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The armoured Avenger's latest adventure

Is tron Man 3’ what
we thought itd be?

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

a

Ma from here on

out, will have its name
associated with one of the most
ambitions film experiments ever
done. With seven movies now
released as part of the Avengers
storyline (eight come November
with Thor: The Dark World), it’s
amazing that all have ranged
from decent to downright
incredible—so how does Iron
Man 3 hold up?

Set some time after the
events of The Avengers (2012),
charming bad boy Tony Stark
(Robert Downey Jr.) has
been somewhat reduced to
a reclusive, post-traumatic
stressed state (albeit still a
charming bad boy). Obsessing
over a number of new Iron Man
suits and putting his lady pal
Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow)
aside, Stark’s not at his best.
Demons from an even further
past for Stark also show up
in the form of Aldrich Killian
(Guy Pearce), a scientist who
Stark once painfully insulted,
and ex-girlfriend Maya Hansen

(Rebecca Hall), who’s come to
share some surprising news
with Stark. In the midst of all
this, several terrorist bombings
at the hands of a man who calls
himself “The Mandarin” (Ben
Kingsley) have occurred across
the US, and it’s not long before
Stark is forced to get involved.

With four movies now
involving the character of Tony
Stark, it is initially very difficult
to keep any sort of interest in
what's going on with him for
the first third of this film. But, in
a brilliant writing move, making
Stark actually vulnerable with
overwhelming panic attacks is,
plot-wise, one of the highlights
of the film, and I’m glad it kept
me watching. There’s a lot that
happens in Iron Man 3, and try
as you might to be uninterested
(I certainly did), the movie's
actually a fun ride, to the point
where even its action sequences
are inspired.

Like The Dark Knight Rises
was to The Dark Knight, there
was no way in hell Iron Man
3 would be as great as The
Avengers. However, unlike Rises,
Tron Man 3 does a superb job at
bringing a close to Tony Stark’s
personal arc, and is more than
worthy of its ticket price (as long
as it’s not in 3D).

Mosquito’ stings so good

Sink into the latest
Yeah Yeah Yeahs album

By Jacey Gibb, Assistant Editor

t’s been four years since the
Yeah Yeah Yeahs dominated
our music players with It’s Blitz

(2009), but Karen O and the
boys are back to provide us with
another 11 tracks, robust with
their signature style of frantic,
spit in your face punk-rock.
“Sacrilege,” Mosquito’s first
track—and not surprisingly,
first single—does exemplary
work in establishing a post-
modern setting, one rampant
with double standards and such
emotional abuse that you're left
wanting more. One of the Yeah
Yeah Yeahs’ most recognizable

trademarks is undoubtedly
O’s screechy vocals, which she
has no quarrels demonstrating
throughout Mosquito. Other
standout tracks include “Under
the Earth,” a gradual militant
buildup of a number complete
with echo effects, and “Area 52,”
which brings some literalness to
the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ alarming
pace, sampling an actual alarm
in the track’s opening. If you’re
aching for something a little
different from what the band
usually churns out, track eight
“Buried Alive” comes across as
more of a duet than anything
else, with O and rapper Dr.
Octagon sharing five minutes of
apocalyptic background music.
While the next Yeah Yeah
Yeahs’ album was bound
to pale coming after Blitz,
Mosquito falls flat for other
reasons too. Though this
applies to most albums in
the band’s discography, my

biggest complaint comes from
the album’s pacing. The Yeah
Yeah Yeahs are notorious

for disrupting the flow of
otherwise go-go-go albums
with overwhelmingly sombre
numbers, which doesn’t
necessarily have to be a bad
thing, but it causes the album
to fall into a weird category. It’s
not quite something you'd sit
down and get introspective to,
but it’s also not a good fit for a
Saturday night out with friends;
a genre Frankenstein that fits
both moods, and neither at the
same time.

Unevenness aside, Mosquito
is a welcome return for the Yeah
Yeah Yeahs, and still manages
to pack a sting without straying
too far from the sound we've
grown to love.

 

Robert Downey Jr. in fron Man 3 | Photo courtesy of Marvel