Please try to bear with me as I figure out my words because right now, I have absolutely none. I just came back from seeing Iron Man 3 (9pm EST, Thursday May 2 – I know, I know, I'm posting this on May 3. I just …words, thoughts, feels). You know when you've been waiting to see something so bad, so so bad, and you finally do and it blows you away? Like, that great stretch when you just randomly lay down on your bed: the sheets are cool and ruffled, your jeans kind of slide down, and your pillow feels really nice, despite the fact it sucks the rest of the time? That's me, right now.
Iron Man 3, for me, has been an idea, a thought; it's been something that I have wanted the moment Tony took his last bow in Iron Man 2. It's been a need since he sat around a table eating an after world-saving dinner with the Avengers. And no, it's not a pun on Inception (I was going to try, but I'm tired and breathless, and I can't). Originally, I knew that whatever they came out with, whatever idea they decided to weave, would step on Whiplash like a bug. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the second Iron Man film, it just wasn't my favorite. It wasn't spectacular and it's not something I feel the need to watch all the time. But it was good; it was a step forward in what they were doing with Marvel, with Paramount, with the arcs of comics they had before them. So I knew that whatever they did would be outstanding.
I want to say it was a bumpy ride, I think it was really. They had their moments where things had to be questionable, especially when Jon left the mantle as director. The idea of someone taking his place, of someone else stepping up to the helm was …it was horrifying. Jon knew Marvel, he knew Iron Man, he knew Tony Stark: he just knew. What was worse, was that silence (albeit it lasted only a moment) when they decided on a director, when they debated on telling us or keeping silent for as long as possible. I don't know who had the big mouth and I really don't care, because that knowledge is comfort. It was a scary comfort.
Shane Black: I love Shane Black. But …what did he know about what he was getting into. The question floated and, despite my love for him, I did question him. He's a gritty director who knows dark comedy. He knows how to make characters suffer in light and laugh in dark. But wow, fucking wow. Shake blew it out of the water. Iron Man 3 exceeded expectations. And yeah, there were a few nitpicks, but there are always going to be, but the movie was great. It was better than great. The dark twists and turns that Shane dragged us through, the snow he pelted down and the lies he feed us: it added up, it worked, and it was beautiful. It was fucking heart wrenching.
I know that son of a bitch did it with a smile (pictures are floating around tumblr somewhere if you want to see).
He stepped into a slot that will never let him go; an overwhelming task that will haunt him and hold him forever. Congrats, Shane, I applaud you – I applaud you, for taking the job that not many others would do so without checking into a padded room first (and possibly making sure there's a mortician on standby).
The future is daunting, the path is black, and I sit here with my hands out wanting more. Even with the second arc spinning and Iron Man 3 finally circling my mind, shrieking its tails over and over, I want to know what comes next. How does it continue, how does it end? And the greatest mysteries of them all, how will the door that just closed, open once more?
But as they said: Tony Stark will return.
xox
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