JBond Overanalyzes the MCU

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3. Iron Man 3 (2013)



There’s only two ways you can go with a sequel. You can either try to outdo yourself and make it bigger and badder, or when there’s nowhere else to go, you go back to the basics and start over They went the "Alien 1, 2, 3" approach, but with better results. What makes this film a breath of fresh air is just how high the Tony Stark to Iron Man ratio is. For almost the entire movie, Stark’s suit is out of commission. This allows for more one-on-one fighting and a deeper look into Tony Stark’s psyche – at just the right time, following the attack on New York in The Avengers. A lot of MCU movies, and movies in general, suffer with a weak middle, but in Iron Man 3 we have some of the best laughs of the bunch with Tony Stark and the boy who helps him get back on his feet. In a world of plots with single adults taking children under their wing, here's one where the adult calls the kid a pussy. Not your normal fare.

Of course, a lot of this movie's success belongs to writer-director Shane Black. Black not only has experience with more down-to-earth cloak and dagger plots (fire-breathing villains aside), but also experience with writing quips for Robert Downey Jr from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang days. The Lethal Weapon grittiness and rarely seen plot-driven MCU script really gives this movie a punch. It’s Iron Man, but in creative new ways. Tony throws a missile one day and fights with just his Iron Man foot and hand another. Though the similarities to the Lethal Weapon movies gets a little weird, from big things to small. A house on stilts comes down, it’s around Christmas (including a trip through Christmas trees), and there’s even a buddy-cop finale in a shipyard. Speaking of which, for a movie that was getting by so well without the Iron Man suits, it was odd they ended it with 200 of them. Though to be fair, Tony still isn’t in any of them.


Best Part: Iron Man saving the passengers falling from the plane.

Worst Part: I know people hate The Mandarin reveal, but I don’t really care. I guess the design behind the finale could have been better.


***.5/****


2. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)



The MCU well into Phase 2, fatigue could have easily set in. All the male Avengers had their own movie, sequels plans were everywhere, but little did we know, we were entering the Golden Era of the franchise. The flagship of this shift has to be Guardians of the Galaxy. Here was a movie with entirely different characters, not set on Earth, based on a hardly known comic, and generally was just kind of weird looking. With its now iconic soundtrack style, zany characters, gorgeous sets, and pulpy script goodness, we were given an instant classic. This movie also threw us knee-deep into the lore of Thanos and the Infinity Stones.


Best part: Prison escape scene.

Worst part: Yandu killing about 20 bad guys, one by one, as they all sat there and let it happen. Always bugged me.


***.5/****


1. Avengers: Endgame (2019)



I honestly didn’t know what was going to top my list at the start of this rewatch. I use to half-heartedly consider the original Iron Man my favorite. And with Infinity War not being up to snuff this time, I was surprised with just how wonderful Endgame is and how it holds up.

If I had to sum up what makes it so great for me, it would be the tight (and somehow 3 hour) script. It’s basically three parts: Infinity war aftermath/getting the gang back together, time heist, action finale showdown. For me, the beginning gives me most of what I’ve been craving for a long time in the MCU franchise, and that’s some god damn pain and loss. And boy do we get it. From Tony and Natasha, and perhaps the most effective of all, Thor and Scott. I always shed a tear when Scott’s reunited with his now older daughter, Cassie.

Next we have the time heist, which really says it all there in two words. It’s well integrated into the plot and we get all sorts of fan service to those paying attention over 10 years without any of it feeling too forced. Characters are reunited with lost loved ones, and have to leave them behind. And the precision of this part of the movie; the almost lucky way it works out for so many characters to go to 3 spots to get 6 Infinity Stones with almost all of them feeling like they’re in the right camp is really something. We have the heavy hitters in New York (and Jersey) where most of the action and stones are, Nebula and Rhodes get the power stone where Nebula is well-equipped to put her robotic arm through the force field (and sharing a moment with her Cyborg partner), and surprise, the two Avengers who love each other have a choice to make to get the Soul stone.

I made a point in my Infinity War write-up that said all the action felt cold and bland, but in Endgame, it’s almost all contained into the finale where the fight for all the marbles takes place. The execution of the returned characters (later known as The Blip) is perfection and the final battles and character interactions are very good, all culminating with the perfect Iron Man finish.


Best part: There are about 10 great scenes in this film, but I think I’m going to have to go with the scene starting with Sam coming back with “On your left,” the reintroduction of all the lost MCU heroes, ending with Cap saying “Avengers assemble.”

Worst part: I don’t like when they’re testing out time travel and Scott turns into a little kid, baby, and old man. Too silly.



****/****

Series peak is Infinity War in my opinion. Really balances all the various stories the best.

We agree on #1, but your best part is a plot hole. When he says "Avengers Assemble", they are already assembled.

I respect putting Iron Man 3 in the top three. That movie really sung on this recent rewatch.

Yeah, Iron Man 3 rules. Rhodey and Stark with no armor at the compound is just a genuinely fun scene, and speaks to Shane Black's strengths.

Well, I hope my weird tastes entertained everyone. And I hope you enjoyed the HUNDREDS of stills I stole from Disney+ to make this more fun.

I'm a big fan of theft.