Man of Steel Review

"A movie that succeeds in making Superman 
human...metaphorically." 

Let's face it folks, ever since Superman III 30 years ago, a good film adaptation about the character has been hard to come by. Unless you want to count Hollywoodland which revolves around the story of George Reeves, but I digress...
Man of Steel is the latest shot at slapping a grown man in tights and directing him to leap tall buildings in a single bound and a studio crossing their fingers that it won't flop. The fans meanwhile are holding their breath wondering if Hollywood just wasting the public's time. My answer is...no. 
Here's what you get from Man of Steel: Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) is a man with incredible gifts no human can do and has spent the majority of his life questioning where he comes from and what he's meant to do. In finding his origins as Kal-El, survivor of the lost planet Krypton, Clark discovers his true purpose of using his gifts to become a beacon of hope for the planet Earth. That hope will be needed quite soon when evil rises in the form of General Zod (Michael Shannon) a fellow Kryptonian who intends to trample the human race and Clark as well should he choose to oppose him. Clark must therefore embrace his heritage as an outcast from the stars and his upbringing as a man of morals to become the legendary Superman and defend the human race from Zod's wrath. 
Christopher Nolan of the Batman trilogy comes in to godfather this movie as a producer and help provide a dark atmosphere: in every sense of the word. The tone is darker, the visuals are darker, the violence is darker. Some fans will walk away pleased at this change while others won't be. It takes risks in adapting the Superman mythology when bringing this world and its characters to life. But it also justifies why things play out as they do instead of selling the movie purely as a superhero epic. 
British actor Henry Cavill truly earns the cape as Superman in this part, pulling off a superhuman role while also keeping him (for lack of a better term) down to earth and someone you can relate to. The rest of the cast does have some mellow performances through the majority of the scenes, though Shannon as Zod does go all out in scene-chewing moments that may be channeling a little more of Terence Stamp than he would have hoped for. 
I'm talking bacon crispy ham material. And that's without even a, "Knnnnneeel before Zod!"
If you go into this movie expecting lines like "This seems like a job for Superman!" or iconic visuals like Clark Kent spinning around in a telephone booth, then you're not going to be pleased at the outcome. However, you'll get a Superman tale that has drama, action and tension that works great for the modern audience. From here, the series can only go up, up and away!

Why I Applaud How Superman Beat Zod In Man of Steel

As you can probably tell, there are going to be some major spoilers detailed in this blog regarding the ending of Man of Steel that undoubtedly are still talking (or raging) about the final fight scene between Superman and General Zod in Man of Steel. And I do mean final. So let's break in down.

Zod is basically left a broken and vengeful man by the last twenty minutes of the movie when the rest of his Kryptonian soldiers are sent back to the Phantom Zone. He now has nothing left, his people are gone and all his plans are lying in ruin around him. If you know Zod, you know this doesn't exactly leave him crying in a corner. He...is...TICKED.

Thus begins the epic showdown between Superman and Zod where their brawl through Metropolis causes at least a good half of the city to be demolished and eventually leads to them landing in a train station where a family is shocked at what is going on around them. Zod believes that he'll make Superman suffer by killing the humans, so he unleashes his heat vision and proceeds to slowly guide his literal line of fire towards the innocent civilians. Superman's panicking, he's got Zod in a headlock but he can't get him to stop. Zod won't listen. Superman reacts on a split-second decision...

CRUNCH!

Superman snaps Zod's neck and the general's body falls dead on the floor, leaving Superman screaming in horror at what he's done. All throughout the theater people were gasping at watching one of the iconic characters of their childhood commit murder. And it was no surprise when I looked to see people's reactions and found the majority of the fans raging at this surprise turn of events.

Except for me. Yes, it was not what I was expecting. No, if I were directing or writing this movie I probably wouldn't have done that. But then again, Zach Snyder had a different take for how to bring Superman to life in this film and it's a tone and story that I think takes guts.

First off, everybody was complaining that Superman is now so dark and gritty in this movie. People, you were hailing the name of Chris Nolan, the man behind the Batman trilogy, when you heard that he was brought on board to make the new Superman reboot and then you're surprised at him delivering what he's known for?

Secondly, this is basically a movie of how Clark Kent becomes the superhero we know him to be. I know that sounds obvious, but it is a journey of him turning into a man who goes out and saves people. Yes, he's done that in his childhood when the situation demanded it but this is a movie setting him up for a life where he's committed to doing that on a regular basis.

