IRON MAN 3 - REVIEW

IRON MAN 3 - REVIEW

Coming off the mammoth success of Avengers, a solo adventure for Tony Stark would seem the mammoth task, but thanks to director Shane Black this third outing for the beloved Iron Man is nothing more than extraordinary.

Marvel's "Iron Man 3" pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him.

When this film begins we find Tony at a very delicate stage in his life, he is totally consumed in his Iron Suits, completely shout off from the world and yet plagued by everything that has happened to him.

This film sets out to show us that Tony isn’t the Invincible Iron Man; he is just a man who doesn’t know how to cope with all that has happened to him. For all his brashness and confidence we get to see all of Tony’s vulnerabilities and doubts. This isn’t someone who has it all figured out, but he is someone that’s good and pretending that he is.

Comedy is certainly not lost in this film though, as Shane always manages to bring back some wiseass remark from Tony or some other character, to keep its audience smiling from beginning to end.

That’s the magic of Iron Man 3; it eschews the Iron Suits, in favour of revealing the true character and nature of Tony Stark informing us why Tony is the perfect Iron Man. It’s really a character story that is bonded to a technological thriller sort of genre.

Even so, the film is certainly big on action and scope, as it probably has the most impressive action scenes in any Marvel Film. Be prepared to some real cool action scenes in this film!

It’s beautifully shot and fits in perfectly with the Iron Man 1 & 2 as well as with Avengers. Maybe more so in the case of the latter.

Where Iron Man 1 really tried to make Iron Man seem like a plausible character in the real (our) world, while Avengers was really about making the comic book world the real world in these movies. Iron Man 3 takes full advantage of this and instead of trying tone down certain elements, it does away with such subtleties and fully embraces the weird wild world it finds itself in as apart of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

As for performances, this has to probably be Robert Downey Jr.’s best portrayal of Tony.  From his comedic timing, to his break down, this film really shows us Tony at his best and worst and Downey’s performance was nothing short than his best.

These last couple of years haven’t been the best for Guy Pearce when it comes to the films that he found himself in, however in Iron Man 3 he certainly shows off why his a force to be reckoned with.

Sir Ben Kingsley really brought the Mandarin to life, making him an incredible menacing villain for much of the film. His presence certainly provided gravitas for the situation that Tony would find himself in.

Well I wasn’t a fan of Don Cheadle’s James Rhodes in Iron Man 2; his portrayal of the character in Iron Man 3 is significantly better as he shown to be a bit of his own entity to Iron Man. We could certainly see War Machine go off into his own film franchise, or join Avengers or maybe even join Captain America’s film series, anything can happen.    

 

My only gripe with the film would be that it could have been a little more serious in certain parts of the film as it would have added weight to severity of the situation. But that is really a minor gripe!

One major fan favorite storyline that has been side stepped when it comes to Iron Man is the “demon in the bottle” story arc. This story mainly focused on Tony’s battle with alcoholism. While Iron Man 3 doesn’t delve into such territories in certainly goes to show us the Demons in Tony ‘s Head.

It’s about showing us why Tony is ultimately Iron Man, and it’s not just because of these suits that he has. Its because he is the mechanic, he is the brain, he’s the force and he is the man that wont stop at anything to do what is necessary.

Overall this is a fantastic addition to not only the Iron Man films but also the Marvel films as a whole. Its not the straight up superhero film you will be expecting but it’s an intelligent technological thriller film, that will have laughing and in suspense at the same time.

Our Rating

8.5/10

SHAVE IT (Short)

SHAVE IT

Its been a while since I have previewed or even a reviewed a short on for all you that enjoy the world of the shorts, I do apologize!

But to make up for it, I’m bringing a little preview of a wonderful short film called SHAVE IT.

The film really is beautifully animated with crisp visuals and glorious details to its most radiant and colorful world. Its really easy to get caught up in the world within the first few seconds of the video as it dances to your senses and overflows in abundance of creativity and innovation that’s it makes it extremely hard for anybody not to be mesmerized by it.

The films plot is as follows: In the wilderness of the forests where giant bulldozers are tearing apart the woods there is a monkey that accidentally finds a shaving machine and decides to use it. Spontaneously disguised as a human being, he moves out to the city and starts a career. After a stunning success in business, he understands the need of gaining political power. Not too long after, he becomes the president. Now he is ready to make a change.

Aside from being a visual pleasure this short is immensely entertaining and fun. If you don’t believe check the video out for yourself below and remember to tell your friends about it as well

HERE ARE THE DIRECTORS’ NOTES

For us, it’s an ironic reflection about how nature adapts to the human invasion. We found a great inspiration in an Amazonian bird, the Lira, which imitates the sounds it hears in the environment. It does it with such a lack of criticism or judgment that it imitates the other birds singing, the power saws noise or the crash of the trees falling in the same way. We must admit that part of the credits should go to Nahuel, a friend of us that shaves his arms in laughable ways.

We watched the monkey’s behaviour and the way they move, first in the zoos, then there was a trip to the Amazonian jungle and finally some actors friends, the monkey’s acting is the result of all this together.

Regarding aesthetics, we wanted to choose the way of maximum expression possible, trying to get over the technique. In a free mix of 3D and 2D animation, saturated and live colours we found a harmony that reflects the nature’s freedom and that even loses its’ respect.

