The Day After Tomorrow is a disaster movie that shows us the perils of Global Warming. Instead of melting and all of us dying from the water, we are faced with a different threat that may be just as grave. The World is freezing over and there doesn’t seem to be anything that humanity can do. Will we survive or will we perish?

There are several “main” characters in this film, but the true main character would be either Jack or Sam. My money’s on Jack, but they both get a pretty big role. Jack tries to warn everyone about the grave threat that they now face, but they don’t believe him until it’s too late. Jack must now venture through the frozen cities to find his son before it is too late. Will he arrive in time? His son is also keeping busy as he tries to stay alive while at the library with his friends, a librarian, a guy who likes books, and a guy who’s with his pet dog as they try to survive in this world. They decide to wait out the storm, but can they resist the frozen embrace of nature? There are other plots including Jack’s wife as she tries to save the life of a kid in a pretty serious condition and a group of researchers who are gathering a lot of information, but have no way of getting outside their residence.

The film does have some pretty nice fake out moments. There is one scene where this guy is eating at a shop and looks pretty nervous as the cops come around. He gets a few lines and we quickly figure that he’ll be one of the main characters. As he makes his get away; the character gets destroyed by an ice ball. Most of the other citizens in the area are quickly defeated as well, which is bad news for the area. Until the figure dies, you figure that he would be a main character so that was nicely played.

The special effects are pretty fun to watch and we get to see New York City destroyed for the first time in days! I’ve always found it amusing to see the city decimated in so many films because we get to see which threat can defeat it first. Will it be Chitauri, Cloverfield Monster, Apes, Kaiju, Thunder, or Giant Marshmallows? Either way, New York always puts up a pretty good fight! The “science” of it all may not be very realistic, but you can ignore that since this is a film and just watch the action!

The film was moving along at a solid pace until a very unnecessary scene that involved some Wolves. It was nice to see that they escaped their confines, but it quickly got worse as they fought the main characters. Animal violence shouldn’t have been included in this film and it definitely hurt the film. Why did they have to add this!? The other main animal looks pretty good as he survives throughout the whole film with a grin. He shows the world that he’s a true dog and gets to take a nice bite out of a hot dog and essentially has more to eat than the other characters. He also knows when its time to bark and he keeps everyone nice and alert. No cruel fate befell him and that was a good move.

The film did a good job of portraying the United States and I’ve always been a fan of the Government scenes. Right when they called in The President; I knew that things were about to get real. He makes the tough calls and his final scene is pretty intense. He acts pretty confident the whole time and he was a solid character. The Vice President is intriguing since he took The News surprisingly (heh) well. He gives Jack a pretty hard time throughout the film, but I suppose that anyone would have done so, considering his lack of data. The Vice President also did want to save the people in the North so he’s not all bad. He didn’t see eye to eye with the main character, but he did want to save as many people as he could.

Jack is a pretty solid main character and he’s a determined person. He goes a long way to try and save his son while also trying to convince the Government of how grave the threat is. He may have been a little snippy while briefing The President and pals, but he was in a rush and needed to hurry to his son, so it was understandable. He just gave them the quick plan and he headed out. He’s definitely one of the better main characters that we’ve seen in a while and he does a good job of taking charge and thinking ahead.

His two partners are not so lucky and it’s hard to like any of them. The older one is around, but he’s not very useful and he just doesn’t get much screen time. The younger one isn’t likable from the start and he doesn’t seem to realize the gravity of the situation that has befallen the Earth. Janet is not usually one of Jack’s partners, but she comes to help out in this time of desperation and she provides them with a lot of data via satellite. She’s a pretty high ranking person so she definitely helps a great deal, although her role is not very large in the film. She’s definitely better than Jack’s two flunkies partners.

I have to say that the kids subplot was not nearly as interesting. Sam and his two friends are a part of a big school competition when the disaster strikes. I just didn’t enjoy the three of them so much. Sam is always making a grimace when he’s on screen and his emotional moments are not that great. His phone call with Jack also didn’t go so well since he could have made sure to say that he was okay at the end. Instead he paused as the water flooded in. I didn’t like his “Rival” either and the best part of that subplot were the supporting characters.

