Iron Man 3 Review

All Surface and No Substance, Iron Man 3 Disappoints

The following review contains no major spoilers 

Hopefully they are all tax deductible

This weekend I decided that the best way to celebrate the beautiful weather would be to sit inside a dark movie theater. Although I didn't find the trailers for Iron Man 3 to be exceptionally compelling, I am a nerd and had to see the newest Marvel outing. Two and a half hours later I left the theater feeling more disappointed than the last time I paid to see an M. Night Shyamalan film.

Normal Osborn James Rhodes as the Iron Patriot

Iron Man 3 takes place in a post-Avengers world. "Genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist" Tony Stark has to cope with the knowledge that he lives in a universe where gods, aliens, super soldiers, and hulks all exist. This, mixed with idea that a bigger threat is impeding, has driven him to spend almost all of his time in his lab tinkering with his suits. This has led to a serious disconnect with his love interest and Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts, as well as his best friend and fellow crime fighter Captain James Rhodes. But when a seemingly impossible to find terrorist named the Mandarin enters the picture, Tony is forced to discover that it's not the suit that makes the man.

Yes, that incredibly corny line is essentially what Iron Man 3 is about. Through its convoluted plot, Tony as well as the audience is supposed to believe that it's what inside that really makes us all super. The Iron Man suit(s) are just tools, whereas Tony is the real superhero. The only problem with this is that it goes against every single thing Iron Man is supposed to be about. Director Shane Black tries to hammer this point home by only having Robert Downy Jr. in the suit for about a third of the movie. And of that time it seems to be malfunctioning almost constantly. The majority of the movie he lacks even the ability to fly! Stark Industries may also have been exporting jobs to China as well, because whereas in The Avengers Iron Man could go toe to toe with Thor, in this film he has a suit destroyed by a truck. Tony Stark does not have super serum running through his blood stream, thunder powers, anger problems, or even exceptional archery skills. His power is that he is built and uses a nearly indestructible that makes him even more powerful than all those other superheroes.

Supposedly all these other people still exist, they just never drop in to say hi.

While we're on the subject of the Avengers, don't expect to see any of them in this film. Despite getting to hear about two dozen times about "that New York event", not a single one of them shows up or is even mentioned by name. Even during circumstances where some of them (specifically Captain America) would probably believe it was their civic duty to help out. Even SHIELD is only referred to I believe a single time in a throw away line. After all of Marvel's Phase 1 movies continually expanding the universe, this feels like a big step backwards. I won't harp on the fact that Marvel refuses to bring the X-Men into their shared universe, despite the fact that the entire plot of Iron Man 3 is practically begging for it (he fights mutants the entire time).

Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin

Despite all my complaints there are the typical high points you would expect. Robert Downy Jr. is amazing as usual. He completely owns the role of Tony Stark, even if the film tries a little too hard to remind you every few minutes of how cool and devil may care he is.
 Although they both have limited screen time, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are as reliable as ever. I wish that we would have seen more of Ben Kingsley, because he is always outstanding despite the amount of terrible movies he does. Naturally the film looks and sounds amazing. The effects heavy third act gets stale because it goes on for so long but its a treat for the eyes the entire time though.

The third act consists of this for roughly 20 minutes.

Despite some positive moments I found the first movie in Marvel's Stage 2 to be all around lacking. Much like Tony Stark's remote controlled suits, the film appeared highly polished and promising, but fell into pieces and proved to be hollow. I won't go into it due to spoilers, but almost every decision both the good and bad guys make will leave you scratching your head and asking yourself "why?". In my opinion this is the worst movie of the shared Marvel Universe (with the exception of Ang Lee's Hulk if that is considered part of it.) I suggest saving yourself two and a half hours and simply rent or buy a copy of The Avengers.

Positives 

• Robert Downy Jr.
• SFX

Negatives

• Plot lacks any sense
• Huge step backwards in "shared universe"
• Unsure roles for secondary characters
• Damn near everything else

So I have a blog

Safe to say that I completely forgot about having this blog (oops). Thats definitely going to cost me some points in class. To try to make up for that I'm going to be doing daily posts from this point on. For todays, lets do a recap of this season of Game of Thrones so far.

