We all know by now of the infamous - and in my opinion, idiotic - twist that "Iron Man 3" tried to pull with the Mandarin, famed in the comics as Tony Stark's archenemy, the Joker to his Batman, the Lex Luthor to his Superman, the Green Goblin to his Spider-Man. Just because he's not as famous as those villains doesn't mean he isn't worthy of respect. Sadly, nobody told that to Shane Black. Not only did he and co-writer Drew Pearce turn the Mandarin into a drunken British actor named Trevor Slattery (what a waste of Ben Kingsley's talents), devoid of any menace or intelligence, but they had Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), already stealing the villain's backstory from "The Incredibles" and making it utterly shallow, scream with his last breath that HE was the Mandarin all along, despite having absolutely NOTHING in common with the character as he'd been presented in the comics and promised in the trailers for the movie.
Look, I'm no purist. I recognize the need to make changes for an adaptation. BUT, and this is a big but, they have to be changes that make sense and fit into the story, NOT changes for the sake of making changes, and certainly NOT changes for the sake of mocking and insulting the characters and their fans. I don't know how "Iron Man 3" made such huge box office numbers - I suppose it's a sad commentary on the movie-going public, much as Black claimed that the Mandarin twist was some sort of social commentary. Yeah, pull the other one, you nitwit. You're NOT that clever.
Fortunately, Drew Pearce is, if this little gem is any clue. Ben Kingsley returns as Trevor, and setting aside the ire over how wasted he was in the movie, it almost goes without saying that he nails the role - I mean, c'mon, he's a brilliant actor, we all know that. Trevor has been living the high life in prison, with pretty much all the inmates going fanboy over him on a regular basis. He even has a butler of sorts, a big black guy named Herman (Lester Speight) who protects him from those inmates not so enthused.
But, as was the case in "Iron Man 3", Trevor is blind to the true implications of what he's done, mindlessly going along with Killian's scheme to use the Mandarin's image as a distraction from his true plan (however half-baked it was). It comes back to bite him in his drug-addled butt when Jackson Norris (Scoot McNairy), a documentary filmmaker who's been interviewing him, trying to get at the man behind the role, turns out to be much more than he's let on. After some enjoyable comedy revolving around Trevor's past, the drama rears its head most elegantly - Jackson reveals that the Ten Rings, the terrorist group who were abusing Tony Stark's weapons back in the first "Iron Man", are deeply upset about Trevor and Killian's treatment of their legendary leader. How does he know this? Because he himself is a member of the Ten Rings, and he proceeds to take out Herman and capture Trevor. With the last few lines, we learn that Trevor is being taken to see the REAL Mandarin, who wants his name back - and that Trevor is still hilariously yet tragically clueless about the implications.
Wow. Just...wow. In the space of a quarter of an hour and in the guise of a humorous look at a divisive character, Drew Pearce has rectified THE biggest mistake of "Iron Man 3". The Mandarin is real, he still lives, and he's just as angry as the fans are about his name being stolen and his reputation butchered to serve an idiotic plot. Indeed, Trevor mentions an online uproar at one point, doubtless a nod to the real-life one. Whether this film was made purely to calm that uproar or not (Pearce claims it was more or less part of the plan regardless, due to the fake Mandarin causing plot holes with the first movie), it has certainly taken the edge off that insulting twist. Now we know that the archvillain has yet to reveal himself, and when he does, with any luck, he'll be treated with much more respect. As "All Hail the King" itself notes with its opening quote, "Come not between the dragon and his prey."
Bravo, Drew Pearce and Marvel Studios. You've earned yourselves a second chance to do the Mandarin justice. Don't mess it up.
Oh, and let's not forget the amusing cameo by Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, just as pathetic and whiny as ever, and evidently with a "special" friend at his side. When one considers how in "Iron Man 2", he was the corrupt industrialist trying to outdo Tony, but the menacing foreign villain (Mickey Rourke's Ivan Vanko) was manipulating HIM all along, it makes one realize just how little substance there was to the third movie's villain plot. It was nothing more than a cheap flip-over. Hopefully, if "Iron Man 4" comes into being, it'll ditch that in favor of something more original.
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