Too bad about
Iron Man 3. I mean, it certainly seems to be popular. But I found it disappointing, and I've been liking pretty much all the "official" Marvel movies since the first
Iron Man. I think the problem is that the "pros" are starting to take over. By "pros," I mean a guy like Shane Black, who directed the new
Iron Man. He was a writer on the Lethal
Weapon series, which was also popular and also pretty tedious overall. Pros like Black know how to make super-violent action flicks that appeal to a certain kind of moviegoer, but they lack the light touch (and an understanding of the distinctive appeal of comic books) that guys like Jon Favreau (who directed the first two
Iron Mans) or Joss Whedon (
The Avengers) has. Has anyone noticed, for example, that IM3 is basically a zombie movie? Yes, Ben Kingsley is great in this film in a totally unexpected way. Yes, there are a few other nice touches. (The post-credits gag isn't bad.) But there's about an hour in there that's a long, dispiriting slog. I hope that Black is the first and last of the pros to get a hold of a modern superhero movie, but somehow I doubt it.
