THE MALIBU HOUSE.

POST-CREDITS THERAPY SESSION WITH BORED/SLEEPING BRUCE. OMFGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.

I promise to be more coherent someday. but for now, *FLAIL*

[truthiness-aura.livejournal.com]

Jut got back from a late screening and I am having Feels. It's a great movie- I loved Pepper kicking ass, and the twists, and all the armors- but I am really, really going to miss the arc reactor. That's such a huge visual motif that I love, and it ties into Tony making his weakness into his strength, which I am all over. It makes sense that it's gone- as some people are saying, he couldn't have heart surgery? wha?- but, just, I am really, really going to miss that element. And I am going to be hugely depressed if RDJ and Gwyneth don't end up coming back.
(And yes, I am already mentally writing scenarios where Tony gets back into the armor. Maybe with Cap saying how much the team needs him, etc...)

[haltlos.livejournal.com]

When we saw Dummy going under (along with the house and srsly who cares about those cars?! Okay, Tony kinda does but whatever) I made a very undignified noise and then TONY GOT HIM BACK at the end!

Those two scenes show how well rounded the movie was. Sure, there are some things that bothered me but I liked it so much more than IM2. It was a great emotional rollercoaster with interesting characters and actual developments (Pepper, Maya, Tony, Rhodey, Mandarin). Also, this was an actual continuation of the Avengers movie which just makes me ridiculously happy. They've talked about and hinted it in all the interviews but seeing how they actually did it was beyond my humble expectations.

Also, Bruce, you bastard, are the best. Sciencebros! (This means Tony is back in NY, right?!) (Mark Ruffalo will never not be my favourite!)

Most importantly, I want to know who decided that Happy is a fan of Downtown Abbey! I NEED TO KNOW! I imagine that Jon Favreau is a fan and kept talking about it while the others wanted input for the movie.... hahah

[whizzy.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the movie a lot, but there are plenty of points that left me side-eyeing the, er, creative direction all around.

First off, Happy’s absurd paranoia seemed to serve the sole purpose of accelerating the impending confrontation between Killian and Tony. (We can assume this confrontation would have happened regardless because Killian was all grudgy and villainy and stuff.) Worse, Happy pulls his spying, snitching, jealous-on-Tony’s-behalf routine while Tony isn’t concerned (because he and Pepper are *gasp* implied to be in a stable, trusting relationship). I can’t even excuse him for being overprotective of Pepper around a creeper when the audience was explicitly told that she’s dealt with Killian before just fine before on her own, kthx.

Killian himself reminded me too much of MCU Justin Hammer. Also, why the hell did they drag the AIM name into it and then not give us AIM?

Like a lot of hanging plotty bits, Maya felt underused. (Also, she was shot in the stomach/chest while holding an Extremis dose, ready to inject. You can’t tell me she didn’t try it.)

Rhodey was fabulous fullstop.

Tony is no longer allowed to give Steve shit about adopting young sidekicks. Also, that kid skirted the yippie!Anakin line, but mostly stayed on the side of tolerable.

Apparently I can't see James Badge Dale as anyone other than Lucky Leckie. :D

I was kind of meh on the Mandarin twist, but it was a prudent sidestep to the mess of racial stereotypes that go with his comic appearances.

Extremis. Urgh, where to start? I don't think Tony took it at the end. First, his heart had been fixed in the comics prior to Extremis: "I spent years in various versions of this breastplate, holding the shrapnel in magnetic fields. Until medical science caught up with me, and I could get the damned thing out." And second, Pepper refused Killian emphatically by pointing out that Extremis was weaponizable. Aside from the healing factor, the movie never went into the really cool stuff Extremis can do. It was all about the super speed and strength and breathing fire and exploding.

The movie completely missed the "just a man in a suit" angle that made the comic arc so good. It didn't play with the physical human limitations that had been plaguing 616!Tony. That was the whole point of Extremis -- allowing him to become less human and closer to machine perfection. The whole dying at the time thing was almost incidental. Instead, they went with Tony as Maker. Somewhere in all that building he started distancing himself from Iron Man. He could control the Mark 42 remotely; he calls it "he" and treats it almost like one of his bots rather than an extension of himself. His armors spend a large part of the movie as empty shells.

I do not understand why Pepper had to fall a couple hundred feet into fire before she decided she could kick ass. Why did she spend the five minutes leading up to that revelation just sitting around waiting for Tony to rescue her?

Blowing up all the armor and chucking the reactor felt like a huge step to distance MCU!Tony from 616!Tony. Remember how 616!Tony says, "I went from being a man trapped in an iron suit to being a man freed by it"? Yeah.

Oh, and the operation to remove the shrapnel/arc reactor pissed me off, because way to invalidate the entire premise of the second movie, dumbasses.

