Star Trek: Into Darkness

Rating - 9/10

The good: 
-Great action
-Funny
-The Villain
-Well acted

The bad:
-Bad cinematography during one fight

Star Trek Into Darkness follows on from the first JJ Abrams adaptation of the classic TV series, as Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew take on an alliance traitor turned terrorist, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch).

The glue that holds this film together is the main cast, and I really want to see more of these characters. Every one feels utilised with their own moments and roles to play, and every one of them felt like they were on their A game in this. The focus however is on the relationship between Kirk and his second in command Spock (Zachary Quinto), dealing with the issues of what is right vs feelings of comradeship and the affects of self sacrifice on the loved ones left behind.

This film has one of the best villains in a film in the form of Harrison, who plays the character as both the cunning Hannibal Lector type, as well as a damn terrifying force of nature. I'm serious, this guy scared me senseless when he really lets loose. On top of that he's given a proper motive, in that he's looking out for his crew. Not that his motives are sympathetic, but he is at least believable.
<SPOILER - Even someone like me who has never seen Wrath of Kahn knows who Kahn is. I've heard that the original was played even better, and it really makes me want to look it up.
Of course he's not the only villain. Admiral Markus (Peter Weller) was also very convincing as an officer disgruntled with the peaceful nature of Star Fleet, and is willing to start a war in the name of "the greater good". However I'm thankful that Kahn proved to be the main threat, since he was the much more compelling villain.>

My one complaint is that there was on fight which was poorly shot, during a shootout with a group of Klingons, with a lot of shaky cam and fast cuts. If it wasn't for this one complaint, I would say that this was a perfect film. But since it is a problem, I'm going to have to go with a 9 rather than a 10.
The other scenes however are awesome, ranging from flying chases, to hand to hand combat high above a futuristic skyline, to a scene onboard a crashing ship.

IN CONTEXT WITH THE FRANCHISE

I have to admit, I can see why fans of the series dislike this film. However since the previous JJ Abrams film was my introduction to the Star Trek universe, I was OK with it.
<SPOILERS - The film takes scenes almost directly out of Wrath of Kahn, trying to mix things up by switching Kirk and Spock around in the sacrifice scene. I honestly felt like it was played off very well, but I can see why the fans are up in arms. It's the type of thing that can really suck you out of the film. That being said. this doesn't affect my rating, since I believe that a film should stand up on it's own, regardless of what came before.>

Iron Man 3

Rating - 8/10

The good: 
-Intense
-Funny
-Great action
-Well acted

The bad:
-The villain.

Iron man 3 follows Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), millionaire playboy and the alter ego of of the titular Iron man, as he faces off against the terrorist leader known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley).

The plot is very intense, at times making me wonder how a character is going to escape from a situation. The situation just gets more and more desperate as the film goes on, and you get a real feeling for the stake involved. Characters are captured or hospitalised one by one, as Tony's home is destroyed and his friends abducted by the terrorist forces.
However a large focus of the plot lies with Tony and his internal struggle as the lines between Tony and Ironman becomes dangerously thin; not knowing if he's the man or the machine anymore. To confound matters his newest version of the Ironman suit is hardwired into his body, and at times it can be used remotely, removing the man from the equation altogether. On top of this Tony is suffering regular panic attacks following a near death experience during the finale of the Avengers Assemble film, further reducing his mental state and making him more obsessed with his work as the Ironman to compensate for his weaknesses as a human; in one scene his anxiety forces him to run away from the situation and immediately retreat into the suit.
That being said the film is still incredibly funny, but not at the expense of the films sense of dramatic tension. It's a well rounded balance, with neither aspect over shadowing the other.

Downey has always been awesome in the role of Tony Stark, and this film is no exception. He keeps his sense of eccentric fun while also showing the weakened side of Tony Stark and delivers a fantastic performance. The other characters are also great; with some cool moments for Stark's love interest Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

<-<SPOILERS - Pepper really comes across pretty badass in this film; at the end it's her actions that ultimately save the day.
I should probably talk about the scene where she wears the Ironman suit, but to be honest this scene is more for Tony's development, as he sacrifices his armour to make sure that she's safe before he fight his enemy, building on the idea that he wants to be Ironman to protect Pepper, even if it leaves him venerable as a result.>

The real failure of the film is villain however. He's simply uninteresting with a completely bogus motive, despite the build up, hype and focus on the antagonist.

<-<SPOILERS - The twist surrounding the Mandarin was well executed and was quite frankly brilliant. Making him an actor (and an extremely character at that) was a stroke of  genius, especially considering the hype surrounding him.
However if you're going to do this with your main villain, you need to back him up with a credible threat. Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) was introduced as a second stringer and never evolved past this. His abilities were interchangeable with the lesser minons and he was just uninteresting. If you are going to swap out your antagonist, you need to back him up. His motivation is really the weakest part to him; looking at the previous films, Obedia Stain had a long standing grudge against Stark which was built upon over many years dating back to his father. Whiplash from Ironman 2 is motivated by the fact that Stark's father screwed over his own father, leading to him becoming disgraced, impoverished and finally to his death. So Whiplash's motivation is more personal, holding Stark responsable for his father's sins. Killian on the other hand was held up by Tony at a party once. That's it. He could have been developed, but the whole concept was just botched.>->

The action scenes are pretty damn awesome. There are a fair few fights where Stark is out of the armour, or it's malfunctioning, adding to the idea of Stark's weakened state. The final fight in particular is a great way to show off the variety of Stark's different suits, which include an armoured tank form, and another with retractable blades.

In short, the film has a pretty big flaw, but in the grand sceme it doesn't make the experience any less awesome. It's tense, funny, for the most part well acted with some great action scenes.

 ---As a sequel it's a great third part to the Iron Man story. It ups the tension like a good third film should, without sacrificing it's light hearted nature.
It's technically not as fun as the first, but it is better than the second.