Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Director: John Madden*

Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth

Have I Seen it Before: Oh, sure. It’s surprising to realize I haven’t re-watched this one since starting these reviews nearly 2 1/2 years ago.

Did I Like It: There’s just something about Best Picture winners fro the late 1990s. They age very poorly. I’m mainly looking in your direction, American Beauty (1999). This one, too gets a little bit of derision, but as I’ve already mentioned, it is one of my favorites.

Repackaging the bard as a the prototypical romantic comedy lead works in spades. Doing so gleefully unravels the film from anything resembling historical accuracy, but if you need movies to be historically accurate, I’m beginning to think you don’t get much enjoyment out of life, and that you are perpetually disappointed by your unrealistic expectations of the world. Scenes of the author struggling with his work similarly likely have no basis in reality, but they feel true, which is all we can ask from a film.

Sure, just the mention of Harvey Weinstein makes one’s blood run cold. Also, it’s hard to forget during the film that much of it is centered on a performance from a performer now is now arguably more famous for producing and selling candles which smell like her genitals. On that note, both Paltrow and Affleck do just above Costner-level work to convince us they’re English. It doesn’t help matters. But these are nitpicks—except for the Weinstein part—of a movie that largely holds up and is definitely worth another look.

* No matter how many times I see this movie, I always chuckle as I imagine the famed footballman calling the shots. For the record, I know it is a different John Madden.

Iron Man Three (2013)

Director: Shane Black

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pierce

Have I Seen it Before: Robert Downey Jr. in the role that made him a bonafide movie star? I mean, he’s probably going to be playing Tony Stark forever, so I don’t know why I felt compelled to see it on opening weekend, but there I was…

Ahem.

I may still be getting over some issues brought up by Avengers: Endgame (2019). Please, by all means, proceed with reading this review.

Did I Like It: Some people say it is the worst Marvel movie ever. In a world where Fantastic Four movies keep getting worse, I don’t know how that’s possible. Some more reasonable people want to say that this is the worse MCU film ever. They are still way, way wrong.

In my review of The Avengers (2012) I couldn’t help but note that the film—from a purely cinematic standpoint—is sort of pedestrian.

This film doesn’t have that problem. It is absolutely a Shane Black film in every way. That is a delicious thing to behold. It’s funny. It’s action packed. It’s more often than not surprising.

Is it fully an Iron Man movie, though? Some would say no, and hence their complaints. I say it is fully an Iron Man movie, with the knowledge that he spends less time in the suit here than he does in any other film that features him beyond a cameo (I’m looking in your direction The Incredible Hulk (2008)). This allows Downey the actor to play scenes more fully than he might in other films. It’s good. He’s a good actor, and we may have forgotten that while he’s been playing old shellhead.

There was a slight concern that Downey might walk away from the role after this picture was over. His contract had been fulfilled, and he was getting increasingly more expensive for Marvel. As such, there is an attempt at a happy ending for the character.

And then he signed another contract, and the story of Tony Stark continued. It leads to my one complaint about the film: The ending is counterfeit, and the one he does get is far more grim.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Director: Jon Favreau

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell

Have I Seen it Before: Sure.

Did I Like It: Yes… But at the same time, it is in fair competition for the worst MCU movie so far.

Just as the original Iron Man (2008) is a great example of the need for shared cinematic universes to start with a great movie first, and then build from here, its sequel is a pointed example of where Marvel has occasionally mis-stepped, and the Distinguished Competition has wallowed. Too much of the movie is devoted to setting up future films. Indeed, the strangely turgid scenes featuring Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) make them seem like their in a waiting room for their future appointments with Thor and Captain America. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) has the same problem. See Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016) and even the supposed culmination of all their efforts, Justice League (2017), or really any DC film that isn’t Wonder Woman (2017) or, maybe, Aquaman (2018) for other examples.

The film feels less vibrant than its predecessor in other ways as well. I feel a need to not speak ill of any appearance of Robert Downey Jr. as the character, as it turns out those appearances are a non-renewable resource, but he feels less funny, more shackled to a pedestrian script here. It’s the last time it will feel this way, and is only more apparent as he continued to inhabit the role. Gone, too, is the visceral creative quality. The sequence of Stark creating a new element (?) is both tacked on and not nearly as satisfying as Stark’s initial creation of the suits in the first film.

And yet there are watchable elements to the movie. The idea of Sam Rockwell as a pale shadow of the cool watchability of Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark is the film’s most fully realized idea, and Rockwell swings for the fences. It’s unfortunate that Justin Hammer couldn’t appear in other films, but it quickly becomes clear that Tony Stark is moving on to bigger and badder things.

It sounds like from the above that I am down on the film. It’s still insanely watchable. It’s just not their best effort.

Iron Man (2008)

Director: Jon Favreau

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrance Howard

Have I Seen it Before: Oh, so many times. That first time feels like a million years ago. Then there are times when it feels like it was just yesterday. Sorry. I may still be working through some Avengers: Endgame (2019) feelings, as at the time of this writing, I only saw that film for the first time this weekend.

Did I Like It: Of course. The thing that Marvel did—and may have only lucked into—where DC’s larger universe has failed, is that they made a highly watchable first movie. 

Some people might say that Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger (Jeff Bridges) is a lackluster villain, and that the third act looks a lot like many of the other superhero films in the decade or so that preceded it. These are all valid concerns, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe proved from its infant days that a weak villain wouldn’t keep these movies down. This film converted verifiably great film actor Robert Downey Jr. to unassailable film star, Robert Downey Jr. Few people can pull off both. In fact, he might be the only one.

It’s also a fairly engaging story about the creative process. I’ve never created a mechanical suit of armor, but I have written a few books and engaged in other creative endeavors, so the process of suitmaking resonates with me. The Mark I is like a first draft. Lurching, awkward, and only if your lucky will it work in fits and starts. The Mark II is a good revision. All of the obvious problems have been fixed, but you only discover all new problems you hadn’t yet considered. By the time the suit is hotrod red and gold in its Mark III iteration, it has finally started to sing, much like later polishes. And yet, still you want to make refinements to your design. 

I want to be Tony Stark in my own way. Figuring things out. Always funny regardless of what’s going on. And now? Well, go read my Endgame review. But, as I’ll soon try to make the point in another venue, every story has to end, but there’s always charm in going back to the beginning and revisiting old friends.