Salon.com > iron man 3

“Iron Man 3″ box office hit in China

Thu, 02 May 2013 18:15:00 +0000

Despite the minor controversy sparked by product placement in its made-for-China scenes, "Iron Man 3" garnered almost $21 million in the Chinese box office, topping the one-day sales record set by “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” in 2011.

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Online reactions to the film have been largely positive, but bloggers appear united in their consternation of the deliberate product placement that sees new a character named Dr Wu (played by mainland Chinese actor Wang Xueqi) consume a [milk] carton of Gu Li Duo.

Not that audiences outside mainland China will get a glimpse of this, though: this scene is part of the film’s China release, a version which is four minutes longer than the normal cut seen everywhere else in the world.

"Transformers 4" is the next Hollywood studios film expected to follow the similar model of dual version releases.

“Iron Man 3″: A playboy grows up

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:45:00 +0000

As far as bored and cynical, playing-out-the-string comic-book action sequels go – hey, “Iron Man 3” is a pretty good one! The third and purportedly last of Robert Downey Jr.’s adventures as the armor-clad but increasingly vulnerable Tony Stark features one of Downey’s most nuanced performances, arguably a lot better than the movie around him, and keeps him separated from the physical and emotional protection of the Iron Man suit for extended periods. There are several good supporting performances, not even including Gwyneth Paltrow’s abdominal muscles, which is really all I can remember about Pepper Potts: Guy Pearce, as a nerd genius spurned by Tony Stark years earlier who comes back for revenge; Ben Kingsley, most delicious of all, as a shadowy techno-Osama known as the Mandarin.

“Iron Man 3″ trailer depicts Air Force One bombing

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:06:00 +0000

So much for the villainous aliens of "The Avengers."

The new trailer for "Iron Man 3," just released, depicts a newly elected president swearing revenge on supervillain "The Mandarin," just before Air Force One is bombed and government officials float through the air.

The Marvel series of comic-book movies have always lightly dabbled in politics -- Tony Stark, the titular "Iron Man," is a weapons contractor who's under perpetual scrutiny from the government, while his fellow Avenger Captain America is a jingoistic figure of American can-do optimism. They're far from the three movies depicting coups and paramilitary overthrows of the president coming out this year (those would be "White House Down," "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" and "Olympus Has Fallen").

The franchise is better known for action than real-world resonance of any sort. But a plot hinging on vengeance against a globally known terrorist striking back against American power may indicate that we'll be seeing more and more movies tinted with themes that wouldn't feel out of place in a Kathryn Bigelow movie.