The guy and his dog were interesting figures from the start. The guy is pretty quick and he knows how to survive in this cruel world. He’s the main source of humor in the film and he does a good job of making everyone look bad while he continues to survive. His dog is very sensitive to disturbances in The Force nature and he always gives the characters a form of early warning. The Librarian was helpful and essentially saved the kids’ lives as she let them into a nice room where they were able to keep warm. The guy who liked books was also solid since he made sure that the great authors could stay safe. This guy plans ahead and was ready to save Western Civilization at any cost! There was another person in there and she put up a pretty good argument as to why one of the authors wasn’t that good, but that was basically her only role.

One other flaw that I would have for the film (Aside from an extremely unnecessary and pointless scene involving a guy who almost ignored a phone call and jeopardized more lives by not issuing a Tornado watch and the Animal Violence) is the ending. It’s tough to have a real ending in any disaster film because we can’t exactly “fix” the Earth. Whatever effects have happened will not be corrected in a short time and they will be felt more many years. That being said, the ending was very abrupt and basically if you lived in America…you’re doomed. America’s been evacuated and now we have to live in Mexico. For the people who are not rich….they’re doomed. Also, there just isn’t going to be enough room for all of the Americans so it’s essentially the beginning of the end. When you really think about it, Humanity is down for the count.

In Disaster films, my favorite parts are always the set up (Meeting each of the characters and getting ready for them to join up to survive the upcoming threat) and the beginning of the onslaught. When the disaster first strikes, it’s cool to see everyone’s reactions and what they plan to do about it. Things usually get more slow paced from there and this film is no exception, but it’s not incredibly dragged out. The film is still enjoyable in the later stages, but as per usual, I enjoyed the first half of the film a lot more. The best destruction scene would definitely be the Wave of Water that attacked NYC. It was a pretty good batch of special effects and it reminded me of a recent Avengers episode. (A villain flooded NYC, but surprisingly there wasn’t any property damage and they dried off the buildings while not letting anyone die before dinner. Pretty impressive and Completely believable)

Overall, this was a pretty fun film. It’s probably not meant to be “fun”, but that’s what happened in the long run. There are a lot less fatalities than you would expect and nearly all of the big characters survive. (You do feel bad for the dozens of people who ran out into the freezing snow without a set destination in mind and not bringing along any food or utilities, but they must’ve had a great plan if they left the comfort of the Library for that. The cop did do a good job of taking charge and completely blowing Sam away in the verbal debate. At least 90% of the people went with him, which shows who has the better debating skills) It may not have a great amount of replay value, but it still has a decent amount, considering the (disaster) genre. I recommend watching the film if you like to see Apocalypse/End of The Earth scenarios and also view how the Government acts upon the knowledge. The character roster is decently good and Jack is a solid protagonist. The film is solid on just about all accounts so you can still watch it just to see the dialogue and the special effects. This is also a good film to prepare you for the upcoming Godzilla film, which will feature a Lot of devastation!

Overall 6/10

The Mask is one of those films that I had heard about, but it dropped off of the radar for me. I remember seeing it while at a cool technology store that I used to be around, but then it closed. From that short clip, it definitely looked intriguing. The plot is definitely pretty intense…but could the film stand up to the hype?

Well, this film was definitely better than I would have guessed. The main character is Stanley and things have been pretty rough for him yet. He’s known as a pretty nice guy, but things don’t tend to turn out his way. A car drives through a puddle and wrecks his attire, he also gets ripped off and has to get a new car. One day, he finds a mask in the ocean and decides to take it home. What harm could it cause anyway? After putting it on, Stanley gains super powers and he can basically bend reality to his will. Definitely a useful power to have right?

The plot isn’t all fun and games as the gangs get to business. Tina is sent to the bank as an undercover agent to help them prep for the heist that will be coming up. Is she truly evil or can Stanley help her join the side of justice!? Dorian is the main villain as he wants to get rich and defeat Niko so that he can be the biggest criminal in town. Will Niko be able to stop this guy?