[cardinalheart.livejournal.com]

omg yes to all your points, particularly the last and the one about Pepper. Everyone keeps going on about how awesome she was, but she spent a pretty good portion of the movie just standing/lying/dangling around crying out "Tony!~", and then inexplicably kicks ass at the very end (Extremis gives you martial arts moves now as well?). Idk, it just seems like they had no idea what to do with her in this film and it shows.

But the arc reactor removal...the the hole in continuity that blows is almost enough to ruin everything else I found enjoyable. Extremis never got an adequate explanation in the film, there are so many unanswered questions: it's supposed to cause a healing factor at least, but was that it's only purpose? How much of the crazy fire powers and strength and whatever else was caused by the "glitch" and how much is supposed to actually be there? (Also the healing was completely inconsistent: Killian was able to survive getting blown to pieces, but a good uppercut will take him out?) If the implication was that Tony gave himself a stabilized Extremis to survive the surgery, does that mean he and Pepper have a healing factor now, or even other enhancements? Whichever way you look at it, it just creates all kinds of problems.

I have no attachment to the Mandarin as he was in the comics, so I wasn't upset with the direction the chose to go with him, but I definitely feel like it was the safe route at best, a cop-out at worst. Could they have written him as something that was recognizable/in the spirit of his origins and made him the legit villain, but not an outdated racist caricature? Maybe not, it's a tall order to be sure, and not an easy issue so I can't really blame them if they wanted to just avoid the whole problem (they did do a brilliant job with marketing and subverting everyone's expectations, I'll give them that).

I enjoyed the hell out of the film, but the writing was a mess. I think the movie's strongest points were Tony's characterization, Rhodey, and his and Tony's interactions. When she wasn't being used as a damsel-in-distress Pepper was good, but I feel like they could have done more/differently with her.

[ami-neko.livejournal.com]

I saw it tonight!! We ended up sitting a little too close and I had trouble following some scenes, but I'm seeing it again tomorrow for sure, so no big deal.

Here's my big takeaways;

1. Team work. Tony wasn't trying to do every thing himself this time. He let Rhodey help this time. He recruited a ton of regular people, too, like Harley, Gary the TV guy, and the Airforce one people.

2. Failure as a crucial part of the invention process/life. The mark 42 prototype suit failed Tony multiple times and he managed to roll with it each time. Even Aldritch managed to recover from his failure to get Tony as a patron and make the fact that Extremis made a certain percentage of subjects into bombs he could use to further his plans.

3. Banality of evil. Turning the Mandarin into a puppet really decentralized the villain. Even AIM is pretty diffuse villain compared to IM1 or IM2, which basically had single villains - Stane and Vanko. Even if we're going to say Aldritch is the single driving villain, his goal is not grandiose. It was basically to grab a small amount of power for himself, to not be a nobody, damn the consequences to anyone else.

4. As a corollary to 2, stripped down Tony. He wasn't relying on his suit or JARVIS as much as he did previously. (JARVIS kind of broke my heart when he said he needed to sleep.) Tony McGyvered his way through a several fights and he surprised me with how he adept at fighting when he's out of the suit. Fit with the end theme of losing the arc reaction - he can kick ass even when he's just a/the mechanic instead of Iron Man. (Is he going to have a second superhero life as The Mechanic? I'm going to daydream that out later)

The only thing I really disliked is that Tony seems to have resolved his anxiety fairly easily. He seemed...suspiciously well adjusted to me at the end of the movie compared to his obsessive suit building and panic attacks earlier. I feel like he should have been a little more freaked out over a.) Pepper being a target partially because of him b.) destroying all his suits and c.) losing his home and lab. Perhaps he was playing it cool for Bruce's sake, since the frame of the movie is that he's telling this all to Bruce at some point in the (near?) future. Or maybe in whatever time passed from the events of the movie to when he's telling Bruce he managed to process all that.

Random things I liked: dancing Tony! almost jazz hands every time he tried to call the suit! Tony is kind of great with kids. It passes the Bechdel test! Blue (Da Ba Dee)! I forgot how much I liked that song.

[cardinalheart.livejournal.com]

Agreed on the anxiety. They almost overplayed it throughout the movie (I feel like Tony's anxiety was present in the previous two films, but it was more subtle), and then it seems magically resolved at the very end. Tony is and always will be a ball of trauma and issues, I don't think it's believable or necessary to try and completely "fix" that.

[moodring54.livejournal.com]

Spoilers all over the place, just saying.

I enjoyed watching it (went to see it twice, even) but I definitely think it's the weakest film of the series in terms of consistency and plot.

I LOVED Pepper kicking ass, loved her and Tony's relationship, the kid scenes were funny/cute, and the action scenes were fun, but the stuff that bothered me REALLY bothered me.

