grizzleyturn Reviews

Iron Man Three (2013)

Iron Man 3 delivers in every way possible.

[19 April 2013]

The makers of Iron Man 3 used Avengers as a springboard and focused solely on Tony Stark's world. In that context, they held nothing back! They delivered everything and to my surprise, a lot of it I did not expect. How many third films can you say that about? They dared to forge a new direction for a lead character that's been a pure hit in three films, including Avengers. (The scene after the house attack that had him crashing states away and interacting with that kid who doesn't really relate to him as anything but Iron Man was special!) So, kudos to Downey, Paltrow, Cheadle, Hall, Pearce, Kingsley and especially Shane Black! What a film! Every scene was captivating, whether it was full on armor action or the charismatic "down time" delivered by the best cast possible. Isn't that what movies are suppose to be about?

Iron Man 3 delivers in every way possible above and beyond the popcorn fun you'd expect. There's no doubt that positive word of mouth will again carry another Avengers related film because this was as much fun and as well done as any Marvel film and that includes the big dog Avengers.

The Punisher (2004)

vigilante-style justice done right

[17 January 2005]

If you like the old Clint Eastwood & Charles Bronson revenge movies then you'll like this film. Great pace and action that's gritty but extremely enjoyable. I can't say I knew anything about this Punisher character before seeing this film but I thoroughly enjoyed it none-the-less.

The Punisher is a shining example of revenge and vigilante-style justice done right. It's also yet another comic book adaptation done properly. In fact, this may be the first time I wished we could give half-vaults, because it was just that good. In the compendium of comic movies, this falls just shy of the two X-Men movies, but it is right there with Spider-Man and easily surpasses Batman, Superman and The Hulk. The fact that it is an R-rated movie killed any possible chance of decent box-office numbers, but it was a necessary step to take, and the quality of the movie just makes up for it. Hopefully this was Thomas Jane's breakout role.