Iron Man 3

http://uk.marvel.com/iron-man-3/#/trailer-3

My decent into Marvel appreciation started with Thor and culminated with The Avengers (Avengers Assemble in the UK). I had seen both Iron Man and Iron Man 2 and liked those movies but they weren't enough to make me a fan. Regardless of my less than enthusiastic approach to Iron Man I did go to the Premiere for Iron Man 3 (see here for the gossip on that) and I also went to the midnight screening of Iron Man 3. Then 'why are we only getting a review now?' I hear you cry! The simple answer is that I was so tired whilst watching Iron Man 3 at midnight that I wasn't sure my review of that experience would do the film justice. I liked it alright. I just didn't love it. And I wanted to be sure that that was my overall feeling and not just tired me saying that.

So I waited until today, which just so happened to be the day I went to see Iron Man 3 again. This time on IMAX!!! If you haven't seen a film on IMAX I will just say that it makes everything bigger, louder and in many respects, especially on a movie like this, better.

For those who don't know, following the events of Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, Iron Man 3 picks up after the alien attack at the end of The Avengers. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is a changed man. He can't sleep and when he does he has nightmares of what happened in New York and threats that have yet to present themselves. No sooner have we established that these are imagined threats, a very real terrorist appears on the scene calling himself The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). And after someone close to Tony is in the wrong place at the wrong time of a Mandarin attack, Tony vows revenge. It's only when his home is literally blown into the water that Tony has to act to save those he can't live without. 

Iron Man 3 surprised me on many levels. The first being the massive twist involving Ben Kingsley's character The Mandarin. I won't give it away in case you've yet to see the film but it is brilliant and I hope that you, like me, will not see it coming. The second surprise was just how vulnerable Tony seemed. Usually he's unstoppable, indestructible Iron Man, but in this installment he seemed much more human. Maybe it's the direction Marvel are going in (you'll hopefully understand what I mean by this when you see the last few reels of the movie) but I liked it. I also liked the continuing and deepening of the Tony/Pepper relationship. And some equalling of the ground between them. Pepper kicks ass in this movie on so many levels and it was nice to see her do something other than walk around in a suit looking like she has a bug up her butt. 

The Iron Man films have always been the less serious and more humerous of the Marvel movies but whilst this one was still very funny in places, it's also a much darker movie. Whilst I was happy for my nephew to see Thor and Avengers, I wouldn't recommend taking a child of his age (7) to see this. At the end of the day superhero movies are generally fantasy films but a lot of the threat in this movie is by a terrorist, and in this day and age that kind of villain is all too real. For that, along with some gory deaths involving people getting literally punched through their stomachs/chests, I would recommend only taking older children to see Iron Man 3.

On a lighter note, I think my favourite scene in the movie is the 'barrel of monkeys' scene. If you've seen it you'll know what I'm talking about. It's very tense but so very satisfying. And very well shot. So all in all, better than my initial 'alright' response, Iron Man 3 is definitely worthy of a second showing and if you're going to do it again you really should make it IMAX. A surprising and satisfying 8 out of 10.

*Don't forget to stay for the post credits sequence* Squee!

Viewing Date - 25th April 2013

UK Release Date - 25th April 2013

Cast Overview:

Robert Downey Jr ~ Tony Stark

Gwyneth Paltrow ~ Pepper Potts

Don Cheadle ~ Colonel James Rhodes

Guy Pearce ~ Aldrich Killian

Rebecca Hall ~ Maya Hansen

Jon Favreau ~ Happy Hogan

Ben Kingsley ~ The Mandarin

Ty Simpkins ~ Harley Keener

William Sadler ~ President Ellis

Miguel Ferrer ~ Vice President Rodriguez

Director ~ Shane Black

Writer(s) ~ Drew Pearce (Screenplay), Shane Black (Screenplay), Stan Lee (Comic Book), Don Heck (Comic Book), Larry Lieber (Comic Book) and Jack Kirby (Comic Book)

Iron Man 3 Premiere

Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square - all decked out for the Premiere

I had planned to go to the Iron Man 3 Premiere with my cinema buddy but when the Premiere got moved from Wednesday to Thursday (due to the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher's funeral - how ironic!) my cinema buddy could no longer attend. As such, I wasn't sure if I should still, or could, go on my own. I'd never done a Premiere on my own before and it was a scary prospect! In the end, as I had the day off work anyway, I made the decision to go stag with the possibility of meeting up with one of my Tumblr followers as I'd done that before and it turned out very well!

