Tag Archives: iron man 3

Review: Iron Man 3 – In which the trilogy ends

Finally got to see Iron Man 3, it’s the third installment in to the Iron Man franchise, this film being directed and written by Shane Black. I’m a Shane Black fan, he’s done; the Lethal Weapon movies, Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, The Last Boyscout…
In short, the third movie is about Tony Stark battling a new villain as well as personal demons.

The good; Robert Downey Jr, he carries this movie completely and thoroughly. His comedy timing and delivery is great, there’s some scenes in particular with a kid, but I won’t get in to it.

The scene where Iron Man has to rescue passengers suddenly ejected from a plane is great. There’s a real sense of geography and urgency amidst this chaotic situation and it’s pulled off very well.

The bad; it wasn’t the movie I had hoped for, not typical of Shane Black’s previous work. The twists and turns aren’t hard to spot, and much like The Dark Knight Rises, there isn’t much of Iron Man in this film. It seemed that there was too much to service in the story, you have the Extremis stuff as well as the Mandarin.

Overall, enjoyed it better than the second movie, but the first movie is still the best one out of the trilogy.
Again… wait till the end of the credits (as you should) for a tag at the end.

Iron Man 3 – What I Know About the Mandarin is Probably Useless

The new trailer for Iron Man 3 was released last week. With it, and a photo released by Entertainment Weekly, it shows that one of the villains in the movie is “The Mandarin”. Watch the trailer below:

I loved the whole series of movies Marvel has been releasing. Even though some are a bit weak (Read: Thor), I still find them entertaining. I hope this one will not disappoint. Iron Man 2 was a bit weak and quick for the ending.  This third movie seems like it will have the same general plot like Dark Knight Rises, where Tony Stark will have to fall hard and have to rebuild himself to be better in order to conquer the villain of the Mandarin as well as his internal self.

Hildebrandt Trading card of The Mandarin

Lo Pan and the Mandarin - Do you think they shop in the same store, or they just like accessories?

As you can see the Mandarin will be played by Sir Ben Kingsley, who is a wonderful actor. He was in Hugo, Gandhi, Schindler’s List, Sneakers, Searching for Bobby Fischer and many other great movies. I’m sure his portrayal of The Mandarin will be good. Although a piece of me wonders how he’s called the Mandarin and isn’t really Chinese. (The New Karate Kid, I am looking at you). But Ben Kingsley is a great actor, so surely it can’t be bad. We can all forget Bloodrayne, right?

The first time I remember seeing the Mandarin character was in a Marvel trading card series that were painted by the Hilderbrandt brothers. It was a dynamic intense view of the villain. it accentuated where his powers came from – the ten rings on his fingers. And it reminded me of the Planeteers, how each ring has a different power.  Still, the depiction of him reminded me of Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China – both Asian, both with similar hair stylists and wardrobe supervisors. Although Mandarin’s powers come from alien technology, it just seemed a bit mystical to me much like Lo Pan’s abilities.

I’m not sure what angle the movie will use to play out the Mandarin’s origin and how he can overpower Iron Man/Tony Stark. Guy Pearce is in the trailer, and it would seem like he will also play a bit of a villainous part, much like Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2.

We shall see when the movie premieres on May 3. And with the coming holiday movies, I”m sure there will be more trailers premiering and each one revealing just a bit more of the movie.

Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin in Iron Man 3

Long Beach Comic Con & Horror Con This Weekend!

Long Beach Comic Con is happening this weekend! Tickets are still on sale. Individual days are $25, and the 2 day weekend pass is $45 (savings of $5).

There will be a special Robot Chicken panel on Saturday at 3:00 pm. Co-creators/executive producers/directors/writers Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, executive producer/head writer Tom Root, actor/writer Breckin Meyer and writers Erik Weiner and Matt Beans are scheduled to be present in the panel. A Q&A, clips from upcoming episodes of season 5 (DVD on sale 10/25, a sneak preview of the exciting next steps for the hit series are some things you should expect to see.

For all you Simpsons fan, there’s going to be a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror panel. Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Gos), Tom Hodges (Clone Wars) and Bill Morrison (The Simpsons) will talk about Jane and Tom’s Treehouse of Horror story. The panel will be on Saturday in Room 103A at 11:00 AM, followed by a signing at the Golden Apple booth.
Other guests include Iron Man 3 director Shane Black, legendary filmmaker John Carpenter, and the entire cast of The Guild.

Full Program Schedule can be found here

For more information including tickets and parking can be found at the Long Beach Comic Con website