Created Jun 02, 2014 09:03PM PST • Updated Jun 02, 2014 09:10PM PST
Iron Man was Marvel Studios’ first movie, a super powered launch followed by one super powered sequel after another.
- Really Great
- 97 Points
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Iron Man – a super knight for our ironic age – succeeds wildly because we relate to the oh-so-human hero while laughing at his non-stop comic patter. Marvel mastermind Stan Lee, stylish director Jon Favreau and witty star Robert Downey Jr. deserve hosannas for delivering such a smart and entertaining comik movie. Bring on the sequels! |
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Another rocket ride of irony, innuendo and immolation, Iron Man 2 picks up where Iron Man 1 left off. Dutifully advancing Marvel's narrative about a glossy world of marvelous titans, it crackles with wit, energy and sexual tension. That said, it's distinctly less delightful than its predecessor, albeit equally brilliant and eminently acceptable. Frequently LOL, often fascinating, occasionally even thought provoking, it suffers from a weak supporting cast, dialogue that's more Tin Man than Iron Man when Robert Downey Jr. isn't on screen, and a forced march of Marvel dictated exposit… |
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Ironic Man returns for a third iteration with his emotional suit of armor in place, humorously deflecting intimacy from friends, foes, lovers and ex-lovers. OK, not all gets deflected. There are several close calls, even a few breakdowns. Hell, there are panic attacks. Hey, it worked in the Sopranos. Works here too. There's also plenty of high flying, super-powered action, all of it up to snuff, marvelous Marvel snuff. Robert Downey Jr's voice-over opens and closes IM3, with his knowing patter filling most of the rest of this very long movie. This a good thing, a very good thi… |
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The Avengers do more than avenge. They dominate – the box office and Disney's financial performance. More personally, they fulfill the hopes of fanboys everywhere, including older generations who don't even know they are fanboys. Ever love a Marvel comic? Prepare to be fulfilled, fanboy. We're talking the biggest opening weekend ever, a fitting achievement for the culmination of five huge prequels, each the cinematic distillation of half a century's comik brilliance. Literature even. It shows on screen through a six pack of Marvel heroes, each with a deep backstory, personal … |
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Avengers: Age of Ultron is Avengers-worthy, as proven by its $200 million opening weekend and its Marvel-ous mix of human-scale comedy-drama amidst earthshaking fantasy. It's also studded with LOLs, and not all them from Downey. He gets plenty, but the comic relief is more broadly spread around this time. However, it's wearisome trying to keep up with the plot, especially when it takes long detours into the mind-control of half a dozen key characters, each of whom have their own neuroses. In writer-director Joss Whedon's defense, it all seems to hold together, in a "Marvel Cinematic Un… |
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Tony Stark has been the verbal superpower behind the Avengers, till now. Yet the motormouth of Robert Downey Jr. is MIA in Captain America: Civil War and the movie doesn't suffer. His novel reticence in Civil War is in service to a well executed Civil War story, but it's a risk nonetheless. For Marvel, it works. Indeed, Marvel demonstrates how a Civil War story should be done, clearly showing-up the recent "Batman v Superman":http://www.viewguide.com/movie_reviews/4349-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice. Sadly, BvS cemented DC's inferiority to Marvel. And I like both Batman & Superman… |
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Spider-Man hasn't lacked great reboots, but this third is the greatest yet. It's the most High School by far, if not the first set in that adolescent crucible. Mostly, Spider-Man: Homecoming benefits by being the first Spider-Man movie to be produced by Marvel, odd though that may seem. Marvel means a lot, a whole lot when it comes to superior superhero movies, not least having Robert Downey Jr. drop into the picture. Megawattage superstar power comes with him, and that's without the miraculous Iron Man suit, which is now voiced by the Oscar-winning Jennifer Connelly. Megawattage. A… |
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Nearly two dozen major characters populate Avengers: Infinity War, a massive cast if not an infinite one. Many are major moviestars — Downey, Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Cumberbatch, Pratt, Boseman, Brolin. They can be very proud of Infinity War. It's formulaic, but so were the great symphonies. There's no way to tell this many stories – super-powered or not – this well without the structure, at this scale or otherwise. Massive starpower is essential but not sufficient. The Russo Brothers' Infinity War deftly weaves half a dozen strands of the Marvel Cinematic Universe into one reasonab… |
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Endgame doesn't disappoint, surmounting both high expectations and a lengthy runtime. Marvelous! Avengers assemble, with each of a dozen getting ten minutes on average to reintroduce themselves. After those two hours they spread out over time – literally over time – taking the movie to its three hour runtime. Yet Endgame never drags, never loses pace, always connects, without even always having to go BOOM.
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