So what's my point? My point is that Clark is testing the limits of his powers (as his father Jor-El straight out told him to do) and therefore must learn the boundaries of what are right and wrong uses for them. He shows remorse for killing Zod because he's a flesh and blood character, raised by humans with morals. It's not what he wanted to do, but this is his first time dealing with something this big and fighting someone who is on his level of physical power. It was a split-second decision and the clock was ticking fast. He killed Zod, he's sorry for it and he realizes now exactly why he can't allow himself to cross that line again.

Third, must I remind everybody what happened in Superman II? Oh yes, that other movie where Superman fought Zod and his Kryptonian cronies. Zod was depowered by Superman, who then proceeded to crush the bones in his hands to sawdust and then toss him into the abyss of his Fortress where he fell to his most likely death. And nobody gave a rat's turd about it.

And then there's Doomsday. Yeah, it's not exactly comparing apples to apples in terms of bad guys, but Superman killed Doomsday in their first brawl and hardly a voice was raised solely for the reason that Superman died too in that fight. Well people, Superman didn't really see much of an alternative in that course of events either.

In conclusion, what I think the writers were trying to get across here is that this is an adaptation of Superman and the only way you're ever going to get a carbon copy of the comics is to watch the cartoons. Doesn't mean Superman will be killing people left and right in the next movie, it means that he now has a reason not to kill anybody. Because now he knows the consequences of not thinking something like that out. Even Superman can make mistakes...their, somebody had to say it.

Upcoming Marvel Movies We DON'T Need and The Ones We Do

Ever since we heard the last words out of Samuel L. Jackson's mouth at the very end of the Iron Man movie, Marvel fans have been daily checking the web in hope of seeing their favourite super-hero or super-heroine get the big screen treatment. After all, hearing the words "I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative" leads to a lot of speculation. Just how big is Marvel willing to go in order to expand their film franchises? The Marvel Cinematic Universe obviously turned into a profitable success with their lead up to the Avengers movie and now they're continuing with Phase II and expanding their continuity even further. 

So my question is...where do they go too far? 

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that Marvel is jumping at the chance to get some long-deserved titles into the theaters. But when you find out that they're actually spending billions of dollars on a superhero team called the Guardians of the Galaxy (featuring a talking space raccoon and an Ent-like tree man) then it might be time to step back, take a breath and realize just what people will pay money to see. The fact that they're actually trying to make the Ant Man movie possible where most directors would have rolled on the office floor laughing halfway through the script shows dedication from the company. 

But we've got to look at this from a realistic standpoint. Action alone does not make a movie; take Battleship or Michael Bay's Transformers film series if you need convincing on that argument. And just because there's a wide fanbase on a comic book series doesn't mean that the film industry is going to go on that alone; they're going to want everyone that they can to make a movie work.

Time to sort out the movie projects worth Hollywood's time and money and the ones that just won't gain that big an audience.

MOVIES NOT TO PRODUCE
 
The War Machine spin-off

Yes, Terence Howard and Don Cheadle are awesome actors. Yes, they get to wear some powerful suits of armour that could blow up a tank like it was a popped balloon. But here's the question I want you to answer honestly, even if it's just to yourself. 

Would you watch an Iron Man movie where somebody other than Tony Stark was the main character? 

The most common response is probably not. Let's face it, Robert Downey Jr. helped make that franchise with his quick-witted humour and ad-lib style acting that put his own unique stamp on the Iron Man character. Yes he delivered some great action in his movies but when you take him out of the picture, the movie just doesn't work with anybody else taking his place. 

People weren't even really that interested in the character of James Rhodes in the trilogy as much as they wanted to see him dawn the suit. Because it was War Machine they really wanted to check out. So you're probably thinking well then that's more of a reason to give him a spin-off! 

Not when you think about it hard enough. Unless they were ready to throw War Machine up against zombies or some killer robot, you just get an Iron Man movie without Iron Man. Sure he's got bigger weapons to work with but it don't mean jack if he has no one to fight or something to fight for. Can you name me one good War Machine bad guy? Can you even name me any War Machine bad guy?

I'll just say the same thing with the Winter Soldier idea that's kicking around right now. The guy hasn't even made it into his own movie yet. Cool your jets...

