Iron Man 3

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a comic book geek's dream come true: some of the greatest heroes from the pages of ink and color being brought to life by the skilled hands of auteurs and actors who,  for the most part, know and understand the characters they are dealing with. Some creative license can be expected along the way, as many of these characters are decades upon decades old and may need a fresh coat of paint for today's audiences, and certain characters and/or story arcs featured in these books may have been licensed to other movie companies and just can't be used. Would it be great to see Tony Stark trading quips and one-liners with Peter Parker atop the Baxter Building? Of course, but all three franchises are held by three different companies, so in that case you have to make it work with the properties you have, which is why we got Tony Stark trading quips and one-liners with Steve Rogers atop Stark Tower in The Avengers instead. As I have stated before, I am an unabashed comic geek, and though I understand changes are sometimes necessary in these movies, I also think they should stick to the source material as closely as possible. That being said, let's take a look at the latest installment of the MCU, Iron Man 3.

Robert Downey, Jr. returns as billionaire playboy industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man in his third stand-alone installment that takes place after the events featured in 2012's The Avengers. The film starts in 1999, however, in a flashback scene where Stark is still the drunken weapon-maker, and not yet the man of iron. During the celebration, he is approached by a man by the name of Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce, Memento, Prometheus), who appears to be slightly handicapped. He excitedly tells Stark he has an idea to pitch to him, to which Stark agrees, telling Killian to meet him on the roof in a few minutes. Stark predictably doesn't make the meeting, leaving Killian alone on the roof in dismay while he engages in adult shenanigans below. Of course this scene only exists to set up the future conflict, when in the present day, Killian shows up as a non-handicapped, seemingly successful industrialist himself. Also back for this ride are Stark's girlfriend/secretary/conscience Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Stark's BFF James Rhodes/War Machine/Iron Patriot (Don Cheadle), and Stark's head of security Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). New to the series is Oscar winner Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin, Iron Man's greatest and oldest foe from the pages of the comics. Here, The Mandarin is portrayed as a bin Laden-esque terrorist, waging a war on a global scale against the Western world with bombings that leave no forensic evidence. After one such explosion injures Hogan, Stark takes it personally and issues a direct challenge to The Mandarin, who promptly blows up Stark's home and his hall of armors with a couple of attack copters. Seemingly dead, Stark actually escapes the fracas, and with the help of a 10 year old bullied kid, begins to do a low-tech investigation into the whereabouts of The Mandarin.

Well, low-tech for Tony Stark, anyway.

 
It has taken me a few tries to do this review, because the words have just failed me each time I tried to write about it. This is one of those movies where you really want to like it, but just can't. Sure, it's a beautiful movie visually, and in my eyes, Downey, Jr. can do no wrong. But knowing what I know about certain characters and story arcs, this one does not work, and barely feels like it fits in the MCU at all. One of the features of the film is Stark suffering from panic attacks brought on by the events he experienced from the alien attack in The Avengers, but that felt like something just slipped into the screenplay to tie it in. Ben Kingsley is wonderful with the character he is given to portray, but that character is NOT The Mandarin from the pages, and may seem like a slap in the face to true, hard-core Iron Man fans. Don Cheadle is also good as Rhodes, but hard-core fans will once again make notice that Iron Patriot in the comic books is another guy entirely, unfortunately a character that Marvel/Disney can't use in the form of Norman Osborne, a main antagonist from the Spider-Man universe. A couple of other mid-level Marvel characters show-up as well, mainly just used as punctuation at best. The addition of the precocious child character who helps the hero and, in tun, receives some help in return of some sort, is one of those movies tropes that just feels tired and unnecessary. The whole plot of the movie actually feels like it's way too convoluted, and yet a tired re-tread at the same time: Stark does somebody wrong, said wronged person tries to get revenge through technology and gets his ass handed to him because you can't fight fire with fire (see: Obadiah Stane, Ivan Vanko). The inclusion of The Mandarin character, who, in the books, is a master of magic and mysticism, should have changed all that, but like I said earlier, this is not the same Mandarin. In the film, Stark has the ability to remotely control his suits, which turns into a great analogy for this film: looks great, and performs wonderfully, but is ultimately empty inside. Even the big twist that reveals everything seems like something they outsourced to Shyamalan.

"Not me, I was helping Will Smith make another crap-fest."

