Iron Man?

 What's up everyone? I'm the one and only female film blogger who goes by TheCinemaChick! Right now, it is 1 AM, I'm drinking Dr. Pepper like a moron and I've seen the movie that is sure to be on everyone's mind this weekend. I happened to attend an all day marathon for this film and I was there from noon to about 11:30. It's already made about 200 million overseas and I foresee it doing just as well here in the states. My preliminary estimate is that it will take in at least 150 million in three days, including midnight showings (or in my case, 9:00 PM shows).

Guys, it's here. “Iron Man 3” has hit theaters.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a Marvel girl. I love their films and I love their comics. Needless to say, I loved the first two installments of this series. The first film established Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and the second...was a mild embarrassment. “The Avengers” solidified the role and character as iconic one. So when people heard that the third in this franchise would be coming, the expectations were high. Then it succeeded in the foreign market. So without a doubt, it has to do well in our own theaters right?

Well...please don't kill me.

“Iron Man 3” will do well because of the hype, the actors and because its Marvel. Beyond that, I don't think it will be much of a success. Commercially and financially, it has exceeded expectations but for me, I just didn't care for it. What sucks is that the trailers make it seem action packed and a thrill a minute. In reality...it wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. This isn't something I would see again, but I'm glad I saw it. I'm not saying it was absolute crap, I just didn't care for it.

I found it lackluster, confusing and suffering from major plot holes. I just didn't believe any of the actors this time. It felt a bit forced to me. Let me get one thing clear. To me, Gwyneth Paltrow was not the best choice for Pepper Potts. I don't find her to be a great actress and she comes across as very stuck up and haughty. True, now that I've seen all the films, I can't think of anyone else to play the part, but still, I just don't like her. Robert Downey Jr, on the other hand, is Tony Stark. It's like, who else could play Happy? Jon Favreau is perfect in the part.

Here's where my issues start. The Tony Stark we have come to know and love in three movies, isn't the same Tony Stark in this one. Something has happened to him, I won't say what but if you've seen “The Avengers” you know, and it's caused him some stress. In the trailers, he says he can't sleep and that issue gets resolved. However, they open up another area that could be deeply explored. It plays a major part until about midway through, then it's just dropped entirely. There is no definite resolution to almost any storyline in the film. And the few that are finished are basically nothing but voice overs.

Then, there's the villain, The Mandarin. Ben Kingsley joins the cast as the mysterious and for some reason, slightly annoying bad guy. Seriously, someone get The Mandarin some speech therapy because he likes to drag out his words. But there's a huge plot twist thrown in that makes even less sense and completely throws off the momentum of the film. In fact, that happens a lot. The film is going along and BAM! Completely goes off in a different direction, ruining the flow. I could understand this happening once, maybe twice, but this honestly seemed to happen about four times.

Don't even get me started on the ending. For me, it just went against everything the other Iron Man movies stood for. It was like giving up on something after spending years perfecting it. Ok, yeah, it is left open and there is a post credit scene that sort of helps me feel a bit better about it. All it says is “Iron Man will return”. So...if you've seen the trailers, you've seen the snippet where Tony is going under the knife. I'm pretty sure we all have the same idea about what it means, but if you don't know I won't spoil it for you. I will just say that it takes place at the end of the film, within the final ten minutes.

I don't want to discourage anyone from seeing “Iron Man 3”. Remember, this is just my personal opinion of it and I didn't care for it. The more I've thought about it and gone through my notes, I realize I truly did not like this film. It's not on my worst films list but it's not something I can look back on and think “I truly enjoyed that”. I still prefer the previous two films but many people are saying this is the best one yet.

I will leave that for everyone to decide on their own.

As for me, I've seen it. I'm done with it. Time to move on.

“Iron Man 3” is a confusing, twisted, complicated ride through Tony's life that just didn't sit well with me. It could have been better, but it could also have been worse. I really don't care for me but Fry liked it. I also took my uncle to see it and he enjoyed it as well. Personally, I need several things to be spelled out for me in order to understand it better. There were too many plot twists, plot holes and loose threads for my enjoyment.

Is this the end of Iron Man?

Will he show up in “Avengers 2”?

What does Joss Whedon have in store for us?

Why did this movie have to end like that?

See it for yourself. Maybe you can tell me something that I missed. I don't know. I'm excited for a bunch of movies coming out, like “Star Trek Into Darkness”, “Thor The Dark World”, “The Mortal Instruments City of Bones” and “The Great Gatsby”.

I'm TheCinemaChick and I'll be Austin bound tomorrow for one hell of a wedding.