The Hulk sequel

Mark Ruffalo is the best Bruce Banner; there I said it. But here's the problem that Hollywood has yet to come up with a solution for. There's hardly anything left for the character to do except make cameo appearances and join the Avengers again.

There's just not a lot of meat they could bring to the script unless they worked incredibly hard into making this sequel come to life. And with all of their knowledge and resources devoted to making the Avengers 2 happen, it's going to be a long time before you see any fruit bloom in terms of seeing the Hulk get his own story again. 

Now I know what you're all anxious to type in the comments below. "They set up the Leader for a Hulk sequel!" First of all, that was close to five years ago so it would be close to ten years by the time you got to see him (meaning most of the audience will have forgotten by then) even if they got started on the project now. Second, remember how uptight Marvel's writers and visual effects guys were about bringing the Abomination to life?

Scaly and green? Rubbish! Big pointy ears? Keep dreaming! Russian accent? Not anymore.

Try integrating a bad guy into a Hulk movie with mind-reading powers due to a mutated head. Even if you had him as this mastermind evil genius, it wouldn't mean squat if you put him and the Hulk in the same room. You'd get another Hulk ragdolling Loki scene and the movie would be over in about five minutes. Unless you had him pair up with the Red Hulk (General Ross in a Hulked out form) or some other respectable villain, the dude would have zero threat level. And let's face it, when you saw that goofy look on Tim Blake Nelson's face, you wondered if making this man the next bad guy was a good idea after all...

Daredevil reboot

Ok, you want to see a good Daredevil movie? Watch the Director's Cut of the 2003 adaptation starring Ben Affleck. 

I mean how many different ways can you turn a blind lawyer into a ninja/vigilante? This is not exactly a "bitten by a radioactive spider" storyline. Now they're talking about rebooting the film series. You'd just get the exact same stories and most of the exact same characters. The only new villains you'd be able to do are maybe Mr. Fear (who let's face it, is a rip-off of DC Comic's Scarecrow) the Gladiator or the Owl (oh my gosh...run...it's the Owl...). 

The tone delivered in the 2003 movie is about as dark, serious and realistic as you can get for a man dressed in red biker leather. The same can be said about Blade and the Punisher. Yes, Marvel wants to reboot those two as well. Nobody is going to do a better Blade than Wesley Snipes. NOBODY. That and thanks to Twilight the vampire mythology is basically broken in Hollywood. 

As for Punisher? They made three movies, played by three different actors, and they all failed. Next...

Ka-Zar 

I'm going to make this short and simple. Just picture Tarzan blonde. 

That's Ka-Zar. And they're already trying to make another Tarzan movie.

Luke Cage and Iron Fist

Years ago they tried to make an Iron Fist movie starring Ray Park. I don't know what kind of story they would have given the guy other than a man going to some Tibetan monastery and learning to punch through concrete but we would have gotten a solid action flick. 

But Hollywood gave up on it, so it's not gonna happen. Now everybody wants to see Dwayne Johnson as Luke Cage, Iron Fist's usual partner. Okay, I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this but I have to come out and say it. There's only two reasons people even know who Luke Cage is. He's got impenetrable skin (admittedly cool) and he was made in response to the demand back in the 1970s for blaxploitation characters galore. Other than that, very little has been done with the character. 

 I know that Heroes for Hire does have a larger roster than just these two but they are the most well known faces of the team and they're the only two who have had studios actually trying to write scripts for individual franchises.

This project I will admit has the most potential in being a film project in the making but I think it would just get written as some super-powered buddy cop movie where these two don't get along and the script becomes as predictable as clockwork. If you can tell exactly how a movie is going to proceed, you're not going to find a large audience for it. 

They could work in an angle about these guys being mercenaries but they'd have to really work hard on toning down the costumes. Luke Cage would probably not be too hard in that department but Iron Fist you'd have to practically start from scratch. For the life of me I have no idea what kind of story you'd be able to set up for them, especially in the villains department. Actually just about all of their bad guys are more well known for fighting more famous superheroes that they've already made appearances in film adaptations (Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, etc). Maybe Goliath or Moses Magnum. 

Yeah, you have no idea who those guys are, do you?


MOVIES TO DO

Fantastic Four reboot

Okay there are a lot of better ways Hollywood could have made a better Fantastic Four movie. Let's take turning Galactus into a giant cotton ball as the straw that broke the camel's back. 

