Movie Review- Iron Man 3

Confession time... I couldn't get through the first Iron Man movie. I rented it and fell asleep. A few months after my first attempt, a friend loaned it to me and I managed to stay awake until about thirty minutes in. I didn't bother with the second movie in the franchise. I wouldn't have gone to see the third movie, if it had not been for Dan. There are some movie sacrifices that are made in the name of love, like movies with robots.

In the end, I enjoyed Iron Man 3, more than Dan, who summed up his opinion by labeling the movie "Shite".

Don't get me wrong, the third movie wasn't good enough for me to rush out and watch the first two. I'm about 50/50 when it comes to the Marvel movies. I really love the X-Men Franchise and Wolverine spin-off. Captain America was okay. Thor and The Avengers were abysmal and worse than abysmal, they were painfully dull. I don't necessarily expect any of the Marvel movies to be amazing, but I expect them to be entertaining.

Iron Man 3 was mostly entertaining, if not often completely silly. I like Robert Downey Junior as Tony Stark. In fact, his small bit in The Avengers, was the only redeeming quality about the movie. The rest of the cast is decent too. Don Cheadle is always a favorite of mine and I like Gwyneth Paltrow. I'm not sure what to make of Ben Kingsley in this particular role. I think that he was supposed to have provided a lot more levity in the film, but it fell flat.

Story-wise, the beginning had promise. I was intrigued with the scientists and the mystery of the bombings. The first person narrative at the start of the movie grabbed me and I never felt like I was missing much from having not seen the other two movies. It kept me entertained for the first half and then it just crumbled into a typical action film with predictable outcomes. Instead of rooting for the heroes, I was rooting for the movie to get back on track with something interesting. It ended with me feeling that I had just watched a very typical action movie.

I thought the best parts are when Stark is left without his defenses, in particular when he is stranded in Tennessee. This provided the best action sequence of the movie. I also liked the weaving in of the science bits with the research videos. It was even a bit creepy in parts.

The worst part was the groan inducing final battle sequence at the end of the movie. I also didn't like how the main villain ended up being so flat and uninteresting. I didn't think that the villain had a compelling enough motive and he was rather one-dimensional. The villain is usually one of the more interesting aspects of this type of movie and it was a let down that the character had not been better developed.

Overall, Iron Man 3 an okay movie. I would not likely watch it again, but I felt like I was entertained. This would have made a better rental, than a must-see in theaters.

Movie Review- Now You See Me

I love anything involving magic and as soon as I saw the trailer for Now You See Me, I knew that I had to see it in theaters.

The movie is really more of a crime drama involving magician than it is a movie about magic. Now You See Me centers around a foursome of magicians who call themselves The Four Horsemen. They have been brought together as a team through a mysterious mastermind who gives them the blueprint to pull off the ultimate magic show and bank heist. The Four Horsemen hold three elaborate magic shows, each building on the last to complete their ultimate scheme. More than half the movie is dedicated to police detectives as they struggle to outsmart the magicians.

This movie is fun. It's not one that will go on to win awards, but that's okay. It's the type of movie that is likely to be in heavy rotation on TV and one that if I happened to be channel surfing and landed on it, I would definitely get sucked into watching the entire thing, commercials and all.

This movie requires a fair bit of suspension of disbelief. A lot happens and although the story does a decent job of providing explanations, there are a lot of the pieces of the puzzle that seem to occur without much struggle, with the timing just perfect. Normally this would bother me, but the fun-factor of the movie was high enough, that I can let it slide.

Great cast. In particular, Woody Harrelson as the hypnotist was hilarious. All of The Four Horsemen were such dynamic characters, that I wish the movie had less of the police and more of the magicians. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were fantastic in supporting roles.

The movie does a good job at always keeping an air of mystery. There is a big twist at the end and there was enough misdirection in the movie, that I'm positive that no one in the audience saw it coming. The constant mystery and quick pacing keeps the movie entertaining throughout.

While this movie doesn't need to be seen on the big screen, it's worth watching. Although strictly a popcorn movie, Now You See Me, provides entertainment that is slightly outside the glut of typical summer movie offerings.

Movie Review- The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books and when I heard the Baz Luhrmann was directing the latest movie version, I wanted to scream. I'm not a fan of Luhrmann. Moulin Rouge is perhaps my least favorite movie of all time and I loathed his version of Romeo and Juliet. My disdain towards Luhrmann is similar to why I dislike Tim Burton, both directors prefer style over substance and I don't particularly like either of their styles.

My love for Gatsby is so strong that with a great deal of trepidation, I decided to see it in the theaters. I skipped seeing it in 3-D. Gatsby in 3-D just seemed like overkill, no matter how spectacular it was supposed to look.

Yes, this movie definitely had Luhrmann's style. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it really didn't. I wasn't sold on the movie until Gatsby made his entrance. I really felt like I wasn't going to like during the apartment party scene with Tom, Nick and Myrtle. It was too slick and overdone. I felt myself cringe. However, the movie managed to level off stylistically and have many fantastic moments that drew me in.

The best parts of the movie are not the huge party scenes with flashy costumes, modern music and quick cuts. The best moments are the quiet ones, the moments where the tension between the characters and subtext are on overdrive. I loved the scene with Gatsby, Daisy and Nick having tea. The tension made it funny and highly uncomfortable to watch.

Second to having the frame work of a great story, the movie works because it has such a strong cast. In particular, I loved Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby and Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan. This is a story about perception and it is layered with subtext that lesser actors could not have pulled it off.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie much more than I had anticipated. At times, I found Luhrmann's slick style and overt symbolism (are we in 8th grade english class?) to be overdone and off-putting. However, Fitzgerald's sharp story coupled with great acting makes this worthy to see in the theaters. As far as style, the costumes and sets are lavish and gorgeous, which only enhances the story.

The movie is a great reminder of the beautiful and poignant writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I can't imagine that anyone who loves the novel, won't want to rush home and reread it after seeing the film. I pity anyone who has not yet read it and they should immediately remedy the situation.