Iron Man 3 is a bundle of contradictions. It is light and genuinely funny, yet a vein of deep cynicism acts as the movie’s spine. At times it is gleefully silly, but it indulges ideas that are merely goofy. It wants to reconcile real-world violence into larger-than-life escapism. Yet the contradictions don’t quite break the movie. Director/writer Shane Black and co-screenwriter Drew Pearce understand the mode in which they have to work, and manage to make both impulses live side by side.
Those contradictions give Iron Man 3 a weird sense of pace, and a personality that isn’t quite like any other superhero movie. This isn’t the gleeful candy-colored romp of The Avengers, and I sympathize with any audience thrown by the film’s shuffling rhythm. Shane Black writes and directs movies that walk a fine line between idiosyncratic and mainstream, and many of the director’s impulses (winking narration, in-jokes, the subversion of cliches) are on display here.
Black and Pearce struggle at times to keep all their ideas in the frame, but that struggle alone makes Iron Man 3 interesting to watch. The film’s giddy highs are quite wonderful, and its personal quirks are testament to the power Marvel Studios has accumulated. The film plays loose with characters and ideas from the comics, but in doing so presents a story that is more unique than we have any right to expect from a threequel. In fact, crossover between real and heightened worlds has defined Marvel Comics since day one, and Iron Man 3 may be more true to Marvel’s spirit than any other film.
(Note: Iron Man 3 features a couple big plot elements that shouldn’t be spoiled, and so the following review avoids discussing those elements. I’m not going to say this is 100% spoiler-free, but I’ve avoided the big points. ) Read More »
.
Please Recommend /Film on Facebook
Did you think the end of the Totally Rad Show would mark the end of the annual Slashfilm/Totally Rad Show Summer Movie Box Office Wager? Well, you were right! The wager, as you once knew it, is gone. But we always have so much fun with the contest that Peter Sciretta, Jeff Cannata and I decided we had to keep the tradition alive in some way.
Which brings us to the latest bonus episode of the /Filmcast: The 2013 Summer Movie Wager between me, Peter, and Jeff, formerly of the Totally Rad Show and soon to be host of Newest Latest Best.
We discussed which films we felt would be the top ten highest grossing films of the summer and, oddly enough, our opinions varied wildly. Below, you can listen to the full episode, download it, and see our lists. Read More »
Without a doubt, this weekend belongs to Iron Man 3. The film is now open and the box office is expected to be huge; possibly one of the biggest of all time. That means everyone and their mother will be heading out to the theater to see what’s next for Tony Stark after he flew into space at the end of The Avengers.
Surely people will also take the weekend to look back at the first two Iron Man films, Iron Man and Iron Man 2, directed by Jon Favreau. If you don’t have time for all that, though, music producer Mike Relm has made an awesome Iron Man trilogy remix, using Black Sabbath’s Iron Man in conjunction with footage from all three films. Check it out below. Read More »
At movie junkets, the cast and crew of movies sit in a chair all day while hundreds of interviewers rotate in, most asking the same exact questions. The result is that the talent begin repeating the same soundbites over and over again. So much so that it almost becomes a script. Sometimes you go into one of these rooms, asking a different question that no one else has asked, and the tired actor might just try to find a way to work one of the dozen now-scripted soundbites as the answer, never really touching on your question. I always try to ask questions that aren’t asked by other journalists, but I try to stay away from the tv interview set-ups as they create an environment of recycled soundbite with not enough time to delve into any real substance.
But I do enjoy watching the tv interviews from the few journalists that find a way to keep the talent on their feet, and out of the soundbite zone. Daniele Rizzo is a German comedian who we’ve featured on the site in the past, usually working fun sketch interviews in at international film junkets. This time around Rizzo has shown up at the Star Trek Into Darkness junket as “Spocko” to grill both cast and crew on the details of their missions. He also showed up at the Iron Man 3 junket to ask Robert Downey Jr & Gwyneth Paltrow the important questions in full costume as Italian Iron Man. He may not get any serious answers or scoops, but its fun to watch.
Read More »
Would Robert Downey Jr. cameo on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Did Zoe Saldana talk about her role in Guardians of the Galaxy? Want to see some concept art from Tim Burton‘s Superman Lives? Are there Avengers 2 references in Iron Man 3? Did we all overlook a huge Man of Steel spoiler? And why is Nicolas Cage playing every character in Iron Man 3? Read about all this and more in today’s Superhero Bits. Read More »
A couple weeks ago I got the opportunity to sit down with Marvel head Kevin Feige and Iron Man 3 writer/director Shane Black.
We’ve run some of the answers over the last week as stand-alone posts, but you can read the whole interview transcript after the jump, including collecting Back to the Future memorabilia, Iron Man at Disneyland, transforming a superhero movie into a detective story, Patton Oswalt’s Star Wars/Marvel crossover rant, if it was weird for Black to direct Jon Favreau in an Iron Man movie, how Iron Man 3 sets-up future Marvel films, Tony Stark’s unexpected team-up with a child, how Marvel deals with leaks, misinformation and the rumors of the age of the internet.
Read More »
Its very hard to keep secrets in the age of the internet, especially when it comes to fanboy properties like superhero movies. While talking to Marvel head Kevin Feige and Iron Man 3 writer/director Shane Black, I asked how Marvel Studios is evolving to deal with this growing interest in rumors, leaks and sometimes even misinformation.
Read More »
Want to see a low budget, sweded version of the Iron Man 3 trailer? How much money has the film grossed so far? Where can you purchase a bunch of Avengers and Marvel themed t-shirts? What did Zack Snyder say about his Man of Steel movie versus The Avengers? Is it expensive to be Iron Man? Did Kevin Feige comment on the rights to Daredevil and maybe even She-Hulk at a recent Q&A? Read about all this and more in today’s Superhero Bits. Read More »
Cool Posts From Around the Web:
