Fortune Cookie

Yeah finally Japan is doing something good! Iron Man 3 opens right on time like the rest of the world. It's the first movie for Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Two and it's also the first movie after the hit The Avengers. RDJ is back, Gwyneth is back, Don Cheadle is back, but now it's Shane Black at the helm, writing and directing Tony Stark's latest outing. Shane Black previously written and directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, a nice, funny film starring RDJ and Val Kilmer. The cast is added with the super talented Guy Pearce and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley. What more can you ask? The trailers were great and it's one of the must-see films of the summer. I have to remind you that this review will contain massive spoilers, and if you haven't watched it, I'd suggest you re-visit this after you watched the film.

Set after the events in The Avengers, a new terrorist called The Mandarin threatens America and eventually put Tony Stark's best friend/bodyguard Happy Hogan in harm's way. After personally challenged The Mandarin for a fight, Tony himself was attacked by The Mandarin, resulting in his destruction of his house. Tony tries to find The Mandarin and defeat him and also protect Pepper, however there was another person who also seek to attack Tony, Aldrich Killian, head of the organization AIM.

My feelings were mixed during and after watching the film. In some points, the movie went off the rails and became a little too talky with unimportant exchanges of one-liners and jokes. But on the action parts, it was more than satisfying. It was bombastic. Also, my other complaint was the presence of the Extremis super humans. It betrayed the whole gritty, down-to-earth tone of the first two films (not The Avengers, that's different). Don't get me wrong, Extremis was cool but idk, the way it was pictured in the film may be the thing. Actually, I could still suspend the disbelief about the whole Extremis thing, until [spoiler alert] Aldrich Killian breathes fire, like a freakin dragon. My feeling when I saw that was like when I saw the Isabel Lucas character in Transformers 2 was a Decepticon--like 'what the helllll'. And The Mandarin was completely misused and underused. The plot twist on The Mandarin was awful. But Ben Kingsley is wonderful, his Mandarin-speech pattern is so authentic that it is ripe for parody, like Bane's. Also what are Aldrich Killian's motives to be the bad guy? At least with the bird-loving Whiplash we know something. However I would like to point out that this movie focuses more on Tony Stark and it is great. It's great to see the other side of Tony Stark. And finally Robert Downey Jr. do some real acting in for his portrayal of Tony Stark. I'd like to clarify that that was a compliment because Robert Downey Jr is Tony Stark, not acts as Tony Stark. And a little note to Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige, don't you dare recast Tony Stark should RDJ chooses to stop doing Iron Man movies.

Also, the visual effects are great, Brian Tyler's music was nice and it was fitting to the tone of the film. I'd still say that Ramin Djawadi's score for the first Iron Man is the best but to have the same suite for this film would be wrong. Shane Black's screenplay is good but he abused his typical jokes and it became silly. You may argue, but this is my opinion, like in The Avengers, it used too much jokes that, for me, doesn't fit for the film. This is an emotional, character-defining film for Tony Stark's adventure, but the jokes undone that. Nevertheless, the cast is great and it's fun to see Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts kick some ass--(although in my brother's opinion, too much ass). The great scenes that are worth mentioning are the three big action scenes, the house-destroying, the mid-air rescue and the climactic battle. But the ending may surprise you and leave you wondering. There's also an after-credits scene that's just not that important for the continuation of Phase Two, but just fun. And there's also the magnificent trailer for Thor: The Dark World. I would also love to see the Chinese version of this film because there's no big China-related reference other than the Chinese Theatre or fortune cookies. It isn't right to say that this film is incredible, it isn't right also to say that this film sucks. It has its moments. Mixed feelings for this film. Iron Man 3: rated 3/4

You Think You're So Content

THIS WEEK SAW THREE GREAT TRAILERS TO THREE GREAT-LOOKING MOVIES GOT RELEASED WITHIN THREE DAYS. ALERT: SORRY FOR THE CAPS LOCK. I'M JUST TOO EXCITED. THIS MAY BE THE ONLY POST THAT FEATURED NOTHING BUT TRAILERS. I THOUGHT I WAS VERY EASILY SATISFIED WITH CATCHING FIRE'S TRAILER. BUT JJ ABRAMS AND ZACK SNYDER PROVED ME WRONG. I WAS NOT CONTENT.

MONDAY: THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE

LOOKING GREAT THERE, KATNISS. THE GREAT THING ABOUT THIS TRAILER IS ALTHOUGH IT IS 2.45 MINUTES, IT DOESN'T SHOW YOU ANYTHING ABOUT THE HUNGER GAMES AND ANYTHING ABOUT THE PRE-GAME PREPARATION (NO FINNICK ODAIR, NO CINNA). IT'S ALL ABOUT THE VICTORY TOUR AND LIFE IN DISTRICT 12. IT ALL HAS THE SAME LOOKS LIKE THE FIRST MOVIE YET WITH LESS SHAKY CAM. JEN LAWRENCE LOOKS GREAT AND SO DO THE REST OF THE CAST.