 
So, in summation, suffice it to say that I was highly disappointed with this film. It is, in my opinion, the weakest entry to date in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the only redeeming qualities were Downey, Jr., Kingsley, and the special effects. It was absolutely eye-popping in the 3-D format that I saw it in, but I could have been sitting a bit closer to the screen for the full effect. I just hope that the next two installments in the MCU pipeline stay truer to their respective comic book roots and the only changes are perfunctory at best. 

3.5 out of 10 Fists.

 

Django Unchained

2. That is the grand total number of reviews I did for the entirety of the 2012 calender year. It wasn't for lack of watching movies, I did see five in the theatre: Chronicle, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The Avengers, and The Campaign, with Django Unchained barely squeaking in with a New Year's Eve viewing. That there was a viewing at all was kind of unexpected, as I really didn't have this one on my "need to see" list, and would have been comfortable watching it on DVD at a later date. But, as luck would have it, my roommate was itching to go to the movies, and this is the one she really wanted to see. We almost missed out, as the first theatre was sold out, but we got in to another screening at a different location, although I was almost secretly hoping that we got shut out again and would have to settle for The Hobbit.

Quentin Tarantino returns to the screen with his slave-era epic Django Unchained, his latest "period" piece since 2009's Inglourious Basterds. The film stars Jamie Foxx (Collateral, Ray) as the titular Django, who, as the film opens, is quite obviously a slave. He is being marched, chained to some fellow slaves, to a destination unknown, through all manner of weather and conditions. His back, also like his fellow slaves, is a cross-hatch of scars from whippings past. While they are on their journey, they are encountered by Dr. King Schultz, played by Christoph Waltz (The Green Hornet, Inglourious Basterds), a dentist who expresses his desire to purchase Django from the slavers. The slavers refuse, but the good doctor is not much for negotiations. After securing Django's services, Schultz describes why he sought Django out in the first place. Schultz is actually a bounty hunter, and needs Django to lead him to the Brittle Brothers, and in doing so he will reward him with a portion of the bounty and declare him a free man. Django, however, has a counter-offer, that being he needs the help of Schultz in locating and rescuing his wife, Broomhilda, played by Kerry Washington (Lakeview Terrace, The Last King of Scotland). The two form a partnership, and eventually a bond, and finally do locate Broomhilda, and learn she is owned by one Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio (The Basketball Diaries, Shutter Island), who is a plantation owner and slave trader, who also trains and forces the slaves into fights to the death. At his right hand is his man-servant Steven, played by Samuel L. Jackson (The Other Guys, Unthinkable), who appears to be just as racist as his owner.

This is the last time I saw a black guy as racist as Jackson's character.

Let me state upfront that although I have seen all of Tarantino's films, I am not his biggest fan. Sure, his films are good enough for repeat viewing, the best being Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, but I don't go out of my way to watch them or get excited to learn he has a new film in the pipeline. Like I stated previously, it was only sort of by accident that I saw this one as soon as I did. That being said, I did enjoy this movie, but for only one reason: Dr. King Schultz. Christoph Waltz was deviously brilliant as super-villain Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, easily the best role in that film, and he is just as enjoyable here as the almost whimsical Schultz. He is a hoot to watch the entire time he is on the screen, whether it be in his negotiation skills, the mentoring wisdom he imparts on Django, or the gun-slinging skills he possesses and uses in his bounty hunting. Were it not for this character, I might not have had a good time with this film, or perhaps if it were someone else playing the role. I feel that although it is set two years before the Civil War, and it was a VERY racist time in the Southern United States, Tarantino's rampant use of one forbidden word that begins with an "N" and rhymes with "trigger" was too much. It seemed like he found every possible way to use that word in every possible context, and even invented a few along the way. He probably could have done without a couple dozen uses of it, although he does redeem himself a bit with a scene mocking the KKK midway through that makes them look like the total buffoons they are.

You're already a buffoon if you have to hide under your mother's linens.

Django Unchained is an extremely long movie, clocking in at 165 minutes, but it didn't feel that way. It was evenly paced, the action made up for the exposition, and despite one huge plot hole late in the movie, I enjoyed it over-all. I would definitely pay to see Waltz again in anything, and if he was to pop up in something else as Schultz, even better. Knowing Tarantino's propensity to tie his movies together, that's not that far of a stretch. Foxx is good as Django, and Jackson is better as the despicable Steven, but DiCaprio is the slimiest as Candie, a villain you truly despise. With some interesting cameos sprinkled in as well, Django Unchained is not Tarantino's best work, but even non-fans will enjoy it, and may win some converts along the way.

6 out of 10 Fists.