Regrettably the person I'd intended to meet couldn’t make it into the enclosed pens that we’d been put into so I have yet to meet her, but thankfully I got chatting to the loveliest bunch of ladies as I milled around waiting for the stars! One french lady had come to the Premiere with her 14 year old daughter, and we got talking to a lovely 17 year old Thai girl and her 20 year old Brazilian friend who are both studying in London. The Brazilian girl let us all stand under her umbrella for the brief rainstorm, the Thai girl went to get us all hot chocolate to warm us up afterwards and the French lady gave us all cake! I could honestly not have asked for a lovelier bunch of people to wait with me. 

 

RDJ posing next to a flash car

Back of RDJ as he signs autographs for fans

RDJ signing autographs

When the Premiere got into full swing RDJ spent ages signing autographs, but he clearly hadn’t passed this memo to his co-stars as none of them signed for the waiting fans, which I can’t help but feel was a bit of a poor show. As a result, the only photos I managed to take of Rebecca Hall, Don Cheadle and Ben Kingsley were all rubbish as I mostly got the back of their heads as they talked to the press opposite where I was standing. 

Rebecca Hall being interviewed by Alex Zane

Sir Ben Kingsley being interviewed by Alex Zane

Don Cheadle being interviewed by the press

Regrettably Gwyneth Paltrow was not in attendance so I can’t tell you what she was like. But I did get a fairly decent photo of Samantha Barks who played Éponine in the recent film adaptation of Les Misérables as she happened to be in attendance and spent time with the fans on the red carpet which was lovely. 

Samantha Barks (from Les Miserables movie) with a fan

But the one saving grace was that I FINALLY got RDJ’s signature on my subscriber cover Empire (though it did get a little wet in the rain)…

All in all, a good day, met some nice people and RDJ once again proves he’s the star in this franchise by being such a good sport!

The Awakening

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/film/the_awakening

It was only last week that I saw the trailer for The Awakening. I understand the lengthy process of film making but this seems to have come out of nowhere to me. I hadn't read anything about it in the run up to its release and only had the trailer to whet my appetite before deciding to go and see the movie.

But the trailer was enough and I did go and see the film this weekend. The tale is one of a boys boarding school in the 1920s which is being plagued by a ghost. One of the teachers at the school, Mr Mallory (Dominic West), is prompted by the matron (Imelda Staunton) to visit novelist Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) who is famed for disproving ghost sightings and seances. Florence visits the school and sets booby traps for boys she believes are wandering around the school at night frightening other pupils. It's only when she has a horrifying encounter of her own that she starts to wonder if her hoax theories are true after all.

I'm very glad that I saw the trailer for The Awakening or I might have missed this small British film entirely. And while I think it would work as well on DVD as it does in the cinema, there is something quite frightening about a pitch black room and a screen so big they make the terror that much bigger and therefore all the more scary.

Eerily shot at Manderston House on the Scottish border, with very little in the way of effects, it's all about the set up and the environment. At its core this is a haunted house movie. But unlike the Paranormal Activities of this era, The Awakening evokes reminiscences of films like The Others, which although I didn't love, I could appreciate it had originality and was genuinely eerie to watch.

The Awakening is very similar in that respect, more of an old school ghost movie. So many scary films these days it's all about murderers or CGI so it's nice to see a good old fashioned haunting. And it really is the simple touches, the use of darkness, an unfamiliar and large house where you don't know what's hiding behind each corner, a sound in another room, the camera passing by someone that your main character hasn't noticed, all of these things are much scarier than the big shocks which are designed to get a scream from the audience. I guess because the things you imagine are often much worse than the reality.

There are enough scares and jumps here to keep modern horror fans entertained, and good enough acting in between the scares and jumps for everyone else. Like The Others, The Awakening also has a twist in the end. And I am happy to say that although we had our guesses, neither me or my companion guessed the twist. And I even came up with a further question at the end. I won't spoil it for anyone wanting to go and see but I'll ask you to comment if you've seen it and have your own theories. And if you haven't seen it, don't scroll down to the comments! 

Worth a watch but you might need to hide under your coat when she's looking through the spy hole. 8.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 12th November 2011

UK Release Date - 11th November 2011

Cast Overview:

Rebecca Hall ~ Florence Cathcart

Dominic West ~ Robert Mallory

Imelda Staunton ~ Maud Hill

Isaac Hempstead Wright ~ Tom

Joseph Mawle ~ Edward Judd

Director ~ Nick Murphy

Writer(s) ~ Stephen Volk and Nick Murphy