turned to steel in that great magnetic field

[lotesse]

jeez I really enjoyed this movie. Like, more than I have enjoyed a movie for a long time now. I don't think there was a minute that I wasn't all in for. And Tony was delicious and they didn't kill the bots (thank god, I was bracing for a tidal wave of fannish grief if Dummy had actually perished), but there are two things about Iron Man 3 that are making me really really happy right now:

1. I am utterly charmed by the faux!Mandarin reveal. They played it gorgeously with all the promo materials, and the scenario of the actor is so genuinely funny and utterly terrifying at the same time that I just can't even. But more than charmed I'm relieved - because it gave them an out for the problem of the Mandarin's character, the Orientalism, and also the issue of Ben Kingsley being white/Indian and definitely not Chinese - it wasn't them, it was the villain! I'm impressed by the dexterity of the dodge.

2. The gentleness and grace with which this film deals with mental health issues. Tony's anxiety problems, his PTSD symptoms, are narratively treated on with absolute acceptance. There's no melodramatic angsting about how his panic attacks make him useless. Tony and Rhodey and that ridiculously adorable little kid (related to Paltrow? looks like it) just kind of take it in stride when it happens: Tony's having a panic attack, get through it and then move on. But at the same time, it's also such an unusual move to let Tony have PTSD in the first place - comic book violence never seems to have that kind of long-term psychological effect. It might lead to Heathcliffian brooding, but not to actual realistic psychological symptoms. I just - I don't feel like I've seen this story told before, or not in this way: the story about how going through shit can really fuck you up, and that sucks but it's also okay, because you're still you and still strong and smart and worthy and good, that you can have panic attacks and be a superhero AT THE VERY SAME TIME. It felt really really good to watch.

Comments

[lotesse]

I see what you mean about the kid - on the other hand, though, I think I'm grateful on the whole for the lightening of tone it signals in the middle part of the movie - if the whole thing was as wrenching and difficult as the first part, it would be a hard movie to watch.

I would have been much happier if it had been a little girl. Comic books movies always seem to have insufficient quantities of little girls.

[princessofgeeks]

Yeah, I thought of that too. That would have been fun.