Now they're considering making a Fantastic Four reboot, which I'm all for. As long as they take it seriously and show us a different direction. You don't have to shove them back into space, you don't have to shoehorn in Dr. Doom (at least not yet) and you definitely don't have to make them some reality TV celebrity family.

What Fantastic Four needs is more action and more science gizmos to make the series more visually interesting. To keep you in the theater the Tim Story movies offered the odd scene of these guys fighting each other or some kooky shennanigan involving a near naked Jessica Alba. Because that's just intelligent writing right there...

Ideas circling the net about this reboot has it being heavily involved around things like the Negative Zone and aliens, so they could go the Ultimate route in terms of an origin story. They also want to try and share continuity with the X-men film series. The only thing that could make that worth connecting would be introducing the mutant offspring Franklin Richards. A bold idea, but would it pay off? 

Only time will tell...

Venom movie

Maybe I have a bias on this, but screw it this is my blog. Marvel, you owe us a freakin' Venom movie!

Eddie Brock in Spider-Man 3 was the most squeezed in, poorly handled, miscast villain since Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin. 10 minutes we got of Topher Grace in that black alien suit and then he got blown to kingdom come. But that's not the worst of it. It is widely believed that Sam Raimi put Venom in solely out of fan service, as he admittedly doesn't like the character. 

You know it's one thing to work with something or someone you don't like and showing at least a sizable amount of respect and then there's literally blowing it up in our faces! 

Now wait until I've finished having my say before you gang up and crucify me here. They could make a Venom movie without it being set in the Spider-Man universe. Yes, it is possible. 

Let's face it, Venom is an anti-hero so you don't have to make Eddie Brock the most likeable everyman if you were to give him his own film. You could make him this guy who's down on his luck photographer who gets shafted by everybody around him and in desperate need of a backbone. Think the Halle Berry Catwoman movie...except not awful. 

You make a movie where the man is struggling with his dark side with some killer special effects and the police going on a manhunt to bring this monster in. Who would he have as a bad guy? Well, the only logical option is Carnage. If Venom is about revenge and aggression, then Carnage is about a psycho with no limits. 

Doctor Strange

Viggo Mortensen is the best candidate for playing the Sorcerer Supreme. If you got this guy signed up for the movie then you'd already have tons of guys lined up for the theater...and double that number for all the hopeful fan girls. 

 There's a lot of talk about bringing Doctor Strange into the fold with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Admirable, I will admit, but Thor and Avengers pretty well scratched off any chance of seeing some real magic in that universe by explaining everything from gods to mythological creatures as something out of Star Wars. But if Marvel is willing to retcon that decision, Doctor Strange could very well turn out to be a great addition to the universe. 

Not much else to say about why this movie could be profitable other than the script pretty much writes itself. You'd get this kind of Oriental, mystic atmosphere to the film along with a great mythology that features evil wizards, demons and maybe even some cameos from the gods of Asgard. It happens to be even more audience friendly when you realize how much of the human element would makes it way into the screenplay due to Stephen Strange's origin story of a man who has a life changing accident that cripples his career as a surgeon. 

Namor: The Sub-Mariner

I suspect the reason we have no Namor movie is the same reason we don't have an Aquaman movie: nobody thinks we'll take a fish-themed superhero seriously. 

But if you know anything about Namor, you know this dude is downright bad-ass. The guy's not some boy scout superhero, he's a man with serious attitude problems and not always does acts very heroically. You could do a drinking game of how many times he's tried to take over the world as a matter of fact. 

That doesn't mean you have to make the guy some superhero who would stab you in the back the second you look the other way, but you could take the character in a kind of Batman meets Lord of the Oceans story. Who wouldn't want to see that?

Black Panther

This is actually my biggest contender for an additional Avengers member. I totally agree, there are not enough African American superheroes out there and Black Panther would make an awesome one. Not just because he's some guy in a black suit who fights with claws and can slip in and out of a room like a ninja but because he comes from a country so technologically driven that it makes Japan look like a scrapyard. 

First off, we get that little nod to Vibranium in Captain America: The First Avenger. You do not just introduce a random element like that with the power to absorb any physical force and expect nobody to wonder "Where in the heck did that come from?" 

That would be Wakanda, the fictional African country that Black Panther comes from. You may or may not have picked up on the Easter Egg in Iron Man 2 that showed something big was being monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D. The Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have been heavy on one thing to justify how all these characters of various super-powered backgrounds can co-exist...science fiction. 

