Blog Archives

Iron Man 3 (2013)

iron-man-3-official-hd-1

Depending far too much on the success of the first two instalments and visual appeal of its played out tactics. Iron Man 3 starts off relatively strong but eventual succumbs to its contrived dialogue, over-compensating story, and childish acrobatics and gadgetry. Desperately trying to infuse more of a dramatic tone into its incessant attempts at comedy and wit, ends up alienating to a point of severe restlessness. Closing a successful trilogy might be considered difficult to say the least. However, after Christopher Nolan’s overwhelming hit, The Dark Knight Rises this past summer. It appears that a competent finale can be done and the failure of Iron Man 3 can be attributed to a single, simple fact. The amount of Marvel films being released is becoming annoyingly ridiculous and the content for these outings is heavily watered-down. Not to say that Iron Man 3 is not entertaining, far from it. I’d rank it a notch above most brainless action pictures released these days. What I am stating is that my expectations did not lower after the first two entertaining chapters and rightfully so.

iron-man-3-trailer-11-questions-raised-118967

Tony Stark (Downey Jr) is suffering from severe anxiety attacks and insomnia after the events that took place in New York. Spending his nights the only way he knows how, concocting new and improved suits. When a terrorist know as the Mandarin (Kingsley) begins attacking the United States and its citizens, Tony must suit up once again. After a deadly attack by the Mandarin on the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles leaves Happy (Favreau) in a coma, renders Tony furious and seeking revenge. After challenging the Mandarin, Tony’s Malibu mansion is attacked and destroyed leaving Tony and Pepper (Paltrow) separated. Upon escaping, Tony crash lands in the middle of Tennessee. Now, with no suit, his mental illnesses, and the Mandarin continuing his attacks. Tony must befriend a child and begin to reconstruct a revamped suit and take down the Mandarin.

19474949.cms

I wasn’t fairly excited for Iron Man 3 prior to its release. The publicity didn’t really catch my eye and the trailers didn’t offer anything that inventive. That being said, with outstanding cast additions such as the legendary Ben Kingsley, the incomparable Guy Pearce, and the always radiant Rebecca Hall. I felt there was hope for this loud, cocky, chaotic finale. Conversely, these additions didn’t diminish my guard, if anything, it made me more judgemental and raised my expectations. Another significant reason why my excitement for this third outing dropped off is the absence of Jon Favreau behind the camera. No doubt his keen, comedic eye had a monstrous effect on the first two chapters and his reprisal only as Happy should have been enough of a warning sign. Regardless, I never enter a film expecting it to be terrible. So, when Iron Man 3 disappointed me, it wasn’t a complete surprise, yet I anticipated more.

gwyneth-paltrow-and-guy-pearce-star-in-iron-man-3

I am going to start off with some glaring irregularities and issues that extraordinarily hampered Iron Man 3. First off, the reason why the first half appeared passable is because it had a single, linear story line. When the plot broke off into several tangents, it marred the strength of the original and weakened each strand with each passing minute. However, what is most disconcerting about its unnecessary complexity is the multiple chances Iron Man 3 had to save itself, essentially from itself. It’s as if the audience was forced to accompany this nosedive and instead of pulling out of it, we unwillingly were forced to thrust towards the ground. Aside from its laughable story and characters. Watching the second half of Iron Man 3 is like watching a kids cartoon unfold. There is so many irrelevant and expendable one liners and flimsy action sequences it is honestly like a child took hold of the script and cameras for the entire last hour.

Iron Man 3 Maya Hansen

Now I,  unfortunately have to dissect the forced, trivial performances throughout Iron Man 3. I can’t bring myself to bad mouth Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, and Guy Pearce so I will conveniently blame their fake, simulated portrayals on the limitations and stupidity of Iron Man 3′s weak script and faulty direction. As for Robert Downey Jr, Don Cheadle, and Gwyneth Paltrow, to summarize, I have no problem drowning their characters like a postpartum, depressive mother. I have nothing but the utmost respect for their careers and achievements…and I can understand that the money must have been handsomely defining since it was purchasing as well as silencing their integrity. However, there is an upside, Jarvis and the hollow suits had more depth and emotion than the entire ensemble.

iron_man_3_new-wide

I just can’t help but continually think of the word “unnecessary” to neatly sum up Iron Man 3.

Iron Man 3: 5 out of 10. (I am only giving it a five because I feel bad for Pearce, Kingsley, Hall, and crew).

Top 10 Most Anticipated Films of 2013

All right, now, not to be confused with last week’s “Top 10 Films of 2013 Predicted.” This week’s Top 10 will consist of the 10 most wanted films set for release in 2013. Judged by budget, publicity, and overall excitement stemming from the general public, this Top 10 will feature, in a general sense, crowd pleasers. Without any further ado, let’s begin.

Honourable Mentions: Anchorman 2, Monsters University, The Wolverine, Elysium, Sin City 2, Kick Ass 2, Evil Dead.

10: Thor: The Dark World. The hotly anticipated follow up to 2011′s smash hit Thor. This soon to be blockbuster stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins.

9: The Great Gatsby. From visionary director Baz Luhrmann and starring a plethora of stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan. and Jason Clarke. The Great Gatsby seems primed for stardom.

8: The Green Inferno, V/H/S 2, and The Conjuring. This is for all of you who need your horror fix, a lot like us. Coming from modern horror master such as James Wan, Eli Roth, and Adam Wingard. This trio of frightening delights is sure to leave your pants wet and in need of a wash.

The Conjuring Trailer:

V/H/S 2 Trailer:

The Green Inferno: First official picture.

the-green-inferno-image

7: This is the End and The World’s End. Here to get you prepared for the apocalypse are these two doomsday comedies. Brought to you by the guys behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. The World’s End reunites Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright. Also starring Martin Freeman, The World’s End looks like to become another cult favourite. As for This is the End, starring a multitude of comedies best such as Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Jonah Hill. This hilarious heavyweight film should be interesting to say the least.

This is the End: Red Band Trailer.

The World’s End:

poster-2

6: World War Z. Brad Pitt, Zombies, and based off of Max Brooks highly addicting novel, need I say more?

5: Iron Man 3. The Third entry into the Iron Man trilogy. It features an army of iron men and Ben Kingsley as a villain. Your argument is invalid.

4: Pacific Rim. Directed by Guillermo Del Toro and starring Idris Elba. This monster vs man picture features the use of gigantic robots controlled by humans battling humongous aliens, I’m sold.

3: Man of Steel. Produced by Christopher Nolan and starring Michael Shannon as General Zod. Man of Steel is the highly anticipated reboot of the Superman franchise.

2: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The follow up to An Unexpected Journey. Peter Jackson’s The Desolation of Smaug should be a much improved film and appease those disappointed by the first.

hobbit-desolation-smaug

1: Star Trek Into Darkness. I have nothing to say, I am beyond words with anticipation. Just enjoy the trailer.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 230 other followers