Iron Man 3 (2013) Movie Review

Director: Shane Black

Writers: Drew Pearce, Shane Black

Starring: RDJ, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce

I feel that Iron Man 3 is easily the most enjoyable of the series. Not the best. That title goes to Iron Man 1 but if I were going to watch one of them on a whim, it would be the third. The third and supposedly last of the Iron Man movies sees Stark going through post-Avengers-stress-disorder as his old arrogant ways come back to bite him.

The main reason why I love the movie so much is that it is beautiful to look at (mostly).  There are a couple short scenes that are visually unimpressive but any of that gets utterly eclipsed by the marvel of the climactic battle. People wonder why Stark didn’t use the house party protocol earlier in the movie. That’s because at the end he had come to the realisation that he was done with iron man. When his house was getting blown up, he had no intention to sacrifice all his suits and the situation didn’t call for it. In terms of CGI choreography, the final fight is spectacular. The fluidity of movement in and out of the suits is incredible and every move is clearly defined.

The returning characters are all probably at their best during this movie. RDJ is funny as always and Rhodey is actually interesting for once. Speaking of funny, there are some moments in the movie that are unexpected and brilliantly absurd. There is a random guy cowering behind a truck who has a little conversation with Stark. Also, the guy who is holding Tony captive and accurately knows the distance between two random American cities… masterful.

This is all well and good but there is a lot wrong with the movie as well. There are pretty much no interesting villains in the movie. It’s unknown to me if you are supposed to be surprised when Guy Pearce is evil (but the other big reveal is infamously unexpected and hilarious). My least favourite thing about the movie is how much screen time the bald guy gets. He is a generic henchman with absolutely no personality yet the movie insists he exist longer than five minutes.

On of the most reoccurring complaints I have heard surrounding this movie is that they did not do justice to the Mandarin. I personally thought that they handled this brilliantly well, both in and outside of the movie. The studio knew that the trailers of the movie would be viewed by millions of people making the twist so much more unexpected. I have heard so many people complain that Aldrich Killian is a poor substitute for the Mandarin. I agree with that but I see it unlikely that anyone was going to take Ben Kingsley fighting Iron Man seriously. It would have been a much less exciting movie had they played it straight. It is by far the most unique of a cluttered marvel catalogue.

My favourite of the Iron Man trilogy is rife with humour and stupendous action. Some of the characters lack in depth and interest but the previously established ones more than make up for them. Any complaints the Internet make can be debunked by making them imagine a kung fu Ben Kingsley. Overall, Lovely Stuff.

Recommendation Status: Worth a watch

Please feel free to leave a comment on either the movie or the review. Say if you liked or disliked the movie. I'm interested to find out what you think!

Amazing Spiderman 2 (2014) Movie Review

Director: Marc Webb
Writers: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx

So Spiderman is graduating… is his movie doing the same? Hell yeah!

If you can name something that was in the first Amazing Spiderman, then that thing has been imploded and transformed into itself but far better. Richard Parker’s backstory is further explored (the conclusion to this story was rather underwhelming though) and more villains have been introduced. I feel like we’re making baby steps towards getting the real green goblin. At least he’s kind of deformed now but you could have at least made his suit purple!

If I could pick one thing from this utter treasure trove of delectable scenes I would have to choose every single action sequence. What is the most important thing about action sequences? Fluidity… and this movie has so much fluidity you’d think you’re looking at petroleum jelly. Every single scene is extremely fast and looks fantastic. The special effects used in the movie looks like the namesakes of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all got together to create the best looking entity ever put to film.

Not only were the visuals absolutely electrifying, the soundtrack was immensely atmospheric. Anytime the music started thumping away at your eardrums it simply intensifies the situation the movie has immersed you into.

While the visual and audio effects were astounding, the movie decides to rather labouriously drag you through scene after scene of Peter’s unnecessarily failing Romance with Gwen. There’s probably two too many scenes like this.

Speaking of a few too many scenes, I’m not sure when this movie was going to decide that it wanted to finish. After (insert major spoiler here), the movie feels the need to cram in as much setup for the sinister six as it possibly can before Peter decides to quit moping around.

These problems can easily be overlooked as the entirety of the rest of the movie is utterly fantastic watching. Andrew Garfield is even more Spiderman than in the first movie and I actually find it possible to like Peter Parker now! Honestly, any recollection of weak scenes will be completely eradicated from your memory due to all the fantastic ones. Amazing Spiderman 2 is a solid 8/10.

Amazing Spiderman (2012) Movie Review

Director: Marc Webb
Writers: James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans

It’s the age-old story of how a socially awkward high school student gets bitten by a radioactive spider and inherits the traits of the very same animal… well all the good ones anyway. This boy is known to the world as Peter Parker. His long lost father’s old assistant has unfortunately turned into a giant lizard.

I recently got into a heated debate about which of the Spidermen is better; Toby McGuire or Andrew Garfield. I personally think that Garfield is the far better than McGuire for an utter avalanche of reasons. Firstly, Garfield adopts a far more Spiderman like demeanour. He is constantly cracking jokes, which I believe is the most important thing about Spiderman. In the same vein, McGuire is the polar opposite of Garfield. He is almost the epitome of stoicism. It feels like he takes more joy in the great responsibility rather than the great power. Overall, Garfield’s portrayal of the wall crawler is far more enjoyable to watch.

Another improvement upon the pre-existing series is the improved faith to the comic books. I could just go on and on about the problems about the original series… so I will. The webs come out of his wrists, Gwen Stacy never existed, the Green Goblin was a normal guy in a metal suit and finally… Spiderman 3. All of these things have been completely reconciled in the new movie.