Wakanda is filled to the brim with futuristic technology. It doesn't mean they have to make it look like J.J. Abrams Star Trek but there's lots of creative options to take. The visual ideas are endless when you brainstorm how to make a world like this. 

Black Panther is also an international hero and features themes like cultural clashes and questioning tradition. Again, not an uncommon or overexplored territory but with plenty of potential. Treated even half right, this could lead to a great movie...especially with the Avengers universe backing it up.

Underrated Actor: Kevin Durand

You know when you're watching a random movie and there's that one character that pops up that just sticks with you? You just can't nail why, there's just some kind of silent charm to the person's performance that outshines the others? And you're sitting their thinking to yourself, "This actor is going to go places! I can't wait to see what his agent gets him for his next role!" 

And you see him maybe once in a blue moon.

With that, I'd like to take a moment to praise one of the actors who's impressed me thoroughly with his work and dedication, yet doesn't get a whole lot of the spotlight despite his good effort. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Kevin Durand...

Don't recognize him? Well picture him in a scene in a Hugh Jackman...in a boxing match... in an 800-pound fat suit.

Oh yeah...now it's coming back to you. And I'll just give you a minute to scrub your eyes out...there we go.

So you're probably thinking, "Okay the guy was the redneck sumo wrestler in Wolverine. Big deal. What else has he done?" Glad you asked. 

Standing at about 6'6 you can see he was born to play the giant Little John in Ridley Scott's production of Robin Hood. Yes, yes...big flop, I know. But not that bad a period piece and believe me, watching this guy getting plastered and dancing in a tavern was probably the highlight of this movie. If you'd like to see a more mature tone for him then, how about him playing the Boy Scout archangel Gabriel in Legion? You have this guy sharing scenes with Paul Bettany as Michael and these guys are at the same level of talent when they're exchanging dialogue. It may be your classic beat 'em up mixed with a supernatural horror flick but at least the guy pulls off the role in what can't exactly be the most dignified of costumes...

Watching some of his films back to back, you can see clearly that Kevin Durand is a true chameleon actor. He takes his characters as different as possible when he's going into his next role and works hard to put his own spin on them. These days in the industry that's more tough to find then you think. 

Even when he was the Blob in Wolverine, they at least give the guy something to work with other than, "Now just stand there and look chubby!" They addressed Fred Dukes has an eating disorder as a result of his soldier days and is the reason for his significant weight troubles. That my friends is character development, which in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is one of the few hidden gems you'll find. Durand works with it and manages to work some basic stunt choreography into that fight scene. How easy do you think it is wearing something that big and trying to make it look like you're kicking the crap out of Hugh Jackman?

Most of the time he gets picked as a minor character in some of the big motion pictures of the year, which isn't the worst thing, but it's a shame that Hollywood can't see how many faces this guy can pull off. I for one am love to watch how this man works his magic and can't wait to see what projects he signs up for. Word is he'll be seen in the City of Bones adaptation this year along with the Darren Aronofsky take on the Biblical story of Noah. And yes, he will he playing an angel. 

Other notable Kevin Durand movies: 
The Echo
Fruitvale Station
A Dark Truth
Smokin' Aces


For more info on Kevin Durand check out his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/KevinDurandFanPage

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

Cherry picking some of the best concepts 
and scenes in the Star Trek films. Is it out
of tribute or lack of creativity? 

We've waited about four years to see what J.J. Abrams was ready to deliver with his Star Trek sequel. Rumours have abounded, hype has exploded and the marketing has been juicy. The end result? A monumental sci-fi action adventure that will leave you clinging to the edge of your seat. 

