IRON MAN 3 Spoiler Review: 6 Things Wrong in a Movie That Feels Different From Past Marvel Studios Films

Iron Man 3 is out in theaters (finally!) and there are many different reviews across the board. Most are favorable but many say the same thing which is that this is not a your same old Marvel Studios film that many were expecting. This makes the movie sound bad but it really wasn't. It had a very different feel to it. Probably due to the fact Shane Black took over the director seat for Jon Favreau and the auteur theory is now completely different.

Action, drama, suspense, humor. Iron Man 3 has it all and it is really a solid film but every film has it's issues and let's dig into some of the major things wrong with this film.

Incoming SPOILER ALERTS so if you haven't seen it yet stop reading, get to the theater and watch it, then come back to this review.

When the did Tony Stark's arc reactor stop powering his suit?

Stark built himself a miniaturized arc reactor to place into his chest to prevent shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him. As seen in the previous films, it's the arc reactor that powers Stark's suit, and even the War Machine suit. Now, having an armor legion of suits that run independently of the arc reactor, the suits have to be charged.

But why is this the case with the suit Stark wears? At one point in the movie, Stark has on his Mark 42 suit and it is attached to a car battery, so it can charge. Why doesn't the arc reactor power the suit he is wearing?

It makes sense that the suit still needs a charge if Stark is to use it remotely, as seen in the earlier part of the film when the suit literally acts like a bodyguard to protect Stark. But the arc reactor is still a power source and the fact that it seems to not power the suit Stark is wearing just makes zero sense.

Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. would have protected Stark's home from being attacked

This might be nitpicking but there is no way Stark's house would've been attacked. There is no way Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. did not know this could happen and there's no way they would not send protect or a response team. If Fury can keep tabs on Bruce Banner and keep tails off him—as mentioned in The Avengers—the attack on the Malibu mansion would not have been as extensive as it was and S.H.I.E.L.D. jets would have been sent out to attack the Mandarin's helicopters.

Even after Stark threatened the Mandarin the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier would've been parked outside of Stark's home and in stealth mode to protect and support one of its Avengers. Fact.

No real set up for Marvel's Phase 2 movies, or that we know about, yet

Iron Man started off Marvel Studios' Phase 1 and didn't hint to the bigger world that Iron Man was to be a part of until the end credits scene with Fury. Iron Man 2 did tease a larger cinematic universe that was connected through other heroes being in the film. Iron Man 3 reverts back to the first film and is the most standalone Marvel Studios film since the first one.

Yeah, there are references to Stark's experience during the battle of New York in The Avengers, but not much is hinted toward the future. Nothing about the next Thor, the next Captain America or the next Avengers movies.

Being the first film in Phase 2 it has to be tough to really start referencing future happenings in films because you might give too much away too fast. However as the end credits imply, Iron Man 3 is just a story Stark tells Banner during their "therapy session." (Which implies Stark and Bruce Banner are possibly working together post-Iron Man 3 events!)

There's never enough War Machine / Iron Patriot being a bad ass

Some fans loved Terrance Howard as James Rhodes, while other like Don Cheadle. Regardless of which actor you like in the role one thing is certain and it's that there's not enough Rhodey and Stark fighting together. In Iron Man 2, you got some and in Iron Man 3 you got none. Yes, there was some fun banter between the two of them, as usual, but fans wants to see Iron Man and Iron Patriot fighting side-by-side more.

And why can't there be a scene of the U.S. military repainting War Machine into Iron Patriot? Using an in-movie news cast telling the audience that War Machine has been re-branded as Iron Patriot is such a weak way of telling it. No love for War Machine / Iron Patriot in this movie and he seemed to be forced into this movie just to have him in it. Maybe, just maybe, he'll get more screen time and a chance to be bad ass like he was at the end of Iron Man 2.

The Mandarin twist

Love it or hate it, it happened. And while hardcore comic book fans will hate that Marvel Studios drastically changed who and what the Mandarin is, Marvel likes to take liberties and change things around in their movies. Ben Kingsley's Mandarin is a fake and his performance after the reveal really stole the show. He was a bumbling drunk and druggie actor.

The fact it was all a front for A.I.M head honcho Aldrich Killian has many fans in an uproar. Killian is really the Mandarin and the Mandarin is more of a symbol that can be used to invoke fear into people. No the Mandarin is not a powered villain with alien rings and many fan boys hate this and will have to deal with it moving forward. At least the Mandarin's comic origin can still be used on the big screen because who's to say someone doesn't find 10 alien rings with powers and then assumes the mantle of the Mandarin once again.

No more chest arc reactor?

This is a biggie for the fan base since Stark still has his chest piece in the comic universe. Once it again, Marvel Studios has changed things for the big screen.

Now that the suits are charged, Stark doesn't need his chest piece anymore. At the end of Iron Man 3, doctors remove the shrapnel from Stark's chest and he no longer needs his chest piece. Plus, in the actual credits, it clearly stated that Iron Man will be back.

But without a chest piece? That's seem kind of strange and not seeing a circular glow through Stark's shirts will definitely take some getting used to.


In conclusion, this movie was highly entertaining despite the above-mentioned issues (and probably several other issues others will see as problems). Still a worthy Marvel Studios addition to their growing stable of characters and films and it's worth a trip to your local theater to check it out at least once, but you might have to see it twice to really grasp the different feel of this superhero movie.

Once again Marvel defies those who continue to say the superhero movie genre is a fad and will fade away. Not happening bubs (see what we did there to set up this summer's next Marvel movie?).

8 out of 10




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