Screening Room Movies at Home: “Iron Man 3,” “The Dark Knight Trilogy”

KANSAS CITY, Mo —

IRON MAN 3
Disney/Marvel
(PG-13)

RUSS
Robert Downey, Jr.’s charisma and snarky sense of humor are as valuable as the stupendous special effects in “Iron Man 3.”

SHAWN
“Iron Man 3” is terrible. This a flat out bad movie. Plays like worn out tires. The tread is gone and so is Robert Downey Jr’s swagger as Tony Stark. Not to mention the ho-hum plot and lame story.

RUSS
Action-packed and often funny, “Iron Man 3” continues in the tongue-in-cheek spirit of the original mega-hit. Sir Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce are suitably menacing as the villains and People Magazine’s Most Beautiful Woman in the World, Gwyneth Paltrow, gets some eye candy support from the lovely Rebecca Hall.

SHAWN
Really? The comic universe is sorely in need of some freshness and “Iron Man 3” is as stale as it gets. Sure there is plenty of flash but zero substance and negative fun.

RUSS
The movie manages to make us occasionally believe that the characters are actually in peril…no small feat for a comic book movie. It’s no classic, but “Iron Man 3” is a very entertaining bit of pulp fiction.

SHAWN
No classic? It’s not even any good. It’s even worst after a second viewing. There are many format options. Two HD options, a Blu-ray 3D ‘Super Set,’ and a 2D Blu-ray Combo Pack (including a DVD and Digital Copy). And each comes loaded with extras. Tons in fact. But nothing that makes the movie any better.

RUSS: 4 Popcorn Bags
SHAWN: 2 Popcorn Bags

THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY
Warner Bros.
(PG-13)

RUSS
Director Christopher Nolan has rebooted the Batman myth for a more cynical age with his trilogy that includes “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” now available for the first time as a collection.

SHAWN
This is a great comic book movie franchise. Near perfect in fact.

RUSS
This vision adopts comic book writer Frank Miller’s stark pessimism. Some involving action sequences and terrific performances from Christian Bale-and especially the late Heath Ledger- make “The Dark Knight” trilogy a worthy edition to any video collection.

SHAWN
“The Dark Knight” is one of the best movies of this young century if not perhaps ever. And the other two movies are solid as they come. Director Christopher Nolan is the new Montell Jordan because he be singing “this is how we do it!”

RUSS: 4 Popcorn Bags
SHAWN: 5 Popcorn Bags