Out of all the Iron Man movies, the third one must really be the longest. I like to categorize the whole movie as “Pre-Mandarin Discovery” and “Post-Mandarin Discovery” because that’s just how I remember key points in the movie.
One of the best things about Tony Stark this movie is his grapple with anxiety post Battle of New York. While it hurts to see one of our favorite characters afflicted by such a human illness, that’s why it’s the best; because it reminds us that he’s human.
What furthers this, is when he meets Harley in Rose Hill, Tennessee, a little boy that is now widely theorized to be none other than Peter Parker. While I find that idea far-fetched, I will say that Harley holds the same cuteness and innocence as Peter in future movies.
Of course, the major shock and confusion of the film was the end when Tony agreed to a procedure to remove the piece of metal that’s been lodged in his chest for years. It leaves the audience questioning “what now?” while also providing a warm and happy ending for Tony and Pepper.
Thor: The Dark World is a classic trope of we were focused on her world, now let’s go to mine. Practically kidnapping Natalie Portman to Asgard was like an hour and a half experience of culture shock, while also providing us a regular shock.
While we still don’t know much about Thor’s mother, her death shocked everyone and had me wiping a single tear from my eye. This was also the movie that Loki started his running gag of faking his death. A good gag, and one that allows us to further discover who Loki is underneath all the murdery, bad guy vibes.
The end of the movie alerted us to the presence of another Infinity Stone out in the universe, planting the seed before we even know Infinity War was to even come.
More Marvel movies on the way!