Saturday, May 4, 2013

IRON MAN 3

Summer movie season 2013 has officially begun with the beginning of Marvel's Phase Two with IRON MAN 3!

To kick off this “new chapter” of the Marvel cinematic universe's most popular character we welcome director Shane Black (KISS,KISS BANG,BANG). Black and Robert Downey Jr. are reunited and it's awesome. With screenwriter credits that include action classics such as LETHAL WEAPON and THE LAST BOY SCOUT, Shane Black is the exact guy you'd want on the Marvel team of film making talent. His contribution feels like whenever a comic book publisher would hire a new talented creative team for your favorite super hero.

I'm babbling on about Shane Black; to sum it up, he made a Lethal Weapon comic book movie.  That my friends is super cool! Not only that but ever since it's been known that Robert Downey Jr. may hang up the suit of armor sooner than later, I've made the comment that Iron Man is sort of like the 'James Bond' of this cinematic universe. Who will play the character next? Just like the Bond films. During the sweet looking end credits they had this 'Iron Man is a secret agent film from the 70's type vibe. I sat there and thought the movie did have a oo7 adventure vibe to it. Just another cool thought!

Tony Stark has never been the same since The Avengers saved New York City from nuclear fallout and planet Earth from alien domination.  He can't sleep and he also suffers panic attacks.  Stark is a natural born tinkerer.  Since he cannot sleep he builds Iron Man suits.  He's built a lot of them. Forty-two I think?  Innovation is also something Tony Stark is good at.  Besides crafting armor he has been trying to integrate some new technology called Extremis. Something he's been toying with every since being introduced to it by the lovely Maya Hanson back in 1999 at a Sweden science convention. This new tech has given Tony the ability to have a mental connection to his armor.

Another person Tony met at the convention was Aldrich Killian who later partnered up with Miss Maya Hanson and later perfected the Extremis virus. Fast forward to today where Aldrich makes a visit to Stark Industries selling the idea of the new and improved Extremis technology to Pepper Potts as the future in Weapons & Defense. Stark Industries is not interested in something that can easily get into the wrong hands.

Super heroes rarely have any time off. The latest threat to the world is a terrorist who calls himself The Mandarin. The Mandarin hates America and wants to destroy it with no mercy. One day the terror comes to the doorstep of Tony Stark when a terrorist attack almost takes the life of Happy Hogan, his close friend and former bodyguard.

After a personal threat from Tony. the Mandarin accepts the invitation by sending some rockets to his house via helicopter.

Presumed dead, Tony now has the low profile to find out what The Mandarin is really up to and stop him once and for all. With the armor at less the 5% power Tony must figure out how to stop the madman incognito using his wits and mechanical skills.

Will Iron Man stop The Mandarin before he kills the President of the United States of America? You'll have to see for yourself because I don't want to spoil the fun.

The way the film handles The Mandarin I'm a little unsure about. I remember an interview awhile back after the second film where director Jon Favreau said the third movie will deal with Iron Man's arch nemesis The Mandarin. Now in the comic books this character uses black arts and mystical powers. That seems odd to translate for the cinematic Iron Man. Mystical villains fit better in a Thor film one would think. But after introducing Thanos to the cinematic universe at the end of MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS all is possible in these films now.

The filmmakers of IRON MAN 3 decided not to make The Mandarin mystical which as made hard core comic geeks outraged. Not me. I liked what they did to the character just fine. Why did some people refer to him as The Master and not Mandarin? You'll have to see the movie to know what I'm talking about. Maybe we haven't seen the last of “The Mandarin” just yet?

IRON MAN 3 is the best one yet. It's also a nice complete trilogy of films. We probably don't need another one. Who am I kidding. This one is already making a killing in worldwide box office numbers!

For the next one I think they've set things up nicely for an 'Armor Wars' story arc.

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