2013: The Year in Film: "Iron Man 3" Review

Iron Man, due in large part to Robert Downey Jr.'s ridiculously charming portrayal, just might be the most popular fictional character on the planet right now. From the relative obscurity of Marvel's B-team (not popular enough to ensure that major studios purchased his film rights in the decades before 2008's "Iron Man" in the way that Marvel's premier properties Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four were bought by Sony and Fox) he's gone on to anchor two solo films that were huge hits domestically and worldwide as well as be the center of the 3rd biggest movie of all time, Avengers. It's odd then, in light of all this success that Iron Man 2 is widely seen as a slight misstep and the weakest entrant of all the Marvel flicks. After disagreements about its production led to the departure of director Jon Favreau, Marvel made the unorthodox decision to bring on writer/director Shane Black. Black, who had previously directed Downey Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, is most well known as the screenwriter of legendary action flicks like Lethal Weapon and The Last Action Hero. In this atmosphere of (admittedly slight) discord, Marvel moves into the post-Avengers era with its biggest star.

After the events of Avengers and the final battle that nearly took his life, Tony Stark finds his world shaken. He's buried himself in his work, making continued advances on his Iron Man technology while hardly finding the time to sleep or interact with the outside world. In the meantime, a new terrorist threat is rising, threatening the nation and Stark with mysterious and highly advanced attacks.


The Good: Downey, simply put, was born to play this role. His quips, mannerisms, quick tongue and steady supply of one liners makes Tony Stark simply one of the most loveable characters in pop culture today. Iron Man 3 is an extremely funny film, not afraid to play for a laugh whether it be through sight gags (I especially enjoyed 90's Happy Hogan doing his best Vincent Vega), one liners, or downright ridiculous small characters. The writing was tight and effective, with several twists that were unexpected. The film makes the interesting choice of having a large portion of it take place while Tony is nowhere near an Iron Man suit, forcing him to use his genius in other ways, which really serves to drive his characterization while grounding the flick away from expansive CGI. Never fear, true believers, for there is plenty of Iron Man action including cool tricks with new suits. Gwenyth Paltrow's Pepper Potts has an easy, familiar rapport with Downey and the two really serve to ground the goings-on as they have through 3 other films now. There are some great action sequences and strong supporting performances from Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce's menacing anti-Stark of sorts and blog favorite James Badge Dale. I like that the film manages to at once exist in the Marvel Universe and yet be a stand-alone Iron Man flick. The Avengers are acknowledged, but this is Stark's show, and that doesn't feel forced or false in the least.

The Bad: there are a few choices as far as plotting and character development that I feel were  perhaps ill-advised. There's a decision with the Mandarin that I feel largely wastes the potential of the character and Ben Kingsley altogether. I'll leave it at that, but in all honesty, that's my primary critique. It wastes a potentially strong plot device for continuing to drive the Iron Man and Marvel universe. In addition, the film, while very funny, at times dances on the line of sacrificing its necessary gravitas for a laugh. I won't say it ever crosses that line, but it's dangerously close a time or three.

In all, this is a splendid summer action flick and a strong entrant to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While it's not as much of a joy to watch as the first Iron Man film, it also doesn't benefit from the origin story, which is always the most easy to tell.  It's definitely a step up from the messy Iron Man 2, which falls apart at times and struggles with tone through its second act. Interestingly, this flick plays more like a conventional action film and less like a superhero movie. A lot of the credit/blame for that surely goes to Shane Black, but it works here, and really sets this flick apart from the other films.

Ultimately, this is a fun time at the movies that while falling short of the peak of the superhero genre, remains a strong addition to Marvel's roster. Whatever the future of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark may be, this is a solid addition to the series.

8/10.

2012: The Year in Film: "Lockout" Review

It's been a while since you've read my drivel, but there are several posts currently under construction, I'll have you know. I've been busy being a quasi-adult and reading lots of Batman. Noh8. First, an aside on movie etiquette: some dude brought in a probably 4-6 year old child to see this movie. Questionable parenting aside (it's rated PG-13..), if your child is incapable of behaving properly in a movie, WHY ARE YOU BRINGING HIM INTO A MOVIE?!? I feel dude's pain, believe me.. dad/uncle/male companion was probably 26 and wanted to check out a fun action movie, probably enjoy his Friday.. but c'mon, man. You don't live in a vacuum. When your child is babbling on at full volume throughout the movie you're having an adverse impact on everyone else and their enjoyment of the flick. I know that it's 2012 and no one gives a shit about anyone else and what's going on with them anymore, but let's try to display a bare minimum of consideration and human decency, shall we? I really think that movie theaters and restaurants could be vastly improved by having kid-free theaters/sections.