TUESDAY: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

THIS IS THE THIRD TRAILER FOR STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS AND IT STILL SHOWS US NOTHING BUT THE PROMISE OF A SUPER EXCITING, LENS FLARE-BLAZING SUPER SEQUEL. THIS TRAILER PROVES THAT THIS MOVIE MAY BE BETTER THAN MOST MOVIES THIS SUMMER. AT EVERYTHING. AND SO DOES BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH WHO I ACTUALLY MIGHT END UP ROOTING FOR. THE ONLY DOWNSIDE IS THE FILM OPENS 4 MONTHS LATE THAN THE WORLD IN JAPAN.

WEDNESDAY: MAN OF STEEL

THE FIRST TWO TRAILERS MAY BE MORE OF A MONTAGE THAN AN ACTUAL TRAILER. HERE WE HAVE WHAT SEEMS TO BE HANS ZIMMER'S NEW SUPERMAN THEME AND LET ME TELL YOU: IT IS CRAZY ADDICTIVE. IT MAY NOT BE AS SUPER MEMORABLE LIKE JOHN WILLIAM'S BUT BOY THIS ONE IS MAJESTICALLY THE SAME. HERE, WE HAVE MORE JOR-EL, MORE KRYPTON, MORE ZOD, MORE LOIS, MORE EVERYTHING. CLARK/KAL-EL/SU-(ZIIIINGG!--EXCUSE ME?) MAY THINK WE ARE NOT READY FOR HIM, BUT I AM MORE THAN READY FOR HIM. AGAIN, THE ONLY DOWNSIDE IS THE ZACK SNYDER FILM OPENS 2 MONTHS LATE IN JAPAN.

I'M SIGNING OUT FOR TODAY TO WATCH MAN OF STEEL'S TRAILER OVER AND OVER AGAIN. SEE YOU FO'SHO ON THE LAST WEEK OF APRIL FOR AN ACTUAL MOVIE REVIEW OF IRON MAN 3.

At the End of the Day

This week is my last week in Indonesia for this spring break. And I really made use of the given time to watch more movies in cinemas: a privilege absent in Japan. So this week I checked out Andrew Niccol's The Host, Park Chan Wook's Stoker and Robert Redford's The Company You Keep. In other news, this week saw Roger Ebert left the world; a legendary critic, a role model, a teacher, a preacher. Ebert (@ebertchicago in Twitter) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic. His name is plastered everywhere in movie posters, usually giving his iconic 'Two Thumbs Up' or just a quote from his review. Ebert's reviews are the one I look to for references before going to the movies, not Peter Travis' not Christy Lemire's. I would only refer to the one review made and written with such passion by Roger Ebert. I would definitely miss his opinions and sometimes his fun anecdotes in his reviews also his wide-ranging quotations to support his opinions. Truly a loss in movie industry. I may not know him personally but surely it impacted people all around the world like me that one of the most movie-passionate people has gone.

The Host

I know you may be thinking: uh, another Stephenie Meyer adaptation. But this one's not about vampires and werewolves. This one is about parasitic aliens who actually make life better if they didn't take over the humans inside. Saoirse Ronan stars with the help of Diane Kruger and William Hurt in the supporting cast. The movie experience watching The Host is more or less the experience you'd get when you watch a Twilight marathon: sometimes it's silly, sometimes it's unintentionally funny, sometimes it's exciting and sometimes it's boring. The cast are quite okay but Saoirse Ronan is a bit underused. Andrew Niccol's influence is basically zero which is lame. But it's still enjoyable although suffering from some really boring parts. The Host: rated 2/4.

Stoker

Park Chan Wook's Hollywood debut with a script by Wentworth Miller. Yes, the Prison Break Wentworth Miller. It stars Mia Wasikowska (Alice from Alice in Wonderland), Matthew Goode (Ozymandias in Watchmen) and Nicole Kidman. The story revolves around India Stoker, an introvert daughter who just learned after his father's death that she had a mysterious uncle. The film is intense, scary and filled with unforgettable images. The cast is amazing particularly Matthew Goode with his commanding presence. Park Chan Wook's direction is obviously one of a kind and it made the movie better than it already supposed to be. Add that with Clint Mansell's crazy cool hypnotic score. And then add that with creepy yet beautiful cinematography. You get Stoker: rated four out of four.

The Company You Keep

Robert Redford directs the all-star thriller about a former activist who goes on the run to clear his name after being accidentally exposed by a local reporter. stars Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Stanley Tucci, Brit Marling, Terrence Howard, Anna Kendrick and Susan Sarandon just to name a few. The trailer looks really promising but the film kinda falls flat. At some parts the film really works as a thriller but at the other parts it just becomes boring. The cast, led by Redford himself, did a great job though and for me it's great to see more Brit Marling after her supporting role in Arbitrage. I'll definitely get The Sound of My Voice or Another Earth after this. Bottom line, it's a half-baked thriller with so much unrealized potential, interesting plot and great ensemble cast. The Company You Keep: rated 2.5/4.

In the upcoming weeks I'll probably review Welcome to the Punch and Java Heat. But for the sure thing I'll be back at the end of April for Iron Man 3.