As a fan of all these interconnected Marvel movies, naturally I was looking forward to this one. And, while I don't think it's one of the best overall, when it's good, it's really good.
There were a few things that bothered me, so let's get those out of the way first. It tries to be more psychological than the first two movies by making Tony prone to panic attacks following the events of The Avengers, but nothing significant ever comes of that. It's also far more unexpectedly gruesome than the first two, including several scenes of torture. And the ending seems like it's trying to wrap up a trilogy, but nothing about the ending makes sense.
But of course, where the movie shines is its action scenes, especially the big climactic battle. It's so entertaining that you're willing to forgive many of the film's shortcomings.
But now let's address the elephant in the room: the Mandarin twist. :) I never read the comics myself, but I can understand why fans would feel betrayed. Personally, in the context of the movie, I think it works.
Overall, while I would advise approaching with caution because it does get far more grisly than its predecessors, I'd still say this is worthy follow-up: equally humorous and exhilarating.
My rating: 70%.
Does that sound like a rewrite of Die Hard to you? Well, surely no one would be that creatively bankrupt. To quote the Nostalgia Critic, they are when they frigging advertise it like that! Right on the front cover, it says "Die Hard in the White House". Subtext: "Throw out all originality, ye who enter here!"
Even my impression of it as a movie is tired and unoriginal. Like so many other modern action movies, it's not fun: it's boring. It's full of shaky cam that's not fun to watch: just disorientating and frustrating.
I also can't help noticing how grossly misogynistic the movie is. There's the death of the First Lady at the beginning, and the first hostage to be killed for a cheap shock death is a woman.
But my biggest problem with the movie, and the main contributor to its insufferable boredom factor: it takes itself way too seriously. When the terrorists strike, the gunning down of innocent civilians makes it feel too much like a real terrorist attack. There's just no escapism to it.
So, while it's at least bloodier and bolder than most action movies today, it unfortunately takes its authentic brutality too far. It's just all-around devoid of fun.
My rating: 30%.
I have to admit, this is a hard movie to talk about. Since I don't know the true story, my only hope was the film would tell it well enough to hold my interest.
Well, it half succeeded. During the first half, I was really struck by the earnestly morose tone, and could follow the proceedings without any difficulty. But, as the film progressed, I found it increasingly hard to understand what was going on and how the various events were connected – probably because I was having trouble cracking the dialogue. While I wasn't completely lost, it did leave me increasingly confused.
The brilliance of Michael Shannon's performance as Kuklinski never faltered, though. :) He's portrayed as a very cold, professional killer, completely unflinching. But he still truly loves his family – indeed, as he puts it, they're the only people who mean anything at all to him. So, when they're threatened later on, you start to get desperately worried just as he does. Also, after Man of Steel, it's such a relief to see Michael Shannon give a performance to be proud of within the same year! :)
To sum it up, while I might need to see it again to fully understand it, I'd still recommend this to anyone who wants to see a solid contract killer story. It's not great, but it's very effective.
My rating: 70%.
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