Several initial thoughts on "Lockout" before we actually start talking about "Lockout".. first, Guy Pearce is awesome. He has been consistently working for going on 20 years now, but somehow has never made the leap to full-on movie star. After L.A. Confidential and Memento, you'd have thought that he'd have moved on to a Christian Bale type career. Maybe he didn't want it, maybe he made some bad calls, who knows, but he's only 45, and between "Lockout" and this summer's "Prometheus", he may finally be poised to make the leap. In addition, I miss '90's-style action. From 1985-1997 or so there were no shortage of legitimately awesome action flicks that depended on the charisma of their stars and harrowing situations to make fun, extremely watchable flicks. A combination of the Matrix and super hero movies did two things to action: first, emphasized FX and camera tricks, and second: caused action flicks starring a normal human protagonist to have to up the ante, and everyone became an invincible master gymnast and killing machine. John McClane is not a super hero or kung-fu master. He's a plucky, tough-ass dude. He's not jumping into a room and beating up 17 people a la Neo. So let's jump into "Lockout".. it's somewhat hard to review a flick like this, because one must consider the ambition and intention of the filmmakers involved. No one involved with, or seeing "Lockout" has any illusions about what they are doing. They aren't trying to win an Oscar, they are trying to create a fun action flick.. so keep that in mind.

So the year is 2079 and a major international corporation has funded the construction of an orbital maximum security prison to house the world's most dangerous and deadly prison, MS1. It is, of course, impregnable, impossible to escape from and also completely safe. The President's daughter (Maggie Grace) is part of a humanitarian agency seeking to investigate the conditions on MS1 and travels to the prison on a factfinding mission. CIA agent Snow (Pearce) after a mission gone bad, finds himself of the wrong side of the law. When things go wrong on MS1, Snow finds himself being asked to undertake the suicide mission of rescuing the President's daughter. There are various secrets related to Snow's failed mission and things are not all they seem on MS1 as well.

So basically, the plot is "Die Hard" meets "Escape from NY", in outer space. Our hero finds himself outgunned and outmatched, with minimal chance of escape and a smaller chance of survival. These sort of bare bones, action movies for action's sake are pretty much entirely dependent on their star and cast. What separates Die Hard and the Rock from various Jean Claude Van Damme, John Cena and Steven Segal straight to DVD numbers (besides a solid story) is the charisma of the talent involved. Top-notch actors can turn the absurd into the enjoyable. Lucky for us, Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace give it their all. Pearce is one of the most underrated actors working today, and has shown remarkable range in his career.. but here he pulls out his inner badass. He brings a certain callous devil-may-care attitude and quip-filled badassery, in the best tradition of John McClane and Wolverine, Snow is an antisocial, stand-offish, smug asshole who also happens to be very, very, very good at what he does.



Luc Besson, the man responsible for "Leon", "The 5th Element", "Taken" and a myriad of other action movies over the last 20 years, produced, and you can tell. This is a slick, well-done flick that looks great and is a lot of fun if full of plot holes. Maggie Grace, who I didn't think was particularly strong in either "LOST" or "Taken", shines here and provides an effective foil, companion and moral compass for our reluctant hero. Longtime "That Guy" Vincent Regan (I recognized him as the Captain from "300") is strong as one of the inmate leaders, and newcomer Joseph Gilgun is downright disturbing as his psycho brother. The stakes are sufficiently high, everything makes just enough sense, and above all, Pearce is a joy to watch. This flick is about 100 minutes long but it feels like 40 minutes tops. A damn good time at the movies. Don't go in expecting "Schindler's List", but if you want to see some people get their asses kicked and laugh at ridiculous deadpan one-liners, check it out. It's a bit too derivative (it really is Die Hard meets Escape from NY in space..) and reliant on tropes to be great, and if the cast hadn't sold it it might not be good at all, but as is, a strong, extremely watchable action flick. I had a good time.

7/10.