2. Iron Man 3 (RIP-OFF)
I love Iron Man 3. Originality aside, it’s a quippy, fast-paced, stylish entry in the Marvel canon that succeeded in revitalizing the Iron Man franchise after a lackluster second installment. Director Shane Black smartly injected some of his trademark dark humor, and a raucous turn from Sir Ben Kingsley only increases my affection for the film. However, Drew Pearce’s script is far from original. In particular, Iron Man 3 rips off Pixar’s The Incredibles to a surprising degree.
Villain Adrian Killian (Guy Pearce) is a bona fide clone of Syndrome – both are initially bumbling geeks who worship powerful heroes (Tony Stark/Mr. Incredible) and are deeply wounded by said heroes totally giving them the brush-off. Both Killian and Syndrome then become super-villains and take revenge on their former heroes, attempting to destroy their loved ones (Pepper Potts/Helen, Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack Parr) and imprisoning their heroes after making the world believe they are dead. Fun stuff.
There are even tragic death fake-outs in both films. In Iron Man 3, Pepper believes that Tony has died during the Mandarin’s assault on their home early in the film, then Tony thinks that he’s lost Pepper after she falls into burning wreckage during the climactic oil tanker battle. Over in The Incredibles, meanwhile, Mr. Incredible is distraught after learning that his family’s jet has been shot down, and Helen is uncertain that Mr. Incredible is alive through most of the film.
If you need even more damning evidence of the similarities, take Tony’s friend Rhodey (Don Cheadle). An African-American man with extraordinary physical finesse, Rhodey wears a super-suit and enjoys fighting crime, sometimes alongside Iron Man. Question: Sound familiar? Answer: Frozone rides again!
Published: Dec 19, 2013 01:55 pm