That’s essentially the plot in a nutshell. The film doesn’t really need to have a deep plot since you’re mainly in it to see how The Mask can keep on trolling everyone. The film hits a lot of the high notes that many films do not reach, but the only thing keeping it down is the fact that there is a lot of romance in the film. Tina’s first scene is in slow motion for dramatic effect and Stanley’s friend isn’t very chivalrous. Tina also has to use her charms to distract the main villain and another villain also fools Stanley. There’s also every scene at the night club involving dancing and singing. It certainly could be worse and you could quickly skip those scenes to maximize your enjoyment of the film. Still, the film has more romance than I would have expected.

Aside from that, the movie was very fun. Stanley was a pretty fun protagonist for the most part, mainly because of his overacting. His lines could get intense and his facial expressions make him as much fun to watch as Agent Ward. (Agents of SHIELD) The characters are really exaggerated in this film and that helps to set the mood. The cops were pretty good in this film and they were some of the better characters out there.

The main cop suspected Stanley pretty early on and he did a good job of rounding up the villains. He may not do a very good job of keeping the prisoners, but that’s hardly his fault. His partner isn’t very smart and he keeps up the trend of the character who’s so unsmart that it’s hard to believe. Stanley’s landlord was also a pretty good character and she had a shotgun at the ready. She’s an example of how a well prepared citizen should always be.

Of course, there was one character who completely out shined all of the others. That would be Milo, Stanley’s dog. Milo knew the score from the beginning and he’s a very smart dog. He plays a mean game of Frisbee and he’s able to jump very high. He plays a critical part in the movie and I’m glad that a film finally portrayed the dog accurately. Let’s just say that Milo dominates whoever is opposing him in every scene. He’s a large part of why the film was so good. He reminds me of my dog in a lot of ways. His power, His speed, His intelligence, and many more attributes.

The best scene in the film that didn’t include Milo was the police ambush when The Mask left the park. It was intense and also good to see the cops actually looking good for once. There were dozens of them outside and they were armed to the teeth. These guys definitely weren’t messing around, but The Mask always finds a way to stop them.

The Mask is an intriguing character because his reality warping powers seem to be limitless, but everyone takes it in stride. At one point, he breaks the fourth wall and the other characters just go with it. When he utilizes super speed to rob a bank, the cops just seem mildly surprised. It may be another one of The Mask’s abilities or just something to add to the comedy. Either way, I was definitely a fan of that part so I’m glad that they added it. It gives the film another layer of fun and excitement.

Overall, this film was pretty fun. It has a nice mix of comedy and action and there is a fight in the climax so you won’t end the film on a barrel of laughs. I would definitely recommend this film and it’s a unique experience. I can almost guarantee that you haven’t seen a film quite like this. It’s how you may expect a live action looney tunes film to look. Aside from the excessive romance, there really isn’t anything that’s majorly wrong with the film. It’s solid in all areas and is a well rounded film. The final twist in the ending is pretty great and leaves room for a nice sequel. (Which they totally should have done. The character who ends up with the mask in the ending could have made for a great main character!) Remember to be on the lookout for Milo when you watch the film!

Overall 6/10

Rope is a classic film that was made by Alfred Hitchcock. You’ve probably heard of him and I’ve seen some of his other films. I believe that I already reviewed one or two, but if not, now you’ll get to witness one. Rope is a classic mystery where the main characters (Well, really only Brandon) decide to tempt fate and see if their “Perfect murder” will come out all right.

The film starts out with David dying. It’s too bad since I’m sure that he could have been a decent character…hopefully anyway. The two murderers are the main characters; Brandon and Phillip. Brandon decides that the murder won’t be perfect unless they invite some people over and make this a fair contest. Brandon wants to test his intelligence against theirs and he also wants to feel the thrills of danger. Phillip is mortified, but he’s never able to stop Brandon from doing whatever he wants. The guests start to come in and things are going well….until Rupert walks in!