Set not long after the end of the previous film (you know, the one that literally reset the entire Star Trek universe?) Captain James Kirk (Chris Pine) is in command of the U.S.S. Enterprise and her crew but remains the same rule breaking know-it-all that he was since last we saw him. First Officer Spock (Zachary Quinto) in particular is one to argue how he should handle his responsibilities and his voice may just be spoken at the right time. Former Starfleet agent John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) bears a personal grudge against the Federation and through his acts of terrorism has already killed dozens of innocent people. Kirk in retaliation rounds up his crew, among them Uhura (Zoe Saldana) Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) and Chevok (Anton Yelchin) on a manhunt mission to stop Harrison. But what Kirk does not realize is that Harrison is much more dangerous than he believes and to underestimate him could be a fatal error...
The excitement that flows through this movie is just as high as the previous film if not topped. What will be the deciding factor is how quick some of the fans pick up on this well-explored mythology and how many are simply hanging on for the ride. What can make the movie tricky for everyone is that exposition flies by at bullet-speed and you're lucky if most of it comes up again in passing. In this fast-paced story where action can pop up out of nowhere, that ends up being a double-edged Klingon bat'leth (that's a sword to non-Trekkies).
Without spilling the juicy surprises in store, the movie does borrow heavily from one Star Trek movie in particular. If you pick up on which one that is while watching it you'll either see it as the writers paying homage or stealing from one of the original films. It's entirely up to debate and I myself was playing both sides of the field coming out of this movie. That being said, these twists and tributes do come with purpose given the foundations this new film series is based on. And remind yourself that this was bound to happen sooner or later given the new continuity...
Just about everyone in the Enterprise crew gets developed in their own character arcs in this story and the actors pull some of their best performances for the final cut. Maybe with the exception of Chevok, who you may remember more as the disappearing Russian. Just about all of the characters get a chance to stare down new bad guy Cumberbatch who is an intense, coldblooded killer with a brilliant mind. Every one of the man's scenes is worth watching over again just to see how he pulls off owning this role. 
Hardcore Trekkies will likely have a thing or two to say about the second half of the movie but the writers do squeeze in reasons of why events have turned this way. You just have to pay close attention to see why that is. Given all that Star Trek Into Darkness delivers so fast and strongly it is undoubtedly a picture worth enjoying at least one more time.

Iron Man 3 Review

" A great sci-fi action movie...
but one that practically tramples the 
characters of the source material."

Robert Downey Jr. returns from his schwarma-themed superhero convention codenamed "The Avengers" for a third installment in his Iron Man film series. But departing from a movie that had Norse gods, super-freaks and aliens, how does Downey fair in getting back to the roots of his character? 

Iron Man 3 shows Tony Stark (Downey) back home and dealing with the trauma and anxiety of a man shaken right to the soul. No longer is his world all fun and games, he now knows that there's a bigger world out there he doesn't have all the answers to and the people close to him are potential targets to his enemies. His girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) are especially worried about his state of mind since he spends the majority of his time working upgrading his suit...expecting for the worst to happen. 
Here arrives the Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley) an anarchistic terrorist who has put Tony into his crosshairs and is out to completely destroy everything and everyone he loves. Using the technological virus called Extremis, he has developed a power superior to the Iron Man armour that will be a deadly instrument in his plans. Wounded and alone, Stark promises to set things right by confronting the Mandarin and protecting the ones around him. 
What Iron Man 3 excels best at is taking the character of Tony Stark into a mature but still likeable journey. Taking over from former director Jon Favreau is new Marvel man Shane Black who is able to mingle well with the tone of this series without taking it too far away from its roots. Strong themes are delivered in this story that shows some of the best acting Downey and the other cast members have brought to the series yet. 
New additions come in the form of Kingsley, who's Mandarin character really doesn't fit all that comfortably in the plot, but makes up for it with an almost show-stopping performance. Key word is "almost" since, without delving into spoilers, his role is very minimal and not the main focus in terms of bad guy face time. That belongs to Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) who plays well off as a foil to Stark, though you can figure out in about 2 seconds flat that this guy is your cardboard cut-out villain. 
The action scenes have never been better in the series than here. As the trailer shows, Tony's house is forced into an afternoon swim at a certain point in the film and it truly is a highlight of drama and spectacle. Even for a superhero movie though, the science logic does get a little too nonsensical for the Iron Man mythos. One can buy a super-powered bad guy with heat powers...but breathing fire is just overpowering the cool factor.
Iron Man 3 is a great movie...if you can forgive the twisting of these characters from their comic book counterparts to the point of near breaking them in two. Turns are taken in this last chapter that will make sense to some fans and leave others scratching their heads for days on end. It remains on-par with the same intensity delivered in the first film.

 

4 WAYS THE MANDARIN COULD HAVE WORKED IN IRON MAN 3

By now you've all seen Iron Man 3 in theaters. And probably about 90% of the comic book fans have likely walked out into the lobby, asking themselves the exact same question. 

"THAT'S THE MANDARIN?!"

