Disappointed

Rating: 6/10 (28 April 2013)

I was looking forward to seeing this movie so much, but walked away very disappointed. It's not that I thought it a bad movie, I have sure seen worse in all my years. It just left me very unsatisfied. Firstly, we have now had three Iron Man movies where a principal villain is a corrupt industrialist. Can the writers not think up anything new? I also felt their treatment of the character of The Mandarin was just woeful. The Mandarin, Iron Man's arch foe, being reduced to an almost comical character was uncalled for. They may as well have made The Red Skull a clown in Captain America. Wouldn't a big screen CGI clash between Iron Man and the true Mandarin been better, or as least as good as, the clash we ended up with in the finale of this movie? Some of these Hollywood types need to realize that we don't have to have a big song and dance to explain why a villain is a villain. A super hero movie is a fantasy adventure with lots of action, so all the villain really has to do is be bad enough for you to really root for the hero. Here's a simple plot line. The Mandarin is enslaving Chinese peasants for some nefarious plan, and the Chinese government can do nothing about it. In the hope of strengthening US/Chinese relations the Chinese government, knowing that the US has super heroes, asks the US government for help. The US send Iron Patriot, who is ambushed, defeated, and imprisoned by The Mandarin. Iron Man decides to intervene not only to rescue his friend, but to free the enslaved peasants, which he does. No corrupt politicians, no evil industrialists, just two straight up drag 'em out fights between the good guys, Iron Patriot and then Iron Man, versus The Mandarin. Simple, and something even kids understand. After all, just how many 15 year olds understand industrial espionage and the like? Just keep it simple. This movie will of course make money, it is Iron Man after all. People who have been reading about and watching super heroes for decades, like me, will always want to see them on the big screen regardless. Still, I truly don't believe that this movie deserves the box-office receipts that it will get, and judging by the reaction of the people in the cinema with us, I think a lot of other people will feel the same.