Review - Iron Man 3: Missing his sidekicks?

The latest instalment of the Iron Man franchise was released this week, much to the excitement of Marvel fans who had their first glimpse of an Avengers hero post the juggernaut that was "Avengers Assemble".

Robert Downey Jr. reprised his role as Tony Stark, the former playboy billionaire bachelor turned all round good guy who is looking for ways to enhance the technology he possesses following the devastation that shook NY and the Avengers.  In "Iron Man 3", he faces a new, unknown, enemy in The Mandarin – an adversary who seems intent on personally destroying the world Stark knows.

The elephant in the room of Iron Man 3 is of course Avengers Assemble, and the impact that Loki had on Stark is clear early on. During one part of the movie, a child befriends Starks and continuously asks, “can we talk about New York?” and such mentions are wholly necessary; I make no qualms about that.

Director Shane Black, who also co-wrote the screenplay  with Drew Pearce, could have not gone through the movie without referencing past events; in fact they give us an insight into Stark’s mindset as he ponders if he can really fight off another attack of that magnitude. The downfall is the continued mention and allusions to what I consider a stronger movie.  By highlighting the fact that Iron Man is in fact now alone, away from his comrades, the film is only emphasizing the somewhat bereft feeling that instead of having 5 main characters we have to make do with Downey Junior and his lesser counterparts.  Even Gwyneth Paltrow, a mainstay of the first 2 movies as Stark’s love interest Pepper Potts, felt like a damsel in distress in contrast to say Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in the hero-laden Avengers.

The strongest moments of the movie were those in which Downey Junior found himself alone, without his technology, merely having to rely on wit and quick thinking to get himself out of the tight spots.  Downey Jr. is by far the best thing about the franchise, so immersed in the character that you have to wonder where Tony Stark ends and Junior begins.  The wit, humour and self belief brought to the screen is a joy to watch.

Iron Man 3 is an enjoyable romp and fans of the franchise will revel in the lengths Stark takes to protect himself and those around him. Whilst not the best Marvel offering to  date, it will certainly satisfy appetites in the long wait for the next instalment in the saga.

The 100 movie challenge

New years resolutions are the damndest things; every January we think up things we can do to make ourselves better people. Gym membership swells, enrolment in online courses surges and pubs are empty.  For 2013 I decided on a resolution that not only would I enjoy completing but I could experience with others and share my progress along the way – The 100 movie challenge.  I challenged myself to watch 100 movies I had never seen before in 12 months.  Any genre, any era, the only rule was I couldn’t have seen it before.

My usual choice of movies is a trashy rom com or a feel good 80’s teen movie so I also wanted to use the list as a chance to branch out, seek out classic movies I had never seen and experience some genres I wouldn’t usually try.  I choose 100 as it seemed like an acceptable and, more importantly, achievable, target.

So how am I doing?

With 4 months of the year gone  I have watched a total of 54 new movies – in other words I am smashing it! So much so in fact that I have decided to increase my target to 150 movies by December 31^st 2013!!

I have posted the list of movies watched so far below so you can see how I am getting on.

I would point out two things – firstly you’ll often see patterns i.e during award season I watched a lot of the nominated films and if I attended a festival (e.g Sundance London) then many of the screenings are on the list.  I’ll admit the classics aren’t getting much of a look in at present- but that’s something to work on!  Some films were a disappointment (Silver Linings Playbook anyone? Just me?) and some I utterly adored (Kings of Summer – catch it if you can!) but I enjoy adding an entry to my list after each movie regardless of what I thought of it.

So here’s the list so far:

1.  Struck by Lightning

2.  Skyfall

3.    Now is Good

4.    Hello, I Must Be Going

5.   Zero Dark Thirty

6.   Jeff, Who Lives at Home

7.    Moonrise Kingdom

8.     Waiting for Forever

9.    Little Birds

10.   Half Nelson

11.   Les Miserables

12.   Silver Linings Playbook

13.   So Undercover

14.   Take This Waltz

15.   Lincoln

16.   Anna Karenina

17.   Argo

18.   The Impossible

19.   The Sessions

20.   The Imposter

21.   Love and Honor

22.   I Give it a Year

23.   Django Unchained

24.   The Master

25.   Amour

26.   In Time

27.   Footloose (2011)

28.   The Ghost

29.   All Good Things

30.   Dan, In Real Life

31.   Four Lions

32.   The First Time

33.   The Brass Teapot

34.   The Knot

35.   West of Memphis

36.   Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial

37.   Breaking Away

38.   Fun Size

39.   Ginger and Rosa

40.   This is 40

41.   What Richard Did

42.   Compliance

43.   Unstoppable

44.   The Giant Mechanical Man

45.   Sightseers

46.   Prosecuting Casey Anthony

47.   Shadow Dancer

48.   People Like Us

49.   Touchy Feely

50.   The Kings of Summer

51.   In Fear

52.   A.C.O.D

53.   Upstream Color

54.   Iron Man 3

I’m looking forward to growing the list even further in the next few months and hope I can keep the same pace throughout the year – for now though I’m off to watch number 55! I’ll let you know what I think.