I was hoping that the Mandarin would be revealed to be a an actor posing as a terrorist, because it made such perfect sense and would make the story better and smarter.
Yes, indeed. And hey, who knows, maybe the two scriptwriters watched The Lone Gunmen as well!
I also liked that the movie completely ignored the "oh, who shall I save?" dilemma that Rhodes' line had set up and that would no doubt be milked for its worth in some other superhero movie. We can't save them both? Sure we can! And in the meantime, Tony will first save the people who are in most immediate danger of dying a horrible death.
One thing most of the Marvel films are good at, and this one is REALLY good at, is emphasizing the value of people working together. And that's another thing that makes it fit so well into post Avengers continuity. Tony knows that working together means more lives saved (and Rhodey has always known that). And he uses his ability to think outside the box, which as an engineer he always had but pre-Afghanistan didn't apply to goals that weren't for his own amusement, for the most dire emergency. Which, again, depends on people working together even while their lives are threatened, that they grasp what he's getting at and help each other so they can all make it out alive. It's such a great non-patronising way to use the superhero concept - these people need Tony in some dire situations, but they're not passive tokens to be saved, they're people with their own minds, he knows that and is counting on it, and the film knows and honors it, too.
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Yes, indeed. And hey, who knows, maybe the two scriptwriters watched The Lone Gunmen as well!
I also liked that the movie completely ignored the "oh, who shall I save?" dilemma that Rhodes' line had set up and that would no doubt be milked for its worth in some other superhero movie. We can't save them both? Sure we can! And in the meantime, Tony will first save the people who are in most immediate danger of dying a horrible death.
One thing most of the Marvel films are good at, and this one is REALLY good at, is emphasizing the value of people working together. And that's another thing that makes it fit so well into post Avengers continuity. Tony knows that working together means more lives saved (and Rhodey has always known that). And he uses his ability to think outside the box, which as an engineer he always had but pre-Afghanistan didn't apply to goals that weren't for his own amusement, for the most dire emergency. Which, again, depends on people working together even while their lives are threatened, that they grasp what he's getting at and help each other so they can all make it out alive. It's such a great non-patronising way to use the superhero concept - these people need Tony in some dire situations, but they're not passive tokens to be saved, they're people with their own minds, he knows that and is counting on it, and the film knows and honors it, too.