Rupert quickly became the best character in the film as he proceeded to completely obliterate Brandon’s chances for success. Brandon’s pretty cunning, but Rupert is an inquisitive person and he won’t be stopped so easily. The irony of the matter is that David’s body is in the same room with everyone. They are using the box that he is in, as the dinner table for the party. There are a lot of close shaves, but can Rupert actually solve this mystery?

The film is pretty suspenseful and it goes by quickly. The film basically takes place in the main room and they just talk for a while. A movie with nonstop talking may seem boring at first, but you never feel bored. I’m not sure if this would work in a modern movie, but I enjoy the dialogue in really old movies. Brandon makes for a pretty likable antagonist, but Phillip can be pretty annoying. He’s a villain, but he’s always doubting himself. Phillip keeps on getting nervous, but it’s far too late since he already committed the deed. Phillip nearly jeopardizes the mission several times and he does crack towards the end. The rest of the characters were pretty uneventful and they were mostly there to add drama. They never seemed to piece together the clues, but I like to think that they would have at some point.

This is a pretty fun film and I’d recommend it. The film isn’t very long and it holds up well. There may not be a lot of action or special effects, but not all films need that sort of thing. A lot of action can’t hurt, but this film manages to pull through without it. The mystery isn’t for the audience, which may be disappointing for some people, but then this would be a completely different movie. If you want a mystery to solve, check out Sherlock Holmes.

Overall 6/10

All right, as you guys may remember from my review of the first film, the film was pretty good and had a nice chunk of action, without getting too dark and generic. The first film had a pretty satisfying ending, so what would the sequel do?

Well, the plot is decent as Frank and his partner Marvin are framed because someone leaked an article claiming that they know about “Nightshade”. Frank wants to stay retired, but things get personal when someone makes an attempt on Marvin’s life. With Sarah goading him on the whole time, Frank finally accepts that it is time to return to the field. Unfortunately for them, “Nightshade” is pretty important, so every big organization on the planet is after them. M16, CIA, etc. There are a lot more villains that are out to destroy Frank and his allies this time around.

The soundtrack is pretty solid and you’ll remember the music for a while. The brief Death Metal music was interesting and the main theme that plays whenever they switch countries is pretty cool. The overall atmosphere of the film is still pretty light as it was in the first film.

Red 2 contains a lot of explosions and action throughout the first film, but Frank himself, doesn’t get to take up most of the screentime. This time he has to share a lot of it with other fighters such as Han. Marvin’s still pretty smart and seems to be the most capable agent in the field.

Frank himself is about the same as he was in the first film, but not quite as good. He’s still pretty tough in a fight, but he’s constantly worrying about Sarah and actually pulls a rookie (Or should I say, James Bond) mistake as he falls for someone’s charms and that person drugs him. He looked pretty bad for a while, but during the climax he’s back to the usual. Unfortunately, there are some things that you can’t come back from, and that error is one of them.

Marvin still has a lot of plans up his sleeve and he’s always ready for just about anything. He hasn’t changed much, which is good, but arguably the pressure gets to him towards the end as he makes a crucial phone call. I’d say that he was easily the best character once again, but Han gives him some pretty good competition for that title. Han was a solid addition to the cast and he’s pretty skilled. I dare say that he could possibly defeat Frank, but it would be close. He’ll definitely remind you of Storm Shadow while he’s fighting and his scenes are definitely cool. (Him popping out of nowhere with the machine gun is definitely one of the best scenes in the film)

Sarah is much braver than in the first film and she’s much more enthusiastic than Frank is about the situation. She enjoys being an agent now, but she suffers from her competition against Katya. She ends up using pretty unheroic methods to get the mission done and I don’t believe that “The End justifies the means” logic. She is still a better character than Katya, but I preferred her depiction in the first film.

Katya is the agent from Russia. She’s pretty high ranked and can get bailed out of jails within an hour. Her fighting skills don’t seem to be as good as the main cast’s, but she doesn’t get to fight that often. She was a pretty bad character and I can’t take her seriously as a “villain”

Victoria gets a small role in this film. M16 needs her to prove her loyalty by destroying/capturing Frank and his cohorts. The film really tries to show us how great a shot she is, but…she never hits the opponents. In one scene, a really loud death metal song plays as she dramatically takes out her gun. She takes out the opponents….after about a dozen+ shots. She was all right in this film, but not one of the better agents. She’s still better than Ivan, who gets a really small cameo/guest star role. It’s a pretty bad role and won’t help me gain respect for the character.

