HUB Movie Review: Iron Man 3
Another weekend, another HUB movie…And this weekend, it’s our favorite Marvel Comics billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, genius, superhero (not, it’s not Batman. In that D.C Comics story, Lucius Fox is the genius. Duh.) who will again charm us with his arrogance. Lovely.
Iron Man. Cue AC/DC.
So, the premise: as you can probably figure out from the title, this movie is about Iron Man, the third time around (technically fourth if you count The Avengers). Here we find Tony Stark some six months after the alien attack on New York City shown in the Avengers. And he is a mess. In the trailer, Tony says he has all the great things in the world, but he cannot sleep. The reason: in The Avenger’s he travels through an opening to another dimension in space and almost died. That would keep me up at night too.
Amidst his angst, another foe shows up: the Mandarin. He is a terrorist, whose attack seriously injures Stark’s best friend and body guard: Happy Hogan. After visiting the hospital, Stark addresses the Mandarin through the media, saying, “No politics here. Just good old fashioned revenge.” (Oh please, everything’s about politics. The Wizard of Oz, if you did not know, was about the silver coinage debate in the 1890’s; Dorothy’s slippers were originally silver, not ruby red!) Then Stark’s house blows up, and he must test his mettle (get it, it sounds like metal, since Stark is Iron Man, and iron’s a metal. Gosh, don’t hate on a girl for trying).
I saw the midnight premiere of this movie earlier this year in May, and I don’t know if everything is just funnier at midnight on a school night, but I thought it was hilarious. It brings back the sassy Stark we love. There is one scene in the movie where you will gasp and open your eyes wide, wondering if you should laugh or be horrified...you just don’t say that to a kid. You’ll know which one I mean. But the plot came with a twist: Stark is losing, badly; his world is falling apart. Thus, we get to see more of Robert Downey Jr.’s acting chops: he portrayed panic attacks really well, and conveyed real emotions. Amazing, right?
One thing I guarantee you will think about during the movie is: where are the Avengers? Was there something more earth-threatening than the Mandarin? Apparently so. But couldn’t the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D do something? Oh, wait. That show hasn’t started yet.
According to IMDb, the movie is worse than the first one (7.9), but better than the second one (7.1), placing it at a 7.4. Metacritic only gave it 62 of 100, which is to be expected, ‘cause critics just like being negative about our favorite heroes.
So on a rating of 1 to 5, Penn State style:
1 being when Penn State loses a game,
2 being an 8 a.m class (which are awful),
3 being a canceled 8 a.m class,
4 being free textbooks,
and 5 being free Creamery ice cream for a year,
…this movie is a high 4, on the brink of being a 5.
The villain is good. The story is good. The acting is good. So be good yourself and see it.
P.S If you need another reason to go: it has brought in the most money (so far) in 2012 ($4.75 billion).
P.P.S If you go, stay after the credits.