4. Cute Kid Syndrome
How fortunate was it for Tony that the first garage he happens to break into after being stranded in Tennessee belongs to a kid. Not just any kid mind you but a special type of kid. The kind of kid who is an inventor just like Tony and happens to have the tools Tony needs to help rebuild his Iron Man suit. The kind of kid who is also fatherless and in need of a big brother type to mentor him. The kind of kid who suffers from an overabundance of precociousness. My Diagnoses; Iron Man 3 suffers from an acute case of Cute Kid Syndrome (also known as Cop and a 1/2 disease). Just to be fair I will admit that there was in fact some chemistry between Stark and the boy but it was more a lucky happenstance than anything else. Remember that the main actor is Robert Downey Jr.: a man so charismatic that he could act with a diaper and have good chemistry. I just wish that chemistry wasn't wasted on such a lame cliche' All I ask is that if your going to go the cute kid route switch it up a bit. What if the kid was dumb as rocks, or kind of a jerk, or Black, or Mexican (because you always hear of white fathers leaving their white kids), or even a girl. How about throwing in a funny twist. What if the kid lied to Tony about his father leaving. It would have been hilarious to have his dad show up and say "hi son" or something like that. Or imagine if Tony Stark did have a son with that chick....you know the girl who invented extremis. Remember the joke where she showed up and Tony said he hopes there isn't a 12 year old kid out in the car. Well, why couldn't there be. It would have been better (or at least more organic to the story) than the kid they dreamed up. They already ripped off Superman Returns with the plane rescue why not go a step further and steal the super hero kid subplot as well. Just sayin'.