Thriller charting the moral collapse of a police family. Two cop brothers, smothered by the shadow of their former police chief father, must investigate a crime they themselves have committed. From: IMDb.com

Thriller charting the moral collapse of a police family. Two cop brothers, smothered by the shadow of their former police chief father, must investigate a crime they themselves have committed. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Nick Murphy

Starring: Rosemarie DeWitt, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page and others

Current release date: 2013

Is this movie good action entertainment? Yes, sure! Is it a great movie as well? No, definitely not!

To be frank, this movie never lives up to expectations. That of course doesn't mean that the movie is a bad one as well but it nevertheless was disappointing to see how little this movie actually did that was new, or differs from any of the previous Iron Man movies and superhero movies in general.

This movie promised to be a somewhat darker and more serious in tone Iron Man movie, in which Tony Stark gets truly tested, falls and has to rise up again as Iron Man. But really, all of the villains and situations Stark gets himself involved in this movie aren't necessarily all that different and more threatening or dangerous than any of the situations and characters Iron Man had to face before, in any of the previous Iron Man movies and lets count in "The Avengers" as well. As a matter of fact, the movie pretty much has the same tone as the other previous Iron Man movies and isn't really that much darker or less silly, both story-wise and comedy-wise.

I have to say that in some regards this even is a somewhat poor movie. Especially story-wise it's lacking. The pacing is off and the story feels somewhat messy for the first half of the movie and also please don't watch this movie expecting to get any depth or decent enough background to anything. It's shallow, big, action entertainment, that constantly pushes its characters to the background and rather wants to focus on- and show you the next big action set-piece.

This definitely goes at the expense of the whole Tony Stark and Pepper Potts relationship but also at the expense of the Stark and James Rhodes friendship. It's hard to detect any emotions or heartfelt moments in this movie and it's therefore also hard to truly feel involved with the story and characters at times.

The whole villainous plot is also somewhat disappointing. It's just too simple really. They are terrorist and they are evil and that's it really. There is no big plan to conquer to world, get rich, or anything along those lines. It's also 'annoying' how little screen time the main hero and main villain of this movie get to share on the screen. I never like it when a movie its villain and hero basically are miles away from each other and hardly have any form of interaction.

It shows you how lazy and simplistic the writing can get at times for this movie. But this actually also goes for its action moments. I lost count the moments that Tony Stark got saved, at the very last moment, by his suit. Tony Stark falls off something? Don't worry, his suit will save him! Somebody throws/fires something at Tony Stark or holds him hostage? Don't worry, his suit will fly in again to save him! It just isn't very creative and too easy really. Especially of course when the movie starts repeating the same patterns over and over again.

But oh well, this movie still remains pretty much up to par with the other Iron Man movies, as weird as that may sound after all my criticism. This is not any better but also most definitely not any worse than any of the previous two Iron Man movies. It just never does anything new or special with its concept or characters, which is the reason why this third movie mostly feels like a disappointing one. Some more creativity and originality would have been nice!

But Robert Downey Jr. is still in great form and all of the right action and special effects are still there, to turn this movie into an enjoyable, silly, overblown, action spectacle. Action-wise this movie doesn't disappoint and it's the main thing that keeps this movie going and entertaining to watch.

So it's all still good and fun to watch! Just don't expect the ultimate Iron Man movie or one that does things completely different from any of the other Iron Man movies.

7/10

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Tony Stark uses his ingenuity to fight those who destroyed his private world and soon goes up against his most powerful enemy yet: the Mandarin. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Shane Black

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow and others

Current release date: May 3, 2013

Marvel's "Iron Man 3" pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds (Mandarin). When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man? From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Shane Black

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow and others

Current release date: May 3, 2013

It's weird, I still liked the movie but it was truly far from a great romantic movie or sports movie even.

It's still a movie with a good light, typical British style, to it, which makes this a pleasant watch and remains the one and only reason why it's still a good enough movie to watch.