*Spoilers for every episode up to and including "The Climb", which aired May 5th.*


Episode 1: Valar Dohaeris

This was a great episode to kick off the third season. We open beyond the wall with Samwell fleeing the aftermath of the last season's finale at the fist of the first man. Sam continues to be useless by not only having to be saved from a wight by Ghost and Lord Mormont, but by also reveling that he failed to send off the ravens warning the night's watch about the imminent threat (his only job).
Staying North, Jon Snow gets to know the wildlings. Jon meets Tormund Giantsbane and the king beyond the wall, Mance Rayder. Jon seemingly convinces Mance that he has truly turned cloak from the nights watch.
In King's Landing we meet back up with Tyrion. He's recovered from the failed assassination attempt on him during the battle of the blackwater. There is even a subtle joke about the fact that he does not lose his nose as he does in the books. Bronn (now Ser Bronn of the Blackwater) almost gets into a fight with two of the kings guard. Despite the fact that he is now a knight, he continues to work as Tyrion's bodyguard. Even though Tyrion's plan is what saved the city, he has lost his job of Hand of the King (went to his father) and he received no credit for winning the battle (also went to his father).
In the aftermath of the battle of Blackwater we find that the Onion Knight Ser Davos survived Tyrion's wildfire scheme. He gets saved from an island by a ship that turns out to be loyal to Stannis Baratheon. Davos decides that the red priestess Melisandre is a bad influence on Stannis and that he must try to kill her, even if it means his own life in return.
The King in the North Robb Stark discovered that castle Harrenhal is almost entirely filled with corpses following the abandonment of it by the Lannisters. One of the notable people who still live there is the disgraced ex-Maester Qyburn. Note: He is going to end up being very important in the future, remember him.
Back in King's Landing Tyrion meets with his father, who is now again Hand of the King. As a reward for his services in saving King's Landing, Tyrion wants his father to acknowledge that by right, Casterly Rock is his to inherit. Tywin explodes on Tyrion and claims that he will NEVER get it, and also for good measure threatens that any more whore's found in his bed would be hanged. Just to drive home the point with him. Still in King's Landing, creepy Littlefinger pitches a plan to Sansa about helping her to escape from both the city and the reach of King Joffrey.
Across the Narrow Sea we catch up with Dany. She decides to invest in a slave army to help win back her iron throne.
Davos has a very short reunion with Stannis before he is imprisoned by him for planning to kill the red priestess. Poor Davos really never is able to catch a break.
We head back to King's Landing where Lady Margaery Tyrell is wandering around fleabottom and raising morale of all the poor folk. This blows Joffrey's mind. As someone with such disdain for the commoners he is both shocked and entranced by the fact that a highborn lady walks around with them. I think he also appreciates the fact that the love of the people is something that he needs and its something that Margaery could provide for him. Later they "enjoy" an uncomfortable dinner with Queen Cersei. She sees Margaery as a serious threat to her manipulation of Joffrey. Not only is she younger and more beautiful than Cersei, but Margaery "has her claws in him".
In the funniest scene of the episode, Dany looks at a group of Unsuillied (a prized fighting slave force). The slave owner constantly insults her, but Dany uses a translator and pretends that she does not speak High Valyrian. She uses this to not only see what the slaver is really saying, but to judge how the translator phrases everything. The episode ends with an assassination attempt on Dany from the Warlocks that she upset last season. She is saved though by her knight. Not Ser Jorah though, but Ser Barriston Selmy, formerly of the kings guard. (Widely considered the greatest knight in the history of Westeros, and he was dismissed by Joffrey in season 1 due to his old age). In the books it's not revealed yet who he is, although due to the nature of film it would be difficult to be able to hide his true identity. Barriston has come to Dany to pledge his sword for her, considering her to be the proper heir to the iron throne and the one he would give his life for.

Welcome

Welcome to the first of hopefully many posts on The Reel World, I'm your host Josh Hannock. The goal of this blog is to explore the world of the silver screen, television, and video games. As a 22 year old telecommunications student with next to no social skills, its fair to say that I'm quite qualified to talk about any and all wasters of time.

Tonight marks the return of one of my favorite shows on TV, AMC's The Walking Dead. In case you've been living under a rock, it's reception has been quite good. The show is based off a comic where the long awaited "zombie apocalypse" has finally happened. It follows a group of survivors who have to deal with not only the zombies, but the often more dangerous other humans. As with most zombie media, the flesh-eaters end up taking a backseat and act as a plot device. It boils down to being about humanity (or lack there of) in a world without rules.

It's one of the grittiest shows on basic cable, and you'll sometimes be shocked at what they can get away with showing. Even the characters who are the paragons of good will eventually get worn down and do things that will leave you cringing. The amount of emotion that it can evoke in people is probably the most staggering fact. I won't embarrass them by naming, but I know several people who have been left in tears from episodes. .

Along with NBC's Community returning on Friday, The Walking Dead solidifies the start of a strong Spring television schedule. Although its fair to say that nothing is going to be able to rival my excitement for HBO's Game of Thrones on March 31st, this may very well satiate my appetite until then.

Join me back tonight at 9 PM for a live blogging of The Walking Dead. It will be filled with spoilers, be warned.

Thanks for viewing. Check back in often for updates.

~Josh