The one really annoying thing about this movie is that the Lizard is really a one-dimensional villain. I feel like It would have been vastly improved by having a more interesting origin story than just him injecting himself with some special serum.

I believe that the Amazing Spiderman is an improvement on the Spiderman origin story. With an improved Spiderman and less made up plot points. It is impossible for me not to recommend this movie. Mainly because most people couldn’t be bothered to see it. Well-done Marc Webb… Well done

Batman (1989) Movie Review

Director: Tim Burton

Writers: Bob Kane, Sam Hamm (great name!)

Story: The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being the clownishly homicidal Joker.

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger

It is heavily debated which portrayal of the Joker is better; Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger. I personally have no idea as to which one I actually prefer. They both have fantastic aspects to them. Nicholson just make him seem so dark. Even when he is about to get thrown from the top of Gotham cathedral, he has the audacity to crack a joke about hitting a guy with glasses. The character just feels really dark. Everything he does is utterly despicable. He completely fried a guy without a shred of remorse. More than anything you can tell that he takes full enjoyment in the pain and misery of others. I will elaborate more on the Joker war in the Dark Knight review.

While Nicholson was excellent, I felt that Michael Keaton as Batman fell really short for me. There was very little character to him. All we really find out about Bruce Wayne was that his parents were killed and that he is Batman. The movie’s central focus definitely seems to be the backstory of the Joker. While this is true, it is terrible to not explore Batman’s backstory and character in detail in a movie called Batman. Keaton just felt rather boring to me.

The darkness of the movie was fantastic. It emphasised how sinister the Joker is. The scene with the mimes was borderline terrifying. Everything to do with the Joker in the movie just makes you shudder.

This early adaptation of likely the most famous superhero in existence focuses heavily on the Joker and does it gloriously. It is dark, sinister and quite frightening. While Batman as a character is rather underwhelming in the movie, the Batman movie is definitely a fun movie to watch.

Hulk (2003) Movie Review

Director: Ang Lee
Writers: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
Story: Bruce Banner, a genetics researcher with a tragic past, suffers an accident that causes him to transform into a raging green monster when he gets angry.
Starring: Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott






The Hulk is quite the opposite of the thinking man’s superhero. You merely need to know two words to enjoy a good hulk movie: ‘Hulk’ and ‘Smash'.

This movie completely disregards this basic principal of the rage-induced behemoth. Instead it decides to focus on the backstory and the inner turmoil that Bruce Banner is going through. This is why I feel that the ‘Avengers’ is the best Hulk movie ever. It doesn’t need to explore anything other than unrelenting, non-stop destruction. You would expect a lot of destruction from a movie with such a frontman. However, there is a distinct lack of such action. This is shown in that it takes over forty minutes for the Hulk to first appear. Even after that there’s only four scenes with the Hulk in it and one of them is used to show the Hulk murder three of the most disgusting CGI dogs ever.

One of the most infuriating things about this movie is that the Hulk always stops moving. Why would a being of seemingly unlimited power and strength that is fuelled by rage stop smashing things? Imagine if one of the red lanterns just stopped attacking something because they wanted to feel all their other emotions. It just makes no sense. I just want to see Hulk smash things.

All this horrific nonsense aside, I suppose the transitions are cool. They really help to tie the entire movie together (as most transitions should) and they also are really cool and creative throughout the entire movie. More than this, the movie could even pass as a decent film had it not been drawing from the most adrenaline fuelled source material ever conceived.

While this is true, my love for having pre-existing marvel heroes and villains in my marvel movies is not treated kindly. Yes, I recognised General Ross but who the hell is David Banner supposed to be. Halfway through the movie, I thought that he was Absorbing Man but then he became a massive lightning dude resembling Zzzax. Soon after that he becomes some sort of water being who might just be Hydro-Man. They need to make up their goddamn mind.

This entire movie feels completely pointless. It pretty much tarnishes the source material and has very few redeeming qualities. It would have been interesting to see some really classic Hulk villains like Abomination, A-bomb or even Red Hulk. If you go into this movie expecting action, you will be sorely disappointed. I really can’t recommend this movie to any one… it is just too embarrassing to anyone who is a fan of the Marvel universe.

Green Hornet (2011) Movie Review

I'm back with another installment of the April Superhero Month and the second in the trilogy of green.

Britt Reid is a spoilt rich guy whose father, the owner of a newspaper, dies from an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Britt isn’t awfully happy that his father is remembered with such positive feelings. He then beheads a statue built in his father’s honour. He then however notices two people getting mugged to heck so he and his only friend Kato beat the crap out of the muggers. This sparks the idea in Britt’s mind that they should become superheroes. They then begin their attempt to climb the ladder of crime by taking out the crime boss Chudnoffsky.

The movie succeeds in being an action movie and a comedy movie but never at the same time. There are scenes that are really funny and scenes that are really cool. Seth Rogen is hilarious throughout the movie and Jay Chou is really only there to be the action man.

This being said, the movie definitely feels like it is primarily a comedy movie. This is pretty aggravating because they attempted to have a balance of comedy and action but the comedy was far stronger. There were about two fight sequences that impressed me and while the special effects were few and far between, they were pretty terrible. The comedy scenes like when Rogen is asking about the Green Hornet’s future were relentlessly hilarious.

The movie lacks on impressive action but since it is definitely known to the audience that the movie is a comedy, it is very successful. It is montage heavy and the jokes come thick and fast. Despite the poor action, the brilliant overdose of laughs pulls the movie out of the bag. If you enjoy Seth Rogen laughing like Krusty the Clown and a guy who really wants to be Bruce Lee, then this is the movie for you. Just go into expecting a fun movie with average dialogue and sub-par action. For anyone else there is no real point to watch this pile of mediocrity.

Also James Franco's cameo scene is hilarious!