Showing posts with label Marvel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marvel. Show all posts
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Movie Review: Iron Man 3 (2013)
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is now a shadow of his former self. He’s overwhelmed by the reality of seeing aliens; he’s struggling with the fact that he nearly died during Marvel’s The Avengers; and he can no longer seem to to put himself in his Iron Man suit. He’s a manic, depressed man, suffering from crippling panic attacks and insomnia. Even his relationship with the woman he loves, Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow), is on the rocks. This should have been the most interesting take on Iron Man ever: Tony Stark in denial that he’s a good person, obsessed with making sense of the inexplicable things he’s been through over the last few years, and coping by constantly trying to improve his Iron Man alter ego.
But this is not the most interesting Tony Stark we’ve seen – far from it. With one line of dialogue, Tony is reminded he is a “mechanic” who fixes things, and all of a sudden he goes from being in desperate need of therapy to a competent hero in seconds. And herein lies the problem with Iron Man 3 – none of its good ideas ever seem to pan out into anything substantial, making this outing feel hollow when compared to its predecessors. This is a bad way to start off the second round of Mavel films, which presumably will culminate in another Avengers' flick sometime in the future — and that future is looking bleak.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
It’s been a mere five years since Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy came to a close, but
Columbia Pictures and Marvel have teamed up to reboot the franchise, this time
with Mark Webb (500 Days of Summer) at the helm. The Amazing Spider-Man is a darker take on the series that, while it’s
still very good, suffers from an inconsistent tone and a plot that lacks
proper focus.
This reboot begins with the same teenage high school
student, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), whom we all know and love. A visit to
Oscorp Labs causes Peter to be bitten by a genetically altered spider, leaving him with super powers and a new Spider-Man alter ego.
Yes, it’s the same origin story you’ve seen before, and the
changes to the formula really don’t switch things up all that much. Peter has
trouble with his newfound strength, and constantly finds himself breaking
doors, computers, and basketball hoops as he attempts to balance all the
aspects of his new life.
I guess these scenes are provided as comic relief, but none
of them work very well at all. The over-the-top comical moments don’t mesh with
the darker plot, which otherwise succeeds at bringing out a more human side to
the character.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Review: The Avengers (2012)
When Iron Man came to theatres in 2008, audiences were given a surprise. Those who were patient enough to wait until the credits finished rolling were
treated to an additional scene, which served to hype a film featuring a Marvel
superhero team-up. Five films and four years later, The Avengers (2012) has
final arrived. While it may seem impossible to live up to such an extraordinary
level of hype, Marvel's The Avengers completely exceeds all expectations and
may very well be the greatest superhero film ever made.
Tying many of the Marvel film franchises together is quite an ambitious
project, one that I admit I had my doubts about. I wasn't originally a fan of
the hidden "Easter egg" scenes that served as promotional ploys for
The Avengers film -- which at the time seemed only like a fantasy. I felt as
though connecting all the film franchises together cheapened each movie's
unique experience, and in the event that The Avengers was terrible, it would
taint those films completely.
While each Marvel film leading up to The Avengers had its own
stand-alone value, I still can't help but feel as though each was made
with future installments in mind. Through end credit scenes and some crossover
characters, each film is linked together -- often in ways that came off as a
little silly.
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