"Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher. America, ready for another lesson?... President Ellis, you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir. And now, you've missed me again. You don't know who I am. You don't know where I am. And you'll NEVER see me coming."
The portrayal of the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 has always been a controversial one. On one side there are the die-hard fans who bemoan Iron Man's greatest nemesis being reduced to a comedic character. On the other side there are many (myself included) who consider the narrative choices taken a brilliant attempt to tackle a rather larger than life (an potentially politically incorrect villain). The film created an evil mastermind and then pulled the rug out from under us to reveal a rather different persona inside. The cleverest twist of all is that the Mandarin, the terrorist leader of the Ten Rings is just a figurehead. The real threat is the hidden mastermind behind it; Aldrich Killian and A.I.M. They are the ones that create the extremis threat, destroy Tony Stark's home, blow up Air Force One, kidnap the President of the United States and unleash as army of super soldiers. They just happen to have the actor Tony Slattery up in front the cameras to play the Bin-Laden-type baddie that all the word can fear. The Method Behind His Madness Which one; Slattery or Killian's Mandarin? Either way, this terrorist's goal is to cause global chaos, take down the big cheese that is Iron Man and create an unstoppable army of Extremis super soldiers. The Degree Of Terror And Destruction He Leaves In His Wake From Stark's Malibu dream house to Air Force One in two thrilling action sequences. The Ten Rings / A.I.M / Mandarin unleashes some some spectacular devastation in this film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhl1jQsJDdM His Sheer Force Of Character The Mandarin is a character that personifies everything we find frightening about terrorists. The voice, the look, the ability to high jack the air waves; The Mandarin is a brilliant character even before the 'Thespian' Slattery is revealed. He might even had been higher on the list had the response to him not been so divided,,,
A writer for Whatculture since May 2013, I also write for TheRichest.com and am the TV editor and writer for Thedigitalfix.com . I wrote two plays for the Greater Manchester Horror Fringe in 2013, the first an adaption of Simon Clark's 'Swallowing A Dirty Seed' and my own original sci-fi horror play 'Centurion', which had an 8/10* review from Starburst magazine! (http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/eventsupcoming-genre-events/6960-event-review-centurion) I also wrote an episode for online comedy series Supermarket Matters in 2012. I aim to achieve my goal for writing for television (and get my novels published) but in the meantime I'll continue to write about those TV shows I love! Follow me on Twitter @BazGreenland and like my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BazGreenlandWriter
