IRON MAN THREE

2014, superhero, fantasy, adventure,

At a New Year's Eve party in 1999, the future Iron Man TONY STARK (Robert Downey Jr), meets an entrepreneur, ALDRICH KILLIAN, who asks for Tony’s support. Tony agrees to meet him on the roof under the fireworks, but instead spends the night with MAYA HANSEN, the inventor of EXTREMIS, a treatment to regenerate lost limbs. However, Extremis has some, ah, strange side effects.

Fast forward several years, and a terrorist called MANDARIN who looks suspiciously like Osama Bin Ladin is setting off bombs in American cities. Officialdom has no clue as to who Mandarin is, how he is setting off the bombs, or even what kind of bombs he uses. Tony tells COLONEL JAMES RHODES he can help the government find Mandarin, but Rhodes rebuffs him.

Tony then issues a public challenge to the Mandarin. Maya Hansen visits Tony's Malibu mansion under the disapproving eyes of Tony's current girlfriend, PEPPER POTTS (hey-I didn’t name her). Maya tells Tony she thinks her boss, Aldrich Killian, is supporting the Mandarin. At that point helicopter gunships attack and destroy Tony’s house. Tony, Pepper, and Hansen manage to escape, but JARVIS, Tony's artificial intelligence robot, sends Tony via his latest Iron Man suit across the country to Tennessee, where the robot thinks the Mandarin is located. Tony's suit, damaged in a crash landing, no longer works and his only help is a ten-year-old boy, HARLEY.

Then matters get complicated.

Did I mention, Tony is also suffering panic attacks from when he fought off aliens in New York?

Plenty of good action sequences and unexpected plot twists, but one of the best aspects of the flick is Tony’s continued one liners. Whether people are about to beat the shit out of him or he’s arguing with Pepper, he always has a snide rejoinder which is so inappropriate as to be funny. Yes, the science is bogus, and yes, there is no character development except at the end where he suddenly conquers his anxieties, but so what. The dialogue is snappy and the pace is good. The only part I really didn’t like was the callous way he treats the boy, Harley.

All in all, this is a fun movie, definitely better than the first of the series.  I give it ++++.  It should get your pulse up to a run. Downey is vacillating on to still another sequel, but if he agrees, I’ll watch that also.

Review of "THE AVENGERS"

THE AVENGERS:

A tesseract (four dimensional cube) found under the sea holds the potential for great power, but when it activates itself, a portal opens allowing the Norse god LOKI to land on Earth. Loki's plan is to bring an army through the portal to subjugate the world and get revenge on his brother, Thor, and others. NICK FURY, a forever youthful spymaster for Marvel Comics, assembles a team to combat Loki and save the Earth.  Among the heroes recruited are IRON MAN, THE HULK, CAPTAIN AMERICA, and THOR. In addition, two people without superpowers join - NATASHA, a super spy, and HAWKEYE, a master archer. The team is diverted when they start squabbling among themselves - probably due to Loki's influence - but Fury is able to reunite them, and together they manage to defeat Loki, close the portal, and save the world.

Regular readers of Marvel Comics should be familiar with all these characters, but I wasn't.

It's pretty exciting stuff, but I had some problems with the film. The episodes of fighting go on and on and on, and during this time, there is no advancement of the plot. You know someone is going to win, so why not get to it? Also, there is a lot of gratuitous, anonymous violence. For example, a snake-like alien machine flies through New York, destroying buildings and generally causing chaos. Presumably, people are getting killed, but you don't know any of them so you have no emotional investment in the carnage.

Several places had plot gaps. When Thor first appears, he could be either a friend or a foe. Then suddenly, he's a solid ally with no showing of how, when or why the others accepted him.  Other places have similar gaps.

The characters are interesting and are distinct. Natasha is delightful in her techniques for getting information from people who think they're intimidating her. Stark-Ironman provides good comic relief with his cynical, ironic comments. Fury, the leader, is great, but what else would you expect from Samuel Jackson.

The music is stirring and coherent.

This is a good workout movie.  It could be better, but it's still worth ++++ - it gets your pulse up to a run. If you see it, let me know what you think.