The final villain of the film is pretty intense and he manages to take on a battalion of soldiers while behind bars and not containing any guns or bullets. It’s pretty intense, but makes you feel bad for the army guys. Sleeping on the job doesn’t pay. The explosion at the end looks pretty cool and was a nice way to end the action scenes.

So, Red 2 is a pretty solid addition to the franchise. I wouldn’t say that it was as good as the first, but it was a good film. It suffered from more romance than the original and less hand to hand fight scenes, but the soundtrack kept it afloat. The car chases were also pretty intense and I think that a sequel would be fun. The ending in this one makes a sequel more likely than the previous film’s.

Overall 6/10

Priest is a Vampire action film that came out back in 2011. I’m not usually a Vampire fan, but I’ve always liked one series on the subject. (Records of a Fallen Vampire) Does this movie change my mind about Vampire films? Well, they stick away from the biting cliche (For the most part) but the Vampire look like zombies for the most part.

The film starts out by telling us that Vampires came and started slaughtering the humans. So they called in the Priests. (In an animated scene that may make you wince if you don’t have a stomach for violence. Of course it is animated, so maybe you’ll let it slide) The Priests have some mild superhuman abilities (Like Captain America) which makes them strong enough to fight the Vampires. Throughout the film, the Priest doesn’t seem that superhuman, but superhuman enough to win most of his battles. The world has lived in peace for ages and they believe the Vampire threat to be over. One day, a girl is kidnapped by Vampires, so her friend enlists the help of The Priest to save her. The Priest goes to help, but now the other Priests are ordered to take him down.

Priest is a pretty good main character and he does what he can to help save the world. He’s made a lot of sacrifices, but he believes that he’s done them for a good cause and he always does what he thinks is right. The Church doesn’t see eye to eye with the Priest, so he is forced to renounce his vows and become a fugitive. “To go against the Church, is to go against God!” is the Church’s catchphrase, but the Priest seems to know that the line is completely false and he continues to have faith. The only moment that seemed a bit sketchy was when he interrogated a Vampire. I still have never believed that good guys have to resort to such crude methods. (Take Superman. He interrogates all right, but in a more heroic way) The Priest didn’t seem that strong, but he still did some decent damage to the Vampires.

The Priestess arrives later on in the film, but with her quick close combat skills and athletics, she makes quick work out of a lot of zomb-Vampires. She didn’t look so good in her initial appearance, but she made up for it during her later fights. The Vampires never knew what hit them!

Hicks is the friend of Lucy (The girl who was kidnapped) and he comes along for the ride. The problem is that he’s a mere mortal wielding a gun. He doesn’t stand a chance against the Vampires and is quickly dispatched when the battles start. Adding him was to make us have a human to root for I suppose. He could have been worse, but I can’t say that he was a great character.

We can’t forget about Black Hat! He’s the main villain of the film and his abilities far surpass that of the main cast. He’s faster and stronger than the Priest and he sees everyone in slow motion. Because of that, he completely dominates in every fight that he’s in. I always get worried when a character is so much stronger than the others because it means that the ending will have to have some major plot hax. (Plot Hax = A scene that wouldn’t really happen, but needs to happen so that the heroes can win. Or the opposite) Black Hat made for a pretty good villain. His only negative scene would probably be losing control at the end. I thought he had more will power than that, but overall that didn’t stop him from being a compelling villain.

The Council at the Church were pretty uninteresting characters. They refuse to believe in the Vampires and are quick to judge others. In the future, the Church seems to have been corrupted. Or at least, the Church definitely seemed a little off. The title makes it obvious that the film will have some religious elements, and it definitely does. The main character claims to draw strength from God and all of the good guys supposedly believe in him. Of course, the main characters murder many vampires, breaking one of the 10 Commandments every other second. Was it necessary? It’s one of those moral questions that you will need to ask yourself. At least the Priest never seemed to break any of the others and seemed to be a pretty honorable guy.

