Man of Steel

I didn't like it. I was anxious for the movie to end. Even IMAX didn't help.

I felt that the fight scenes were too much. I felt they more appropriate for Hulk rather than Superman.

In a scene where he gets all angry and runs after the villain threatening his mother, he actually leaves his mother with the villain's cohorts. Somehow, the audience is made to believe that the rest would not do anything harsh towards his mother.

Iron Man 3

Tony Stark/Iron Man starts and ends Iron Man 3 with a commentary about actions, reactions, change and what remains essentially the same.

Of the three movies in the Iron Man series, I like this one the least because it took me a while to comprehend the story, particularly the backstory about the villain. When I did, I thought that the theme has een played out before in Spiderman, X-Men and Incredible Hulk. It also seemed that the transformation made those affected unkillable. Their defeat at the end was not believable. Nor was it explained how Tony Stark reversed the process.

Robert Downey is a joy to watch as Iron Man, arrogant yet lovable and charming at the same time. I don't think anyone else can play the part as well. I particularly enjoyed his scenes in the workshop at home and with the kid who helps Iron Man out.

Stan Lee always appears in a cameo in Marvel movies but I did not catch his appearance in this one. Stay until the end credits to see Bruce Banner in a cameo.

PS. In case you didn't realize it, even Tony Stark's choice of sandwich has changed. In Iron Man, shortly after his escape from his terrorist captors, he asked for an American cheeseburger. Here, he asks for a tuna sandwich.

Olympus Has Fallen

Olympus Has Fallen tells the story of a direct assault on the White House and how a disgraced exSecret Service agent rushes in to save the day.

It was unpredictable in the sense that no one has dared to present a story about the White House being taken over completely before. While other movies have shown the White House being vulnerable to some extent, the magnitude of the takeover was incredible and somewhat hard to believe, considering the pains America takes to protect its national security yet we've seen its vulnerability in 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing.

In the days following 9/11, Hollywood made a conscious effort to limit images that would spark memories of or fan terrorism. I was surprised that this movie does the opposite and more. It showed monuments being destroyed in an aerial raid and civilians and government enforcers dying as a result and foreigners, this time Asians, as responsible for the attacks.

I am amazed at how they managed to film the movie. Was a life size replica of the White House made for the exterior shots? The detail in the interior shots was also incredible.

It was hard to believe that one man, who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, can reverse what terrorists have long planned. Even if the actor playing him is Gerald Butler, it was hard to believe that a Secret Service agent off the field for 18 months could do all that and have access to the White House. I assume the White House changes its passwords, access codes all the time. But I guess we just have to leave it up to Hollywood and its concept of Action Heroes.

It was entertaining because the concept was new but it was also disturbing because of the violence, especially in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.