SYNAPSE CIRCUIT IRON MAN 3 ANALYSIS

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT REVIEWS IRON MAN 3 

Good evening, Synapse Circuit Readers! Oooh, these last few days have been fantastic! There’s nothing like a bit of Sun for the feel great factor! I am always feeling good! Wink, wink! Oh, and what wonderful bit of news that women thought to be missing for over 10 years have been rescued from captivity in Cleveland, Ohio! Awesome!

I think by now just about everyone who loves technology and the Sci-Fi movie genre has seen Iron Man 3. Here are my thoughts on the latest instalment of the Iron Man franchise...
SPOILER ALERT!

HEAVY METAL
I am probably one of the few who thought that Iron Man 2 was better than the first outing. I thought Mickey Rourke was brilliant as was Sam Rockwell (Justin Hammer the Apple to Stark as Google) and the introduction of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. In general I thought the cast was stellar – good performances all-round! Good action and a great story!

I felt the first Iron Man was ok – good tension in the story. But the story didn’t make any sense. Obadiah Stane wanted to have the brilliant genius killed in order to take over the company and profit. Surely, it would have made more sense to keep Tony Stark alive so that he could continue inventing inventions that will keep the company in profit! Luckily, he wasn’t killed because he could invent the Iron Man suit and make a leap forward with the Arc technology which is an electromagnet and a battery. Cool!

The third film picks up from where the Avengers victory in saving the world left off! It finds a post traumatic stressed Stark questioning who he is outside the Iron Man suit. Another story arc (hee hee) is that Stark’s past catches up with him yet again! This time his charismatic cavaliering has managed to cheese off a one Aldridge Killian (Guy Pierce) who was stood-up at a New Year’s Eve celebration and years later he sets out to teach Stark a lesson. Again, here’s another guy who wants to kill him but decides he could benefit from Stark’s genius.... Then wants to kill him again... Hence (anti)climatic battle towards the end... Hmmmm... Why can’t people think about constructive ways to get attention? Anyway, the nature of the story has Iron Man 3 all over the shop and it was very, very fortunate that the performances were watchable! However, the technology is the ultimate star!

SOFT MACHINE
In all the Iron Man films it’s the beautiful computer interfaces that remind me of the Android operating system. But what was with his (Stark’s) handset in the first movie?

I love Jarvis that is the virtual equivalent to Bruce Wayne’s senior citizen butler / confidant, Alfred. Jarvis has considerably more to do and interfacing with the Iron Man suit is just one of the things this virtual assistant is capable of... I wonder if Jarvis get’s its search information from Google? Hmmmm... And that HUD (heads up display) certainly looks a little like Google Project Glass. Is life imitating art? I was a follower of comic books and it is interesting to see how technology has kept these comic book legends relevant today. Who knows, one day we might have a real life superhero enhanced by technology!

Hey, did I see a reporter in Iron Man 3 with a Samsung Galaxy Note filming Tony Stark issuing an invite to the Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley)?

IMPLICATIONS
WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT

What I found intriguing about Iron Man 3 is what the filmmakers has done with the Mandarin character. Comic book die hards will hate it, but I thought it was ingenious – even though it made the plot a little convoluted.

As you know there are so, so many conspiracy theories on the InterWeb that have the capacity to make you think or just snort in incredulous derision. We saw the conspiracy fall out after the 9 / 11 World Trade Centre tragedies with many claiming that this was the work of the US shadow government... Oooh, disturbing... That the Mandarin turns out to be an actor sending broadcasts from within the US and not the Middle East... Oooh, controversy! Very interesting stuff! I have to do a search on ‘meaning behind Iron Man 3’ to see what theories have been thrown up and put out there!

Hey, didn’t Stark discover a new element in Iron Man 2? And doesn’t this element provide unlimited power for the suit? If that’s the case then why are there issues with losing power in the suit? Why doesn’t he have radiation poisoning?

VERDICT
Iron Man 3 hasn’t quite managed to avoid the curse of the Third... Da... Da... Daaaah! Spider-Man 3, horrendous. Blade 3, abysmal! Batman 3, uneven!

It feels as though the script was built around 2 things:

1. Downey’s ability to deliver witty quips / one-liners.
2. Action sequences.

The script is a mere formality that gets in the way of the above. It’s watchable but you’ve mostly forgotten it the next day!

It’s loosely based on the ‘Extremis’ comic and I prefer the comic.

I thought the 3D version of the film is a little messy in places i.e. many of the scenes are shot in dark places and it’s hard to appreciate the 3D effect.

The strong cast makes the whole thing watchable!

I hope the DVD / Bluray will have great extra features.  

GET THE JARVIS LOOK
Turn your Android handset into Jarvis! Check out this app:

Iron Man J.Q

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