DorneyDave
Sidekick
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- May 9, 2007
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Tony Stark was absolutely hilarious in Avengers, so I hope it's like that.
"That man is playing Galaga!"
"That man is playing Galaga!"
Yeah, 'too far' and 'out of hand' are good descriptions of it!The "comedy" in IM2 was basically out of hand improvisation, the whole movie took the imrpov too far IMO, even though I can still watch the movie and enjoy sections of it.
Tony Stark was absolutely hilarious in Avengers, so I hope it's like that.
"That man is playing Galaga!"
Another big one, review from The Guardian (4 out of 5 stars).
Sometimes Whedon's dialogue irritates me, but this caught me off guard.
It counted as fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.Be interesting to me if the Timeout review from Huddleston will be a rotten/fresh.
It counted as fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Not to say it isn't great, but as I recall, Thor was riding super high on RT from the early reviews of UK critics as well...it wasn't 'til the Americans started chiming in that its score began to drop like a lead weight. Still, these reviews on the whole seem more enthusiastically positive than those were, so there's that. At any rate, I liked Thor for the most part, but I'm confident I'll like this movie far more.The rave reviews from the top UK critics are nothing short of amazing. They are usually tough on films in general and comic book movies in particular, so their praise for Iron Man 3 is that much more meaningful. Though I am certain that some of the tougher, more elitist critics in the US will still slam the movie, the British reaction reassures me that the movie will be well received overall.
Not to say it isn't great, but as I recall, Thor was riding super high on RT from the early reviews of UK critics as well...it wasn't 'til the Americans started chiming in that its score began to drop like a lead weight. Still, these reviews on the whole seem more enthusiastically positive than those were, so there's that. At any rate, I liked Thor for the most part, but I'm confident I'll like this movie far more.
I think your film professor was spot on with that take on critics' natural bias against blockbusters. It seems like a blockbuster has to "surprise" them with its quality in order for them to like it, if that makes any sense, lol. Which is funny, considering genuinely good blockbusters are released every single year. That's why I enjoy the reviews of more populist critics like Peter Travers so much (in spite of his shameless quote-****ing), because not only do I believe he has good taste and knows what he's talking about, but he also clearly loves a good blockbuster as much as a good indie. He seems to approach all (or at least most) types of films with a very open mind.I did say that I expect US critics to hit the film because I am very aware of their tendencies with regard to superhero and action films. There is this strain of unwarranted elitism among the critics for the top US outlets that will not allow them to praise all but a few genre films. This strikes me as ironic because the best of the UK reviewers are far more intelligent and better writers than the top American critics.
This reminds me of something one of my film professors said: Critics often harshly attack genre films that they know will be blockbusters because they are annoyed that their reviews will make no difference. With smaller films positive reviews can greatly influence the public to go see them in the theater, which of course makes the critics more influential. Whereas the general public's enthusiasm for a film is the deciding factor when it's a big budget spectacle, rendering criticism a non-factor. In other words, for some critics poor reviews can be an ego thing as much as anything else. A few of them will admit as much, in so many words.
In his commentary for TA, Whedon said that they weren't going to actually show anyone playing Galaga until they looked through footage of the extras on the Helicarrier set. He noticed that one guy who looked shifty, so they went in and inserted a game of Galaga on his computer screen.t:
Not to say it isn't great, but as I recall, Thor was riding super high on RT from the early reviews of UK critics as well...it wasn't 'til the Americans started chiming in that its score began to drop like a lead weight. Still, these reviews on the whole seem more enthusiastically positive than those were, so there's that. At any rate, I liked Thor for the most part, but I'm confident I'll like this movie far more.
A positive review from a UK-based online magazine: http://the-void.co.uk/film/review/cinema/iron-man-3-483/
New Zealand Herald (4/5)In the end, Iron Man 3 is a tale about the masks men wear to hide who they really are or be who they think they should be. Black has breathed new life into Iron Man and created the best superhero film since The Dark Knight.
From MTV UK (4/5)But Downey's great, again, Paltrow's Potts remains the reigning champ of screen superhero girlfriends and Black's delivery of this rip-roaring story makes Iron Man 3 a seriously good upgrade on its predecessors.
From Flicks.co.nz (5/5)While its silliness makes it inferior to Christopher Nolan’s epic Batman trilogy, Iron Man 3 is easily the most entertaining superhero blockbuster of recent years.
From Holy Moly (8/10)But all the great character stuff doesn't mean there's any shortage of hardware or action here – Iron Man 3 features several of the best set-pieces in Marvel movie history. This helps the film put fading memories of the underwhelming Iron Man 2 to rest, and reinstates the series as Marvel's gold-standard for awesomeness.
It really is an unexpected gem of a super hero film the isn't afraid to let its stars do what they do best, whilst maintaining its credibility and not leaning on its excellent stylistic special effects the main crutch. It sparks, grinds and fizzes itself into a climactic crescendo of bonkersness, and is re-watchable purely for its performances. This is certainly the pinnacle of the franchise after an almost unforgivable second instalment. Just remember to switch your brain to autopilot first.