Usually I try to post something a few hours after I saw a movie, but this time around I got a little sidetracked. I saw this last Saturday, and it's now Wednesday. Readjusting to life at home in Fort Wayne, attempting to unpack in a room that hardly has any room at all to unpack, and just general laziness and procrastination have caused a little bit of a delay but hopefully I'll be able to get things back on track in terms of sticking to the schedule for this that I had laid out in a previous post. Well, now that that's out of the way...
'Iron Man 3' (PG-13) ***
The summer movie season kicks off with a bang with 'Iron Man 3', the latest in the Marvel Movie Universe that originally begin with 'Iron Man' back in 2008. This time around Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is having panic attacks as a result of the events of 'The Avengers', hardly sleeping and constantly working to build new variations of the Iron Man suit. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Lt. Colonel Rhodes (Don Cheadle) are worried for him, and soon new threats enter onto the horizon. The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is a Chinese-culture obsessed, Texan accent sounding, bin Laden type terrorist who had claimed responsibility for bombings across the country that have left no evidence of actual bombs being used. After Stark's bodyguard and now head of security for Stark Industries Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) is injured in such a bombing, Tony Stark calls out the Mandarin on national TV and seeks revenge.
Simply put, this is a fun movie. Lots of explosions and awesome action scenes, with my personal favorite being Iron Man trying to rescue crew members from a plane as they fall out of the sky. Good special effects for the most part, though it isn't Industrial Light & Magic this time around. Weta Digital takes over this time around, the same people who did the 'Lord of the Rings' movies, 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', and 'Avatar' (ugh). The movie is also quite funny, full of cackling wit from Robert Downey Jr. as genius/billionaire/playboy/philanthropist Tony Stark. Everyone else does a pretty good job as well, and since it's a Marvel movie of course Stan Lee makes a quick, funny cameo appearance. It is a different director this time around (Shane Black of 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' taking over from Jon Favreau) but it doesn't miss a beat at all nor does it feel all that different from the other 'Iron Man' movies, though this is one is little bit darker in tone. Tony Stark has panic attacks, feels cold for the first time, and is pushed to desperation. He's out of the Iron Man suit for most of the movie and actually has to survive using his wits and whatever he can build from scratch (Almost like 'The Dark Knight Rises'....to an extent). Comic book fans might get upset by a plot twist that comes in about halfway through movie, but since I've never read any of the comics this didn't bother me at all. For someone who isn't a comic book nerd I thought the twist worked and was kinda funny, though I can see how it would upset people.
Now, as a stand alone movie I thought it was fun, but how does it compare to the others? Honestly out of the 'Iron Man' trilogy I thought this was the best one. The first 'Iron Man' was kinda 'eh' in my opinion. Robert Downey Jr. was awesome, but the movie as a whole didnt really work all that well for me. 'Iron Man 2' was half awesome, half 'eh'. I felt it just kinda got dragged down with 'Avengers' set-up and War Machine and Whiplash weren't used as much as they could've been. This one is darker, more fun, and has a better story with a villain that is clearly present throughout and has clearer motives and it doesnt dissolve into two people inside 'Iron Man' type machines fighting each other in a fight that came out of the blue. 'The Avengers' is still better than every single 'Iron Man' movie, and I am trying to stay patient as I wait for 'Avengers 2' to finally come out. While I liked 'Iron Man 3', it would be nice if I could just skip right ahead to 'Avengers 2'. Not have to worry about 'Thor: The Dark World', 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier', or 'Guardians of the Galaxy', just skip straight ahead to 'Avengers 2'. That would be nice. But I suppose I can put up with the rest of Phase 2 of the Marvel Movie Universe until then.
PREVIEWS:
Just thought I'd add a little section about the previews that came before it, or at least all that I was able to watch and just add a few words to what I thought about them. Not a whole lot pertaining to what the movie looks like it's about, just thoughts on what I saw.
Thor: The Dark World - walked in the theater as this one was playing, but luckily I had already watched it online. Looks better and a little more serious than the first one.
Man of Steel - Looks like another 'Superman' origins movie. It's from the guy who made '300', 'Watchmen', and 'Sucker Punch' so at least visually it'll look great. At least it should be better than 2006's 'Superman Returns'.
The Lone Ranger - Johnny Depp as Tonto. Armie Hammer as The Lone Ranger. Disney. A western. Either this is gonna be a lot of fun or it's gonna suck, it just looks like it could go either way.
Well I think that about wrap's it up for today. Probably will get another blog post up tomorrow with hopefully a 'Great Gatsby' review up Friday or Saturday, and then I'll be all caught up.
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