Random Access

Friday – 03 May 2013
It’s almost the weekend. Thankfully, as this has been a somewhat busy week.

Last night, I was asked to attend an Iron Man 3 premiere… as Nick Fury. Having dressed as Nick Fury before and having all of the parts of the costume already – except for being unable to find my eyepatch, of course – it was an easy thing to agree to do. This time, I asked my friend Melody if she’d mind helping me make one modification to my costume: Scars. With a little latex, some eye shadow, some foundation, and a few pieces of tissue, she went to work.

Less than 45 minutes later, I was good to go.

I headed up to the Megaplex Legacy Crossing theatre to for the “Iron Man 3 Red Carpet Party.” The event included a “Make Your Own Armor” (out of cardboard boxes, glow sticks and other ephemera) workshop, trivia games, an obstacle course event, and photos with those of us in costume. I was a bit surprised that there weren’t as many young kids as I had expected, but that didn’t keep the older kids – and some of the older not-kids – from having a good time:

I actually remembered to get a semi-close picture… at the end of the night.

And then, it was time for the big show:

After the disappointment with X-Men: The Last Stand – franchise’s third movie, but with a different director and going in a different direction than its predecessors – I was a bit leery about Iron Man 3. Things that helped to mitigate my trepidation were:

1. John Favreau was attached to the film as executive producer
2. I’ve seen some of Shane Black’s work… and liked it.

The lights went down, the trailers rolled (and, let me say: The Man of Steel trailer in IMAX 3D was pretty fantastic) and then the movie began…

Two hours and some change later, it was over. It held up very well with the other two movies in the series, while having a slightly different tone — it felt a little lighter, overall, without being comedic. Robert Downey, Jr. was… Robert Downey, Jr…. and seemed very comfortable climbing back into Tony Stark’s shoes once more. I was happy to see Don Cheadle get more screen time as well as seeing Rhodey interact more with Tony. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts had… decent screen time and had some very good moments. Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian was an interesting character and an interesting business counterpart/foil for Tony. Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin was not what I expected, but was creepy in his own right.

And the post-credits scene? I’d argue that it’s the best one that they’ve done yet.  Yes, even better than Thanos. Or schwarma.

All-in-all, it was a fun ride and one that I recommend.

Namaste.