So, yeah, the Mandarin reveal completely ruined a fun and entertaining movie. This is the only Iron Man movie in which Iron Man doesn't fight with a different version of himself. What a waste. There was actually potential in this movie.
Shane Black directed this movie. Jon Favreau was fired after the reviews of the second movie and he was left with an acting role. It's actually pretty nice that he stayed as an actor in the MCU as Happy Hogan and not leave completely. Here he is Potts' security guard because, well, Iron Man doesn't need a security guard. Although I think that in the comics Iron Man for a time at least was Stark's security guard. I think his role in the MCU has become rather significant. It's great that he stayed.
Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark. After the events of The Avengers Stark suffers from PTSD and panic attacks and obviously, he doesn't even think about getting professional help. He spends all of his time perfecting his armors and creating more suits. He is on Mark 42 while not sleeping for 72 hours in a row, that really bad. Mark 42! Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is worried about him, but her ability to act on it is limited.
Apparently, once upon a time Stark hurt two different people who decide to come after him. Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) who wanted to work with Stark on some new technology and was deeply offended when Stark just didn't show up to their roof meeting and Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) who just become another one night stand and he didn't get to see her incredible ideas after one of them caught fire. Their ideas together are rather explosive. However, their ideas are incomplete, they need Stark's brain to complete their diabolical plan.
In the background we have the fake Mandarin (Trevor Slattery). He creates terror attacks around the world and blames the United States. He seem legit, but obviously as we know, he is not. We shall meet the real Mandarin for the first time in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Aldrich Killian hired this failed actor to blame for everything while he plans to play on both side to the map, both the government and the terrorists. He created a serum that heals people's injuries and gives them fire power and occasionally make them explode. The vice president daughter doesn't have a leg so he is the perfect candidate to blackmail. All you need to do is get rid of the president. Sure, Colonel James Rhodes's War Machine is there for protection, but he is not really effective. He can never be Iron Man.
Meanwhile, Happy is suspicious of Killian when he shows up to talk to Potts. Even though Stark doesn't take him seriously because he is stuck in his own head. Happy follows Killian when one of his subjects shows up. He uses too much of the material and explodes, injuring Happy. Happy wakes up at the end of the movie so he won't have much to do.
A very angry Stark gives Mandarin his home address on national TV. Not a great plan. Killian sends his men to blow up the house and kill Stark. They fail. They do blow up the house, but everyone survives. Stark ends up in the middle of nowhere and manages to get the help of an adorable and also really smart kid named Harley Keener. The kid helps him get over his anxiety and find some inner strength through Stark's wisdom. Although I really wish panic and anxiety really worked like that in reality, short and easily distracted. That kid is super cute. Conveniently one of Killians' failed experiments lived close by and Killian's fire gunnies come after Stark. It takes a lot to kill them as they keep healing, but Stark manages to kill one of the two which is impressive. The kid also tries to help him which is cute. Stark's relationship with kids is odd generally speaking. But he manages to help the kid fight his bully problem. With a weapon, none lethal, but I am not sure it sends a good message. Also, like most things from phase two these powers and kid disappear.
Stark finds fake Mandarin and gets himself kidnapped, while Killian kidnaps Potts and gives her the serum that turns her into a fire monster basically. An unstable one for that. Killian needs Stark to make his formula stable. He also basically explains to Stark his entire evil plan. Not a great idea. Rhodes also gets kidnapped and his suit is taken away from him. Everyone got kidnapped in this movie.
But you know, it's not a brilliant Marvel movie so everything gets resolved rather easily. Although the finale battle is pretty awesome. When Iron Man goes up against all of the fire powered people with all of his suits which are controlled by Jarvis. So much Iron Man. Plus, Potts and her fire powers which miraculously disappear after this movie also get a few important swings against Killian and kill him in fact. In the end all bad guys are defeated and the president is freed. No need for the Avengers to assemble when the fate of the free world is at stake apparently.
Stark promises to Potts to start over and destroys all of his Iron Man suit. I guess she loses her powers in the procedure we see her go through. Stark has surgery to remove his metal shards from his heart and he doesn't have to be Iron Man anymore. Although the movie ends with him saying that he is Iron Man. He also gives Harley so much cool technological stuff that I really hope we will see again in Marvel or see him in an actual acting role.
It's funny when in the post credit scene we see that Stark was explaining the entire movie to Banner, who says he is not that kind of a doctor. And falls asleep. Couldn't he have called the Hulk to help him stop Killian? Hulk could literally smash all of the fire people to death. Although solving mysteries is Stark's department, not Banner's. The science bros don't even come across as good friends here.
It was an enjoyable movie. The action was good. The dialogue was funny and full of quips. The dealing with anxiety and PTSD was good, for an action movie. Rhodey had literally nothing to do in this movie. Potts didn't have much to do either other than be Stark's motivation. But it was fun and entertaining. Mandarin tarnishes this entire movie. Also, it seems that Stark semi-retires at the end of this movie, but he is back to being Iron Man in Avengers: Age of Ultron so I don't see how that works out. Oh well.
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