Theater Review: Iron Man 3

I have to say it was pretty smart of Marvel to drop an Iron Man film as the first to follow last year's Avengers.

Iron Man was a surprise hit in 2008 and Robert Downey, Jr. became both Tony Stark and Iron Man - his quote at the conclusion of the first film was perfect, "I am Iron Man!".

But, as much as the original film was a surprise hit, it feels like Iron Man 2 was a bit of a let down to many movie goers. Sure, it was definitely a step backwards - especially since the villain was actually much better, but Whiplash was never really the villain he should have and could have been.

Plus, the main reason for Iron Man 2 was to pretty much setup The Avengers film - with the introduction of Black Widow and Nick Fury inviting Tony to join the Avengers Initiative.

So, now we have Iron Man 3.

I would probably put it somewhere between the original and its sequel. I feel it was better than the last one, but still can't live up to the first.

Since the events that happened in New York in the Avengers, Tony has had trouble sleeping - and has spent that time creating new and different Iron Man suits. His relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) continues to grow, but Tony's issues that he gained after almost dying in the alien invasion have strained it somewhat.

In a flashback, we learn that Tony spent a night with Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) and also blew off Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who wanted to speak to him about an experiment he is working on.

Killian, now with a new backer, returns to Stark Industries - this time speaking to the new person in charge, Potts. But, like Tony before her, she turns him down because of the ability to possibly weaponize is product.

Over seas, a terrorist much like Osama bin Laden, is threatening the United States and he goes by the Mandarin (Ben Kinglsey). After Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) is injured during an apparent attack by the Mandarin, Tony tells him to come after him at his home - and he does.

With Stark's home destroyed - and feared dead - he is flown to Tennessee by his suit, until it loses all of its power. Tony teams up with Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins) to track down information on some of the attacks that have been happening, and to also recharge the Iron Man suit.

After the Mandarin steals Iron Patriot - formerly War Machine - from James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) so that he can kidnap the president (after already kidnapping Pepper) - Rhodes and Tony team up 80s-cop style to rescue them both and put a stop to the Mandarin once and for all.

Pretty tough to recap this without giving things away - but I think I did. Some great surprises happen, which I honestly did not see coming.

Best parts of the film, hands down, are the interactions between Stark and the kid. It was pretty darn funny and the kid held his own pretty well with Downey, Jr. Second has to be the final battle scene.

I am not giving anything away here because it is shown in the trailer - but Stark has really not been sleeping much and he has created a ton of new suits - some of which do many different things.

The culmination has all of them coming together to take down the Mandarin and help Rhodes and Stark rescue Potts and the president (William Sadler).

If this is the final Iron Man film, it went out pretty well. The story was wrapped up in a nice bow - but it felt like there was also more to tell if it continued.

Downey, Jr. is in the renegotiating phase with Marvel for his salary to continue as Tony Stark - which no doubt will be for Avengers 2 and Avengers 3. As more and more standalone features are announced, Iron Man has not been one of them. And, I don't have a problem with that - I am fine with him continuing to just be part of Avengers and maybe cameo in other films along the way.

But, this film made a butt-load of money and I doubt Marvel (and Disney) will just stop altogether leaving this much money on the table. It's obvious people still love their Iron Man - and if they can get Downey, Jr. under contract - I really expect another film in the future.

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Iron Man 2

OK, this is pretty weird that I am debuting an entirely new website design and name to the site - "Kano's Lay-Z-Boy Theater". The name of this site derives my inability to get to the theater anymore.

But, for my first post on this newly revamped site I, ironically, will be posting a review of a movie I saw in the actual theater - Iron Man 2.

Iron Man sort of came out of nowhere a few years ago, and was a huge surprise hit in the same summer that brought us The Dark Knight. Iron Man I was not able to see in the theater, but was able to check out on its arrival on DVD and I found it very entertaining - sort of the anti-Dark Knight as it wasn't dark at all and most of its appeal came from its humor and leading man - Robert Downey, Jr.

Well, Tony Stark (Downey, Jr.) returns as a huge phenomenon to the adoring public, however, he continues to battle the same health issues from the first movie - and his suit only appears to be causing his health more damage.

This time around the characters are aplenty as we are introduced to Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a competitor of Stark Industries; Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the main villain of the film; and Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson), who we know as Black Widow. Also around are Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) - who took over for Terrence Howard.

I have to admit that in the past (older Batman films, Spiderman 3) I have always been against the inclusion of so many characters, but in this film it really didn't hurt too much. There was a lot going on in the film, but for the most part it worked.

