FURIOUS 6: A FAST REVIEW (PUN INTENDED, OF COURSE)!

Not since the first movie has the Fast & Furious franchise had as much concentration on its villain as Furious 6, which is a good thing. Owen Shaw played by the underrated & undervalued Luke Evans (although don’t look for Oscar nomination here) is a delight, although like the rest of the cast once the movie reaches its halfway mark, he plays second fiddle to the cars and stunts. Nevertheless he’s the focus of the first act all the way to the second along with the return of Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty.

           

What Shaw wants is not quite clear (some military chip to do something, I can’t remember) and to be honest it really doesn’t matter. All that matters is the team from Furious 5 trimmed down by two members (which is a good thing actually) has to stop him and that’s all you need to care about, there’s no room for substance (or logic) here.

With fewer team members, come bigger stunts involving tanks and a never-ending runway (seriously). Is it better than Furious 5? Why should we compare. Furious 5 was The Avengers before The Avengers. Here, the party just continues and oh, stick around for the credits… someone shows up, but I won’t tell you who. Like he says we’ll soon get to know him: Fast & Furious 7!!! Vrooom!

Rating: 4/5.

MY IRON MAN 3 REVIEW (OH, IT'S GOOD!)

So how do you make an Iron Man movie without Iron Man? Well, if you have the man behind Iron Man, Tony Stark, it seems that’s all you need. In The Avengers when Captain America and Tony Stark clashed, the former asked the latter what he would be without his suits. Well in Iron Man 3 we find out. Turns out Tony Stark still pretty much stays a genius, billionaire, philanthropist, this-time committed-boyfriend and proves it as he spends most of the movie out of his comfort suits. Oh he has suits all right, tons of them apparently since the incidence in The Avengers that involved him going through a wormhole and realizing there were beings more powerful than him. This movie might divide most Iron Man fans, while we generally liked the first one, we loathed the second, but appreciated the effort the folks at Marvel put into especially Downey for going down with an almost sinking ship. Then The Avengers came along and even though it redeemed some of the features of Iron Man 2, it made us realize further how much we disliked it, but at least it wasn’t Green Lantern! So now we’re here at the threequeel: Iron Man Three.

           

As you’ve probably heard by now, Iron Man 3 plays out more like a sequel to The Avengers than that half-baked, but still appreciated Iron Man 2 movie. Tony’s new enemies (there’s more than one as usual now) come in the form of demons he planted years ago by himself and a new terrorist known as The Mandarin (comic book purist should not expect the Chinese caricature that was Marvel’s metaphor for British rule over Hong Kong, the comic book Mandarin was a half-Chinese, half-British bad guy. Instead this Mandarin is a mixture of all things anti-American, justifiable and non-justifiable-ish. If it’s any compensation to the purists, he’s acted by a half-Indian, half-British screen legend, still makes him half-Asian, half-European, so there).

           

The Mandarin unlike Iron Man’s previous enemies has no known weaknesses and no prior issues to really avenge, but to apparently correct America’s past transgressions by creating more of his own (reminds me of Boko Haram). Meanwhile Tony also has to deal with a former scientist turned nemesis in the form of Aldrich Killian (who gets like fifteen minutes top in the whole movie), a crumbling relationship with Pepper due to his anxieties of “New York” and a hate for pal Rhodey’s new costume, the Iron Patriot.

          

 By far the most engaging part of the movie is when Stark meets a young genius in the making in the form of Harley (played well by Ty Simpkins). Something tells me one day that boy is going to wear an Iron Man armour. This by far makes Iron Man 3’s second act the best in any superhero movie I’ve seen. While most comic book movies wobble in the middle, Iron Man 3 is saved that problem by engaging Tony with a young inquisitive boy who’s just as sharp as him and looks like he just might be a superhero one day.

          

 The third act like in all superhero movies is where the good guy faces the bad guy. What separates Iron Man 3 from the usual routine is the twists and turns involved. The fight isn’t just straight, it’s… well, you’ll have to see it for yourself. No amount of explanation can do it justice. Robert Downey Jr, who made a fortune of The Avengers ($50m) can afford not to return to the character that has been one great metaphor of his acting career and not worry about messing up his legacy as Tony Stark. It would be hard to find another Tony Stark. As the character says in the end, just like he did in the first movie, “I am Iron Man” and Downey is Tony Stark. You can’t replace him… not just yet! See you for Avengers 2!

Speaking of which, many have asked why Stark never calls any of The Avengers, well I just got word that Asgard has no telecommunication services, so no you can’t port to the bifrost, that colourful bridge that transports Asgardians, not even if your name is Saka and Captain America just got a Blackberry 10 and is too busy learning how to use it and Nick Fury has to pay for damages done to the helicarrier! So there you have it, they were all busy!

 

Rating: 3.8 stars/5