The consensus here at the House of Geekery is that Iron Man 3 is quite possibly the best in the series to date. It’s well paced, it focuses on characters, Iron Man has a worthy foe and the action is big and bombastic. It’s also full of some glaring plot holes and problems. It’s a good thing the movie was so much bloody fun because this clunky moments would’ve unsaddled a lesser film. What problems are we talking about?
(Spoilers, obviously.)
#7 – Security on Air Force One
When Iron Patriot/Mandarin gets on board the Presidential plane Air Force One with the intention of take the big man hostage the rest Secret Service on board stood little chance. What chance they may have had is thrown out with a cabin window is hit with a bullet and the cabin depressurises. Wait – Air Force One doesn’t have bullet-proof windows?
Who built this crappy thing?
#6 – Pepper Left Hanging
During the explosive finale to the movie Pepper is doing the classic damsel in distress routine of dangling from a high ledge. Tony Stark busts his ass trying to reach her in time and save her useless self but is frequently prevented from doing so. With his super genius it’s strange that he didn’t think to send one of the many Iron Man suits zipping around the place to scoop her up, since it had been shown a number of times that they could make themselves handy at the drop of a hat.
“Seriously? Nobody wants to touch her?”
#4 – Killian and Pepper
Ok, what’s his deal with Pepper? He seemed really hung up on getting her by his side, and there’s an indication that they have known each other in the past but he rally puts a lot of his plan on the line trying to get her on his own team. If he really wanted to piss off Stark he could’ve simply killed her.
Slurp.
#3 – Killian’s Motivation
On that note, what’s his problem in the first place? Ok, so Stark made a fool of him back in the day and now he’s got a big plan for taking over America…but why? Indicators point to him having this plan in motion well before he set up the Think Tank and everything he has pursued in the meantime have been towards his plan of creating a faux terrorist and replacing the President. But why? What’s his ideological position and what does he gain? He’s already rich, powerful and dangerous, there’s little to gain from all this.
“I was in it for the lulz.”
#2 – Trevor is the Worst Possible Man for the Job
What on Earth made them chose Trevor for the role of the Mandarin? Killian needed someone who could be controlled, and Trevor’s drug habit made that possible. But the guy is a complete disaster, desperate for work and kept in the dark about everything happening. First issue – how exactly did they keep him convinced that he was only acting and not killing people when he shoots someone on live television? Then there’s the massive juxtaposition between how professional he is in the role of the Mandarin and how he acts off camera. It’s difficult to imagine how this guy, who regularly nods off while people have guns pointed at him, gets his job done. It would be equally effective if they had a drug-addicted actor who was more clued in to what was happening but shared the ideology of the Mandarin and was willing to play that role.
“Zzzzzzzzzz…”
#1 – Gwyneth Paltrow is in it