1. They were setting up the Ten Rings in the first movie as being behind Tony's capture in the first movie, but now it's smoke and mirrors and the Mandarin is just a guy in front of green screen? What? It was a good gag, but

2. Did Rhodey seemed a little off to anyone else? In the past two movies, he's seemed more intense, at least while on official business, but he was kind of non-chalant and chilled out this time around. I didn't actually bother me, it just struck me as odd. Maybe Rhodey took up yoga or something.

3. Why would Tony think it was a good idea to blow up all the suits? Look how handy they were to have around!

4. When Pepper calms down from going super-Seiyan, Tony taps his ear and starts talking to Jarvis again and he replies, but he still hasn't put the headset back in his ear after the whole "no Jarvis don't target Pepper" panic. Maybe it wouldn't have bothered me if I saw it home on a laptop screen, but I saw it in IMAX and that giant empty ear canal was annoying.

5. Tony just decided to surgically remove the arc reactor now? If that was a possibility all along why didn't he do it sooner? Like, I don't know, when it was poisoning him to death and he was desperately searching for a cure? As a filmmaker, why would you do this? You have Extremis and Tony's convenient solution to stabilizing it right there as convenient and practical solution to this giant, gaping plot hole! On a more shallow note: it looks really cool.

Honestly, the ending was so strange in the context of the expanded MCU. It felt like The Dark Knight Rises, where the hero hangs up his cape and goes off to live happily ever, but we know Iron Man has at least two more movies in the works. I read somewhere Joss Whedon was a little annoyed by this movie, and if that's true, I definitely see why.

[shameless2shoes.livejournal.com]

Regarding 2, I think Rhodey was used a lot more exposition than previously and in more casual settings (we see him and Tony in a restaurant instead of on a military base like in the first movie) and he wasn't in an adversarial position with Tony this movie like in 2. So I'd say he does feel more relaxed, but I think it's a context thing more than a change within his character.

3. YES. wtf?

4. Also: YES. wtf?

[moodring54.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the after credits scene was cute and all, but those credits were ridiculously long. Like, they were crediting the caterers, the accountants, the guy who gets the coffee... Like, seriously, save that shit IMDB.

[squeeful.livejournal.com]

Dude, no. As someone who works in film/television. No. Fuck no. Those are credited in all movies now, if you bother to watch. These people put a lot of time, effort, and work into making a movie. Read or don't read them, whatever, but the least you can do is not grump about how long it takes to get to your precious after-credits scene.

[del_rion]

Made a comment earlier, but there are some things I'm still thinking about after seeing the movie four times, so far:

There were statements made, about "regulating" and not tolerating "addicts", when talking about Extremis. Does that mean that to uphold the Extremis, you need regular doses of something? What happens if you don't? Does it vanish? Or if you dose too much/often, you overheat? Or was that just a "bad batch"?

JARVIS kicks more ass in this movie than the others combined. Not only did he save Tony underwater, but he controlled all the armors in the final battle. *cuddles AI* That echoing "Yes, sir" with all the armors is one of my ultimate favorite lines in the film and sends a shiver down my spine every time.

Tony going MacGyver on the villains was badass in a new category. Also, did anyone else find his cuffed fight with Brandt (the Extremix chick in Rose HIll) a little kinky? How about the zip-tied-to-bed and being held prisoner, interrogated and throat-grabbed by Killian? lol, kinksters assemble... (but I'm not sure, even now, if Killian wanted Tony to work for him in the end, or not.)

On a related note to earlier, when Tony called Rhodey and asked about the people lighting up from the inside... when had Rhodey ran across them? (I need to read the prelude comic again, if it's a reference to that... or maybe that implied to their investigation to the 9 explosions.)

Are you sure Harley isn't Tony's long lost son? (and oh, the twitch Tony gave when Maya joked about the 13-year-old waiting in the car :D)

Tony's fragile mental state was brilliant. Also, I spied that look on his face that suggests he'll have problems with fire in the future, and bodies, and perhaps an Iron Man helmet in flames... a bunch of new horrors just inserted themselves in his brain, clearly, if that wide-eyed, frozen look is anything to go by.

Let's talk about AIM. This was just one think-tank that thought this one up. Yeah, they used Ten Rings symbols for their fake terror threat. (Which leads me to wonder, if they dug that one up, they probably knew Tony was held captive by them, and using their logo in their broadcasts would probably send Stark after them quicker than accidentally trying to burn his friend into a crisp. Not a smart move if they didn't want Iron Man coming after them). Anyway, this was just one faction of AIM. Are there more? I would assume that yes, there are. This think-tank played in the Extremis sandbox. What are the others doing?