I however just can't see how anyone could be taken by its story or romance. This is not really a good movie to watch with your lover, since the love story is actually far from a romantic or convincing enough one in my opinion. The whole way it's set up and constructed is severely lacking, since love never seemed to be the main foundation for the relationship between its two main characters.

And besides, Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany don't really have any good on screen chemistry together. It sounds like a good match on paper but it's just something that never works out within the actual movie. Guess that for most part you should also blame the writing for this of course and not necessarily Dunst or Bettany themselves.

The writing is not just lacking with its romance but with basically everything else as well. The movie is filled with some absolutely redundant characters and some very predictable developments. And it's not much good as a sports- or underdog movie either.

The characters are busy with a whole bunch of stuff in this movie, expect focusing- and building toward their tennis matches it seems. The don't live for their sport, as it appears and the whole way the sport gets treated in this movie is pretty wasteful. It also treats the tournament like just an average little tournament, which might had been just fine, were it not for that fact that this movie was supposed to take place at the Wimbledon tournament, which is the biggest and most important tennis tournament in the world.

The tennis matches themselves are also awful to look at in this movie. There is never any tension or decent enough buildup to any of them and they are basically all shot the same and progress in a very predictable manner. Besides, it's pretty obvious that neither Dunst or Bettany are among the biggest tennis talents. Especially Dunst looks horrible when she is sporting, even when she's only just running. Stuff like this annoyed me and prevented me from buying into the movie its premise.

But the movie is still harmless and cute enough in certain parts, making this still a watchable enough genre flick.

6/10

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The plot is unknown at this time. Rumor has it Tony Stark/Iron Man will head to China to face his toughest opponent, Mandarin. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Shane Black

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow and others

Current release date: May 3, 2013

(Review originally written at 20 October 2006)

Perhaps the most anticipated and talked about movie of 2006, by both positive and bashing negative parties (mostly from religious persons). Controversy had always surrounded this movie and the book it was based on. It's such a shame that some people just can't separate fact from fiction and just take the movie for what it is; good intelligent entertainment. Judging by its style and directing this movie was clearly not made to shock or offend but to purely entertain.

And for the unbiased open minded person this is surely an entertaining movie to watch. It was not as slow or boring is I had heard and expected. The movie is definitely fast paced and features lots of thrilling moments.

The movie its story had definitely enough potential to make this one of the best movies of 2006 but yet it isn't. The story tries to tell too much and often goes to deep into certain aspects which certainly doesn't help to make this movie the most pleasant or easiest one to watch. The story also takes lot for granted and goes to deep with its theories which isn't always good for the realism of the movie. It overall also makes the movie too long which makes it hard to keep interest for its entire duration.

The movie has a good style and quick pace, with some good editing and moody camera-work and a great perfectly suiting Hans Zimmer soundtrack. The directing is also good when for most part but yet you can tell that thriller/mystery just isn't Ron Howard's genre. The movie doesn't always flow well enough. My advice to him would be to just stick to drama's and comedies, were his true talent lies. Guess Howard really wasn't the right guy for this job.

Lots of fine actors are also wasted in the movie. The movie lies its emphasis on the story and therefor too often forgets about its character that become at times a secondary element in the movie. The movie does really lack a solid main character. It's not that Tom Hanks is of course an horrible actor and it's not like he's miscast in the movie, like most people say he is, his character just isn't always likable or understandable enough. Ian McKellen's role is too limited, as he is introduced too late into the movie. So is Jürgen Prochnow in a very small role and Alfred Molina, who's character had way more potential than was eventually used.

Yet the movie remains a perfectly watchable one that is also more entertaining than you'll perhaps would expect. The movie features more than enough interesting and mysterious elements to keep you interest in the story until the end. The story features lots of imaginative and fascinating elements, the book by Dan Brown on which this movie is based is not a world wide success for no reason. Too bad that in the end the movie does not live up to the book it's success or brilliance and it doesn't quite meet expectations.

It's some good intelligent entertainment but it's just not one of those movies people will still talk about in 10 years from now, I would reckon.

7/10

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