My main complaint would be in the finale. There was such a major buildup for the final fight that was sort of let down by how brief the ending became.

Another huge part of this movie was the continued recruitment of Stark to possibly join Fury's Avengers team. I am pretty interested in seeing that film as long as it is done correctly - again the more characters in a film sometimes takes away from the actual story telling.

On a side note: I remember during the showing of this film thinking to myself that I could take a hit in the man department because, honestly, I found Paltrow to be much better looking that Johansson. I am not sure what it was, but she really stood out to me - much more than she did in the first film.

Finally - I am sure most of you have heard about this already, but make sure to stick around until after the credits for a little extra does of fun.

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Iron Man/Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I did something this past weekend that I am normally not accustomed to doing. And I can now sort of see why I never do it, although I must admit it was worth it.

I have gotten pretty accurate in returning my Netflix DVDs in order for them to return on a Monday. When this happens, I almost always get a movie that is coming out brand spanking new on Tuesday - I usually get them on Wednesday. Anyway, if you miss out on getting them right away - it could be months before you luck out and get one.

Last Tuesday, two movies I have been longing to see since they were released in the theater dropped on DVD - Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Iron Man. I told myself not to send back the Netflix DVDs until a certain time so that I could get both of these on Wednesday. But, without thinking, I tossed my returning DVDs into the mail and they got to Netflix way before they are allowed to ship me the brand spanking new movies. So, I screwed up.

Anyway, with movies like these two I would never had received them from Netflix until possibly Christmas - so I blew the dust off of my Blockbuster card and traveled over to rent these two movies. In the end, it cost me nearly 12 dollars. I have certainly learned my lesson.

But was it worth it?

(Possible Spoilers hidden in the article)

I will start with Iron Man as I have heard so many great things about the movie this summer. From what I could tell it was the best movie of the summer not named The Dark Knight.

Anyway, after watching the film I think I have to agree with all of the buzz. Robert Downey Jr. was simply amazing as Tony Stark/Iron Man, and I can see why is stock has risen to astronomical preportions.

I had done my best to sort of hide under a rock and not get the total idea of the movie, so it was pretty surprising to me when I saw a bald Jeff Bridges as Tony's right hand man, and eventual villain.

I had read a few opinions on the choice for Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Stark's secretary/obvious love interest. I must admit, I have never really seen Paltrow as an A-list actress, but her performance in this film I felt was very strong.

Hidden throughout the entire film were hints as to a sequel, which after the enormous box-office draw the film has seen, was already green-lit. It was fun to pick up on some of the lines and scenes of things that might become.

Anyway, to wrap up I was very much impressed with the entire story-line of Iron Man. It did what other successful comicbook adapdations were able to do. It told the story of Tony Stark, how he became Iron Man and his reasons behind his transformation, while also providing a serperate storyline that helped Iron Man become a true superhero. All the while keeping the audience entertained.

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The other film I was able to catch was Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

The movie was penned by Jason Segel of How I Met Your Mother fame. It is loosely based on a relationship that Segel himself had with, according to sources, Linda Cardellini of ER.

Segel is Peter Bretter, a musician who has been doing the music in the hit television show Crime Scene. His girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), just so happens to be the star of the television series.

Marshall, however, breaks Bretter's heart when she leaves him for another man. Bretter has a difficult time getting over her and his half-brother/friend Brian Bretter (Bill Hader) tells him to go on vacation and try and forget about her.

Bretter takes the advice and heads off to Hawaii, and checks into a hotel where Marshall also happens to be staying at with her new boyfriend, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), a pop singer.

This throws Bretter into yet another crying-fest, until he befriends a hotel worker Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis).

I'll leave the plot at that, because everything else that happens is pretty important to the ending. I will say that the full-frontal scenes of Segel were definitely turn-away worthy. Although perhaps the ladies will enjoy it - I don't know, the wife didn't give me a thumbs up or anything. Brand was pretty decent in the film, I did find him a little over-the-top, but some of his lines were pretty funny. Jonah Hill makes another appearance in an Apatow-movie, as a host at the hotel's restaurant - but his role was a little flat for me. Paul Rudd makes a small cameo in the film, his role was a little better than Hill's but not by much.

I enjoyed the film a lot, but I guess I actually came away a little disappointed due to the amount of hype I put into seeing it. I think I'll have to see it again to truly appreciate it, but I do know I had a handful of laugh out loud moments, which always makes a movie watchable for me.

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