Overall, it’s a decently good film. You should be warned that the violence is very excessive and you probably wouldn’t want to take your kids to watch this film. The action can get as intense as Bleach, but luckily there are only a few cringe worthy scenes. (Animal violence) The fight scenes are decent and while there are missed opportunities in the film, it did a decent job of capturing the future. (Much better than the Hunger Games, but it’s no Final Fantasy) (Actually, now that I’ve brought it up. The film has a lot of resemblances to the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children movie. Same type of motorcycles, The City is extremely similar, hmmmm…) Anyway, if you like Vampire movies, then this is a good one to check out. If you’re looking for a futuristic action blockbuster, then head on over to Tron Legacy.

Overall 6/10

With the sequel nearly upon us, what better timing to watch Red than now right? Red plays out a bit like a James Bourne film and Frank Moses is constantly on the run. He knows how to handle himself so he’s usually not the one who’s in immediate danger. He has some partners who can be pretty tough as well.

Frank Moses has retired and he’s currently living the good life at home. He still does his daily workout but at least now there’s no pressure. He can do things at his own pace, but one day he is attacked by a hit squad. He dispatches them pretty easily, but now he needs to find out who is after him. Also he had been talking to Sarah Ross over the phone for a while and she was now a target as well. The two of them need to evade the hitmen long enough to find out what is going on.

Frank is a decent main character and for the most part he takes down just about everyone with ease. He’s very experienced at this sort of thing and we learn that he had a very legendary past. He’s made a lot of contacts over the years and they help him out. Some help in small ways and others play a very active role in helping him live through this.

Sarah is one of the other main characters of the film. While she doesn’t have any fighting experience to speak of, she takes it all pretty calmly towards the end. She did have one big fall that almost wrecked everyone’s chances, but I guess she had to make a mistake at some point. Cooper is the main antagonist of the film, but he’s technically not a bad guy. He’s just following orders (Which are pretty sketchy, then again..this is the government!) and he’s a pretty good fighter. He’s the only guy who actually gives Frank a decent fight. Cooper was one of the better characters in the film.

Joe Matheson is another ally, but I didn’t really like him. He never helped that much and his scenes just weren’t as good as the other guys. I think he could have been dropped from the film and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Victoria and Ivan were also not that great. Ivan seemed to be thrown in at the last second and all of Victoria’s character development went down the drain during her final scenes.

Marvin Boggs was a pretty strong character and he’s the only one who seemed to be even more experienced than Frank. He was the only one to notice several things that saved their lives. He’s also a pretty good shot and he’s definitely not someone that you want to underestimate. His bear was also pretty intense.

Overall, Red was better than I had expected. The action was pretty good and the soundtrack was also solid. One negative was that the romance lasted a little longer than necessary. I think that they could have cut out all of those subplots and the film would have been even more epic. Still, Red is a pretty solid action film and I’d recommend it to the average moviegoer.

Overall 6/10

After the record breaking film that was The Avengers, there was definitely a lot of pressure on Iron Man 3. It would be the first film in the next wave of Marvel films that would come out before Avengers 2. Not to mention that the 2nd Iron Man film’s reception hadn’t been quite as good as the 1st.

The plot for the Iron Man 3 film was loosely based off of the Extremis storyline from the comics. The movie is drastically different from the comics with the only similarities being the Extremis serum and some of the character names. Dr. Aldrich Killian gets a decently large role in this film and we can’t forget about the Mandarin. One thing about the plot is that it does drag on for a while. The intro featured Tony Stark in the past, but was pretty boring and a whole third of the film had almost no point (Snow scenes where he meets a kid) If the film had cut out a good 30-40 minutes, it probably would have helped the pacing a lot. The interaction between the characters is definitely the weakest in the trilogy and you’re going to find yourself waiting for an action scene to pop up. Not to mention that there isn’t really a character that you can find yourself rooting for. Tony Stark is fun to watch during certain scenes, but others make you dislike him.

