3. The Epic Final Battle
In 2008,
Iron Man was a breath of fresh air in the lungs of the superhero film genre. It was a wonderfully entertaining experience on so many levels, save for its lackluster final battle. Fans were supposed to believe Obadiah Stanes Iron Monger was a legitimate threat to Tony Starks Iron Man despite the former clearly moving so much slower than the latter onscreen, to speak nothing of its pilot's inexperience in flying a suit. The action was fun, but hardly on par with the rest of the genre at that point.
Iron Man 2 was an improvement in this area. There was a great sequence in which Iron Man and War Machine fought off Ivan Vankos drones by air and then by land. Watching War Machine have oil splattered on his helmet as he unloaded round after round into a drone was fanboy porn at its best. It all ended with a whimper, though, when Iron Man and War Machine used the Ghostbusters finishing move of crossing the streams to takeout Vanko in his brand new, but very Iron Monger-y armor.
Iron Man 3 finally delivers a climactic finale worthy of Tony Starks technological genius. Stark and James Rhodes first have to battle Killians Extremis army with nothing but a handgun each. When Tony calls for backup, all hell breaks loose and the audience is treated to a brutal fireworks show with suits and Extremis soldiers blowing up everywhere. Tonys ability to jump from suit to suit adds another series of thrills. The final confrontation between Stark and Killian is a battle that forces Stark to improvise in ways that only he can just to get some space from his enemy. Pepper Potts, thought dead moments before, comes back into play, turning the tables on the first two films and becomes Tonys figurative and literal savior. This is the kind of sequence the series has needed to end one of its films on. It helps make
Iron Man 3 completely satisfying not just for two acts, but for the entire film.