I mostly liked the movie. The tone and pace that is set early has a more "real" feel to it than what we usually see in movies. Sparse dialogue but, again, it feels more grounded in reality. Most of the performances are quite good and it has a more character driven feel to it for the first two thirds. But in my opinion, it feels like it loses its way as it progresses. I mean Ray Liotta shows up playing a character type that he used to seem to play often and you can pretty much see exactly where that sub plot is going from the minute he shows up. I think that's where the movie starts to take a turn. What felt more character driven early on, degenerates into an increasingly contrived, plot driven piece. I have nothing against plot driven movies but I do like a consistent tone in a movie. And unfortunately, the last act becomes so predictably contrived that as good as it was for the first two thirds, I was quite disappointed by the last third.
The movie looks FANTASTIC! And it definitely held my interest for the running time. But I actually figured out where it was going from pretty early on. I didn't see all the little details coming that were revealed as the movie progressed but I guessed at the broad stroke premise, so wasn't all that surprised by the big reveal towards the end. In my case, I've watched a lot of sci-fi over the years, so I saw similarities to more than a few other sources in the ending. Not that it was a bad ending... I guess I was just expecting more than a (SPOILER ALERT -- DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ A POTENTIAL SPOILER)
SPOILER IN
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pseudo rehash of the end of Independence Day with the alien intelligence essentially being the equivalent of Brainiac from the 90's animated Superman series.
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(SPOILER OVER)
I like your take on it. But I think I liked this one more than you seem to have. In fact, I think Django Unchained is Tarantino's best effort since Pulp Fiction.
Iron Man 3
Saw it on Friday night. Overall, the movie is as entertaining as I've come to expect from a Marvel movie. But this one was co-written and directed by Shane Black, who, I think has more "R-rated" sensibilities as a film maker and I'm guessing Iron Man is probably a PG-13 (in the US) at most. So, the tone is a little uneven at times. You get that sub plot where a young teen type becomes integral to the plot -- which to me has always felt like pandering in a "comic book movie" -- but then you get these oddly, PG rated versions of R-rated moments where scantily clad, possibly stoned women are frolicking around "The Mandarin's" lair. And, again, I don't want to spoil anything... and I was never even the most rabid Iron Man fan/reader... but even I felt a little put off by the bait and switch portrayal of The Mandarin in the movie. I mean, this is one of Iron Man's most iconic villains from the comics. The trailer and tv spot moments promised an interesting, serious take... and the movie... well... delivered something very different. "Advanced Idea Mechanics" is also featured. A little more satisfactorily but still felt incomplete somehow. And I'm not sure they quite struck the right balance of Tony Stark in and out of the armor. And I'm left really unsure about how I feel about the ending. I can't go so far as to say that I didn't enjoy the movie. Like I said, I did find it entertaining for the most part... I'm just not sure how I feel about it as an "Iron Man" movie.