Almost everyone over the past year and a half has been on the edge of their seats, wondering what to expect when they heard Tony Stark's arch-nemesis was finally being brought to life for the third installment in the film series. After all, they've been hinting at him since the first movie via the terrorist group "The Ten Rings" (who by the way are left out of in this film). And with the sense of realism brought to the franchise since 2008 everyone has been wondering just how to bring a maniacal robe-wearing Chinese wizard into a down-to-earth motion picture. 

You know, the same universe that introduced us to this...

 

Well, being even just a mediocre fan of the Iron Man mythology, I can honestly say I was shocked...no...horrified at what the studio decided was "the best way" to introduce this supervillain into a cinematic format. Because as we all know, the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 is not real. Ben Kinglsey plays an actor playing the Mandarin, payed by Guy Pearce playing by Aldrich Killian. Confusing? I watched the friggin' movie and I'm still bewildered. And ticked off! 

Why? Because this is just shoving in a plot twist for the sake of shocking the viewers, which hardly ever works. This is not a justified twist in terms of the story being told in this movie. The Mandarin first of all was shoe-horned into this film from the start and the pay-off received just leaves a bad taste in your mouth if you've been waiting years, like me, to see him finally trade blows with Robert Downey Jr. And the worst part is, there were some pretty simple ways to make this character work without sinking to the lowest common denominator. Here's a list of the options starting with getting the character as accurate as possible to the source material.

1) THE MANDARIN FINDS TEN RINGS IN THE WRECKAGE OF THE CHITAURI INVASION

One of the themes of this movie is picking up in the aftermath of the Avengers where Tony realizes that there are things out there he doesn't understand. He's just walked out of a battle with aliens, gods, super-soldiers and technology he never knew existed. The Chitauri invaded and Tony's world was changed completely as he knows it. 

Enter the Mandarin...

If you know about the Mandarin, you know his origin story off by heart: guy finds a spaceship with ten "magic" rings that allow him various superpowers. Technically, they're just alien technology that give the appearance of magic. And so, the Mandarin uses these powers to start taking on his enemies. 

Well, as you will recall from the Avengers the Chitauri didn't exactly leave a small impression from their attack on New York. The streets were littered with corpses, guns, ships and creatures. Likely the government hauled them off to some secure place like Area 51 following the events of the film.

So some psycho in the desert, who already has a terrorist cell that has a grudge against Tony Stark - remember him blowing up a cave full of a hundred terrorists called the Ten Rings? - sits there and thinks, "Wait a second. You're telling me there's a military base out there with hundreds of alien guns and weaponry that could take out an entire city? Boys! Get in the helicopters! We're breaking into Area 51!" 

Few scenes later, Mandarin and his guys find the alien souvenirs, breaks into a ship where he finds ten rings, slips them on his hand. BOOM! There you have it: easy introduction to a series that has already established there are "magical" forces existing in it and fans get almost exactly what they want. You could even have something like Tony trying to reverse engineer the alien tech in order to boost his company's production line. 

Only things that would have made this a little hard to pull off is that it sounds a little too much like Captain America: The First Avenger. You know, people finding technology from another world and using it to their advantage? But still, with Tony being a technology-driven character there are many ways that it could develop the tone of the series. And don't give me any excuses like, "Well, it wouldn't fit the realistic atmosphere of the Iron Man series!" By round three of this trilogy, Shane Black took over. We were bound to get a new kind of take on just what works in an Iron Man movie. No, we didn't get aliens back on the screen, but we got guys pumped with radioactive heat powers that can regenerate entire limbs on command. 

Yeah, that's more plausible.

2) MANDARIN IS A HACKER WHO GETS CONTROL OVER TONY'S ARMOUR

One of the things implied in the trailers was that Tony was going to lose control over the armour and it was going to go all Skynet and try and kill him. 

Didn't happen...

In fact, the closest you get is that the Iron Patriot armour gets stolen by Alrich Killian's men who then override it so they can use it for their own evil schemes. 

Haven't seen that before, have we? 

Well at the end of Iron Man 2, it left a possible dilemma open to speculation. "Wait a second, some guy was able to take over one of the Iron Man suits and almost got people killed. If someone can hack one Iron Man suit, what if they got control over all of them?" 

Well I can safely say that idea was tossed into the screenwriter's waste basket.

But getting back to the Mandarin, this is what could have happened. The Mandarin could be this scientific genius who is controlling or working for the Ten Rings. He's this cyber-terrorist hacker who sits at a computer, probably hasn't seen the light of day for a month, and learns to control technology remotely. 