Pepper Potts and Rhodey get to appear in the film with very different roles. Rhodey looks pretty awful the whole time and his scenes definitely keep up the whole “War Machine always loses” trend. The way he lost made him look like a complete amateur and while they attempt to cover it up by giving him great aim with a gun, it just wasn’t enough. Pepper Potts is mostly just there for most of the film, but her role gets better during the climax. Definitely the best that she’s looked in the trilogy. Happy Hogan gets a bit of a role, but he’s pretty outmatched the entire time and he was only okay. He definitely could have handled things a bit better, but he was a lot better than in the first two films.

Tony Stark is portrayed as an inexperienced hero in this film. He’s technically a genius, but he doesn’t show it that much as he underestimates his opponents. He threatens the Mandarin on live TV and even tells the guy where he lives. It was Definitely a good thing to do and I’m glad that Stark made the right move, but the rest of his plan was pretty awful. Not only did he fail to evacuate his home, but he took the time to test out a suit that didn’t have any combat capabilities at the time. His home also didn’t have any security around it, so it was a walk in the park for enemies to come in and wreck the place.

The plot hits its low point when Iron Man goes to a snowy area and meets up with a kid. You don’t need to remember his name because the actual character doesn’t have much of a purpose in the film. Tony Stark keeps having stress attacks and it makes for a very bad subplot. Tony is not the kind of character who would let the near death experience (In the end of the Avengers movie) traumatize him like that. I really don’t think it would happen and he later gets over it for pretty much no reason. Stark also upgrades his tech so that it will respond to him whenever he needs it. Now he doesn’t have to even carry the armor with him as long as he can move to activate them from afar. It’s a decent improvement, but the film doesn’t exploit it this fact that much. He uses it plenty of times, but we never get to see it used that well for combat situations.

Alright, let’s finally start talking about some of the film’s positives! The villains in this film are a huge step up from the first two. The Iron Monger and Whiplash weren’t much of a threat and could barely hold their own. The Extremis meta humans provided Iron Man with a much better fight and they could do some fatal damage. The thing is, they were possibly too powerful. Iron Man couldn’t keep up with them at all and spent most of the film getting knocked around. If he had kept his traditional armor (From the first two films and Avengers) I think that the battle would have gone very differently. As it was, his new armors seemed to be far weaker and are not durable at all. One good shot would end just about any of his armors. Iron Man has to defeat most of them with good ole fashioned ingenuity, but most of his wins are a bit far fetched in the film. Either way, it’s better to have a villain that’s too powerful than one that’s extremely weak. The extremis villains made for epic fights and I wouldn’t mind seeing some of them in Avengers 2.

I haven’t mentioned the Mandarin much, but there isn’t much to say about him. At first he’s one of the most generic villains of all time and he’s basically a carbon copy of Bane. After his “epic” plot twist, you’ll either see him in a new light or just facepalm at the movie. I can’t say that I minded the twist, but if they had done it to a character that I actually had liked, I would have doomed the movie at that very moment. Killian gets the biggest role as far as villains go and he was alright. He was definitely a powerful opponent, but I can’t say much for his personality.

The climax is the best part of the film and it’s what saved Iron Man 3 from getting a mediocre score. Stark and his army of Iron Men team up to take on the Extremis super humans. The armors put up a brave fight and we get to see a lot of cameos that will make fans smile. Unfortunately they’re all pretty weak defense wise and one good attack will shatter them. They make up for this in sheer numbers and Iron Man has to go through many of them in his big battle against Killian. The climax is definitely pretty fun and it beats the climaxes of most of Marvel’s other big films. There are countless explosions and there are plenty of fights happening at once. Make sure that you keep your eyes peeled so that you see everything that’s happening.

Unfortunately the film ends on a really negative note. Stark makes a really bad move involving the “Clean Slate” protocol and also gets rid of an ally’s superpowers that would have come in handy for the future. The film also has a really underwhelming after credits scene that I didn’t find funny or epic. I would still recommend this film, but it is one that you can wait until DVD to watch. It’s a good addition to the marvel franchise, but nothing awe inspiring.

Overall 6/10