Still not liking the ending... blowing up the armors was a weird gesture to alleviate Pepper's concerns, but the arc reactor still bothers me because they didn't show us whether Tony inserted himself with a new, improved version of Extremis or not. I refuse to think that this Dr. Wu was suddenly so much better than all the other doctors/tech in the world that they could just suddenly operate, after everything...

[ami-neko.livejournal.com]

Brandt was clearly getting off on that fight. I didn't find the bed thing kinky, but Killian did seem to have a thing about choking people. And I'm not sure what he wanted from Tony, either...at first it seemed like they wanted Tony to fix Extremis to save Pepper, but then Killian seemed be like, fuck it, I want this guy dead.

I didn't really like that Tony blew up all the armors, but he did create a protocol specifically to do that. He must have considered it at some point. Tony looked really uncomfortable during that scene.

[kitsuneyujji.livejournal.com]

Spoilers-

I don't really understand everyone's difficulty with Tony losing the arc reactor and having the surgery to remove the shrapnel. It's so heavily implied that he improved and used the Extremis that they might as well have put flashing signs across the screen and however it differed from comic!Extremis, it's shown regrowing entire limbs. That's absolutely canonical to the movie, not just a leap on the viewers part.

The hole in Tony's chest would be easier, IMO.

I didn't particularly enjoy the changes that they made to Extremis, but to me it was obvious that it was the reason he was able to fix himself.

Also, Tony is Iron Man. He doesn't need the arc reactor to put on the suit. Rhodey and Pepper both prove that. He just needs to desire and the will.

Of course...now he'd be more vulnerable to the glow-stick-of-destiny.

I didn't like the fact that he blew up all the suits. Pepper had just said that she understood, so to blow them up was an empty statement to me. A huge waste of resources and not very in-character. I think it'd be a more heartfelt sentiment to just make Pepper her own suit, but maybe that's just me.

[whizzy.livejournal.com]

I don't really understand everyone's difficulty with Tony losing the arc reactor and having the surgery to remove the shrapnel. It's so heavily implied that he improved and used the Extremis that they might as well have put flashing signs across the screen and however it differed from comic!Extremis, it's shown regrowing entire limbs. That's absolutely canonical to the movie, not just a leap on the viewers part.

I can explain my difficulty. The movie starts off by contrasting "old" Tony Stark, who contributes to Maya's work without a second thought, with "reformed" Tony Stark, represented by Pepper saying that SI will not deal with Extremis because it's weaponizable. So for Tony to use Extremis on himself, we have to assume a few things.

Tony would either need to obtain the research/samples or reverse-engineer whatever remains in Pepper. (Would anything remain in Pepper? It was implied that continued doses are required to maintain the effects.) Extremis was Maya and AIM's intellectual property, which underwent years of development post Tony's name tag scribble contribution. Why would the government or SHIELD just hand it all over to him? *edit* I could see him stealing it, hopefully with appropriate consequences.

In IM2, Tony is so adamant that the armor is a prosthetic and not a weapon. Same to a lesser extent with the arc reactor and clean energy. But whatever else Extremis could be, it is also a field-tested weapon on a whole new level, the upgrades and the side-effect instability. Tony would have to convince his conscience that tinkering with a dangerous, easily abused technology that isn't his to control is totally fine since his intentions are good. Or maybe his conscience objects but he does it for Pepper. Then, since he's gone that far already, he takes the next selfish step.

If he used Extremis to repair himself prior to surgery, then why is there a giant honking magnet hooked up above his chest during surgery? It sure looks like he's relying on the arc reactor's magnetic field to keep the shrapnel in place right up until the point that the shrapnel is removed. Or for that matter, why wouldn't Extremis' super healing expel the shrapnel as a damaging foreign entity?

So yeah, the use of Extremis might be heavily implied, but it's neither sufficiently explained nor justified. (Extremis would also be a massive game-changer in the MCU at large. Tony's all for technological innovation -- even potentially dangerous innovation, provided it's his -- benefiting the public at large. Say he does stabilize Extremis and de-weaponize it. That leaves him sitting on an actual lifesaving medical miracle that, from a plot standpoint, is far too powerful to exist. We already have two Avengers who are nearly impervious and a third who is tougher than the average human. Extremis would further limit any sense of physical danger to the team. Natasha gets shot eight times, Clint loses both legs, Tony's dying from massive internal injuries? Extremis, all fixed. An alternative is that Tony uses Extremis on himself and then... Extremis somehow becomes unusable ever again for some massively convenient reason.)

[ami-neko.livejournal.com]

Hey, if you wait past the scene with Bruce, past the Marvel logo and stuff, there's a black screen that says "Tony Stark will return."

[neera-pendragon.livejournal.com]

That single line was NECESSARY.
It seemed too much as an epilogue and some of my friends stared at me asking WAIT, NO MORE IRON MAN?