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS

Fernando Maldonado was born in 1978, in San Juan, Argentina. Since very young he developed in visual arts and music. He studied the Visual Arts career in the

U.N.S.J and he were trained in 3D animation by self-education. His Fi­rst short ­lm “La mezcla”, directed with Lucas Aguirre was awarded by Telefe Cortos ­first edition (2004) and was selected by Mar del Plata Film festival (2005). Then he moved to Cordoba city, where he lived for 2 years, working in audiovisual production companies and on his own. He lives in Buenos Aires since 2008 and works as Director of animation at 3Dar Studios.

Jorge Tereso was born in 1984, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A year later he moved to Siria and he would keep moving until 17 when he returned to Argentina to begin with his studies. As he did not fi­nd any career that could match with his interests, he continued with his self-education with Internet help. In 2003 he became part of 3Dar, a 3D animation studio that was giving its’

­First steps.

For more Information don’t hesitate to check out http://www.3dar.com/the-work/

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN - REVIEW

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN - REVIEW

Leading up to this film, I must admit that I was neither filled with excitement or dread. I was indifferent about watching this film, and having seen it, my feelings still haven't changed.

The films plot is as follows: Disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning finds himself trapped inside the White House in the wake of a terrorist attack; using his inside knowledge, Banning works with national security to rescue the President from his kidnappers.

Olympus has Fallen certainly had a few good plot points, with a suitable star to lead this absurd story, and yet it fell short of being a real good film. And not by a short way neither, this was a long fall down.

With the amount of incredible actors that have all signed for this action romp, one expects that the film will be a lively event. And in many ways it is, with tons of action, gun shooting, explosions and people dying. As this film is made in the post 9-11 world, you would expect that there would be some regard for human life in a story that deals so closely with an act of terrorism, regretfully it doesn’t. Instead of allowing its audience to sympathize with the events that’s unfolding, the film carries on, in an explosion rampage never truly allowing its audience to connect with the hero of the story.

Antoine Fuqua definitely does all he can directing this mess, to give us a film that has so many bells an whistles that we would be so taken back by it, that we would almost forgot about the absurdity of it.

Antoine certainly does know how to play up tension, whether its in simple dialogue between characters or Gerard taking on a ward of guards, you can't help but feel the tension. However, it would seem that Fuqua was to busy orchestrating the next big action scene, and neglected the characters stories.

The film certainly doesn’t give its audience anything new in terms of characters and story, but it still manages to entertain better than most straight up action films. Yet, it certainly doesn’t fail on bringing up peevish dialogue that even most B-Grade action films seem to get right.

Olympus Has Fallen isn't great by any means, but it certainly is one of those action films that would get you through your day. Its entertaining, but its nowhere near as good as it hoped it could have been.

Our Rating

5/10

G.I. JOE RETALIATION (Review)

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION

As the follow up to the 2009 film, GI Rise of the Cobra, Retaliation promised to be the GI Joe film that fans all around the world wanted it to be. For the first few minutes of the film, it certainly looked the part, but as the film trudged along in a great heap of action, fire and glory it quickly became clear that this new incarnation of the popular toy line is nothing more than cool action scenes thinly sown together by thee most absurd almost non-existent storyline.

Snake Eyes and Roadblock

The films entire plot is as follows: Framed for crimes against the country, the G.I. Joe team is terminated by the President's order, and the surviving team members face off against Zartan, his accomplices, and the world leaders he has under his influence.

There isn’t much else left to divulge on the story than that. The film really poses itself as a fun action flick, but the sad thing is, for the all the lights, dazzling stunts, well coordinated fighting scenes that are gloriously filmed to near perfection, the fun is lost on the audience as so little time was spent on getting to know the characters and dig deeper into the story.

With so many colourful characters and a rich history to dive into, director Jon M Chu decided to handle this film as he did his Step Up 3D film; dazzling us with action, and cool chorography for the majority of the film, and then giving us a short break of bad filler dialogue before the next action scene begins.

Even though G.I. Joe Retaliation really pulls off some amazing action scenes, the weight of these incredible technical feats are lost on its audience as the film doesn’t give audiences any reason to like or even support these characters aside from them being the good guys.

In fact you will find that the only character (Channing Tatum as Duke, this is not a SPOILER) you have some sort of attachment too dies needlessly at the beginning of the film, leaving you with a bunch of characters you care less about.

Byung Hun-Lee as Storm Shadow, and the Joe that always messes up

I couldn’t help but be disappointed with how these characters and actors were handled in the film. Bruce Willis was totally wasted in the film along with many other actors who just have some action scenes but do not contribute to the films storyline at all.

The only two characters that had a story that was worth some intrigue were Snake Eyes (played by Ray Park) and Storm Shadow (played by Byung Hun-Lee), continue to be this franchise only saving grace. Just like the last film, when it looked like everything was just horrible with that film, Storm Shadows and Snake Eye’s history gets brought up once again and it instantly makes the film a little better for it, sadly it cant save it.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation is for all intents and purposes filled with awesome action scenes and glorious battles but the film fails badly in terms of story.

My Rating

3/10