Alrich Killian comes to him and wants him to hack the Iron Man armour. He wants the public to think Tony's gone rogue so in turn people will come to Killian's AIM company. Because let's face it, the moral of every one of these movie's is that every corporate other than Stark is a tyrannical sociopath.

So the Mandarin develops this kind of remote control tech that has him wearing these gloves with cables that allow him to physically maneuver the Iron Man armour however he chooses. That way you get the symbolism of the Ten Rings and the movie turns into a story about Tony trying to get control over his technology again. Seperating the man from the armour...exactly what this movie was trying to do. 

See this way, the Mandarin is actually a legitimate threat. It even works with the movie's impression that the Ten Rings are able to hack TVs around the world with their threat videos. But of course, that's not what we got. So, moving to Option 3 that at least could work in the story of the Iron Man 3 movie that was delivered...

3) ALDRICH KILLIAN NEEDS A SCAPEGOAT TERRORIST...SO HE GETS A REAL ONE!

Personally, riding on the hype of this movie I didn't mind that they seemed to imply that Killian was the main bad guy. I just wanted to see them deliver the Mandarin in an intimidating and respectable manner. 

I didn't even mind that the guy wasn't going to have magic rings or was being played by Sir Ben Kingsley, who obviously is not Chinese. By all means, I welcomed Kingsley aboard. I was interested in seeing them make this kind of Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now archetype who was studying all kinds of war strategies and went insane when he realized how crazy it was out on the battlefield. It was an interesting way to bring the character to life while staying true to the tone of the film series. 

Nope. Apparently the way the studio executives thought best to treat the character was to turn him into a British drunk watching soccer games in Malibu. (Headslam) 

Alright fine, Aldrich Killian wanted to execute his evil schemes and needed somebody to take the fall for him. So why didn't he just hire a real terrorist so that he could sell the idea even stronger? We've already established with the first movie that Obadiah Stane was able to contact the Ten Rings to make Tony's kidnapping look like a sneak attack. You're telling me Killian can't go to some terrorist cell or mercenary group, pay them to kill who he wants and do his bidding? 

Having the Mandarin as Killian's attack dog would have been better than having him as his scarecrow.

4) AND IF ALL ELSE FAILS...LET TREVOR SLATTERY GET INJECTED WITH THE EXTREMIS VIRUS

Let's just say the writers and producers wrote themselves into a corner. They had no way out, they had to make the Mandarin some schmuck in cooky robes and make Killian the real mastermind. Fine...but they still could have given some dignity to the character. 

If you'll recall in the movie, we find out that Trevor Slattery is the actor who has been posing as the Mandarin all this time. Killian hired him because he was a stage performer who had a drug habit and he therefore paid him in...you guessed it...booze and narcotics! 

Alright fine, you could even work with that. So Tony manages to corner Slattery and the game is up, Killian panics. He knocks Tony out and Slattery goes back to what he's best at...sitting in his armchair with a beer can watching the tube. 

Here's where the scene could have played differently...

Slattery comes downstairs to where Tony is being held hostage by Killian. Why? Screw it, he needed to pee. They treated this guy like a joke anyway. Maybe he just wanted to see what Tony wanted to kill him for. After all, you'd be a little curious in a man's motive if he pointed a gun at your head, wouldn't you? 

Slattery overhears Killian's evil monologue about Extremis and how it can make you super-powered and invulnerable. Slattery is head over heels in love with this super-drug. After all, the dude's a junkie. He grabs a syringe, pumps himself with Extremis and goes insane with power. That way, we get at least one fight scene with Tony and "The Mandarin" even if he is a source of comic relief.

If you even wanted to sell it stronger, have the buffoon mistake Extremis for heroine! That way you get the audience laughing, which was obviously the director's intent, AND you at least give the fans an impression of what they were hoping for! You don't just tease them with a bad guy they paid money to see fight Iron Man only to find out he's some loser who couldn't fire a water gun let alone an AK-47! 

IN CONCLUSION

These are just my theories of how to make the Mandarin work in the Iron Man series. You're telling me that a room full of writers and producers couldn't have come up with better? These are people who have spent years writing up masterpieces of cinema, making characters like the freakin' Sandman look interesting. The direction that they seemed to have been taking the Mandarin would have worked in this movie. Why did they have to deliver such a cop-out execution? Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine was adapted better than this guy!