Iron Man 3 Review

After the misguided handling of Iron Man 2, not to mention coming off of the high of the nearly perfect execution of a superhero film with The Avengers a year earlier, I was excited that the reigns of the franchise were handed off to a new voice in Shane Black. I can't say for sure whether Jon Favreau was really to blame at all for the failings of the second installment but regardless, a new voice and vision was appreciated. I still recall the first time I saw the trailer for Iron Man 3 and a shockingly dark tone seemed to hang over every frame. I was so damn excited that the character was going to shy away from some of the ridiculous comedy and instead focus on the serious side of the saga of Tony Stark.

Well...almost. Things do indeed get serious with the exploration of what troubles a superhero could face when dealing with PTSD, and some breathtaking dramatic set pieces absolutely thrill in ways the franchise never had before. Damn it though, those villains. Both the strange twist involving the Mandarin and the Extremis folk. I just can't comprehend some of the villain choices in these Marvel films.

First let me clarify my issue with the Mandarin twist. It isn't the concept of the twist itself that bothers me, because I am all for keeping an audience on their toes and doing something unexpected. What troubles me is the sudden, jarring tonal shift that takes place, going for completely bad ass terrorist to...well, that. Jokes land with a thud instead of a laugh and I couldn't help but scratch my head at not so much the idea but the execution of it. After coasting with joy for much of the movie up until that point, the way the Mandarin character was handled was unfortunate and revisits haven't changed my opinion of this. I still don't get it.

What might be even worse than the way they handled that one specific character is what it meant for the big picture of the story. By pushing aside what was by far the best villain Iron Man had faced thus far in a solo effort, we are left with Guy Pierce and his glowing band of misfits, and frankly nothing about this crew is compelling in any way. From the opening scene that takes place in 1999 to the modern day handsome version, the character of Aldrich Killian did absolutely nothing for me throughout. Yet still the streak continued, as no solo film from the MCU had gotten the villain right yet. Someday though, right Captain America?

Still though, the overall completed picture is a massive upgrade from the previous film, with a far more likable and believable turn from Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man. In fact his performance in Iron Man 3 is the best of his work thus far in the universe, and with the assistance of flat out amazing sequences like the attack on his home and, of course, the Air Force One rescue, I can easily recommend Iron Man 3 as a pretty joyous blast of a picture.

I just wish it had a damn good villain like the trailer indicated. Without that misstep, this would have been up there competing for the best entry into the MCU to date.

3.5/5

Iron Man 2 Review

Right off the bat in this review I am going to stir the shit, and I apologize for this, but I really mean what I am about to say. Ready? Okay, here it goes...

Iron Man 2 is the Jar Jar Binks of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I know, the whole bitch about Jar Jar thing is so damn played out and I agree. You can't turn a corner in a discussion regarding Star Wars: Episode VII online without someone making a "Maybe Abrams will bring Jar Jar back! LOL!" joke being made, and I need to be perfectly clear here, that isn't what I am trying to do. I am not laughing out loud as I write this, and that is precisely my point. Iron Man 2 cranks up the silly factor to 11 and is practically begging the audience to chuckle so hard it makes us slap our knee, but there is a problem. It isn't funny. At all.

It is a bit unfair to equate this entire film to an annoying, pointless, terrible character from another franchise because not everything in Iron Man 2 is misguided. When it actually attempts to portray a serious narrative, it succeeds and I am locked in during these moments, but unfortunately it spends so much time trying to be wacky and "fun" that it mostly fails as a complete movie. The reason I couldn't help but think of good ol' Jar Jar during this revisit was because I ask myself the same question here as I did back when The Phantom Menace was released 16 years ago: Why?

Why so silly? Why so over-the-top? I completely understand and appreciate that the source material these films are based on are comic books featuring men in costumes fighting super villains, so expecting total realism is obviously not in the cards. Why did it have to go that far in the other direction though?

Robert Downey Jr. is just as charming and perfectly suited to play the role of Tony Stark as ever, but that is another prime example of why the screenplay fails in Iron Man 2. Even his wit and clever banter is often times falling on my deaf ears because I had to tune out the terrible villain performance from Sam Rockwell the scene prior. I love Sam Rockwell and when I hear his name, I immediately think of his masterful turn in the science fiction film Moon. I will choose to pretend this nonsense isn't even actually on his résumé. On the other hand, a welcome bright piece of the Iron Man 2 puzzle is the introduction of Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson). Her role in this film is refreshing and interesting, a nice break from the cringe inducing comedic dialogue that is otherwise so prevalent here, and we now know just how important to the entire universe of movies her character proves to be. 

Iron Man 2 has always been my least favorite effort from the MCU and that has not changed a bit. I have no hatred in my heart for anything relating to this franchise as I have had some fun with even the lesser efforts like this, but the tone of this film is something I have never been able to understand.

2/5