THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Everyone felt a little bit confused on how a small time actor like Trevor Slattery would take involvement of pretending to be a terrorist. We would surprisingly get the answers in an unexpected way, a short film.
PLOT
All Hail the King shows Slattery to be living luxuriously in Seagate Prison, being strongly admired by various inmates who offer him protection. He is wrapping up his interview session with documentary filmmaker Jackson Norris who wants to know his backstory before he ever met Aldrich Killian. The former actor shares that he had been since he was a child and starred in a failed pilot. He admits to have been unaware of Kilian's intentions because of his addiction to drugs. Norris tells him that his portrayal of The Mandarin has offended the Ten Rings terrorist group, historically associated with the said mythical character. Although Slattery admits to never doing any research, Norris reveals to be a Ten Rings member and the real Mandarin wants to see him for his mockery.
THOUGHTS
I recall during the year of 2014 finding this online because I didn't get a Blu ray copy of Thor: The Dark World at the time. When I did get around seeing it, I can admit that I was easily impressed. I like this short film the most because that it feels more impactful than the ones beforehand. Writer/Director Drew Pearce was able to give such a funny story that is an epilogue for one chapter (2013's Iron Man 3) and a prologue for another (2021's Shang Chi). I made it clear that I was disappointed of how the Mandarin was presented during Iron Man 3, considering that the character was foreshadowed in the first film. So it brings great relief how the real deal would make a proper debut in the long run. Even though the original twist was annoying, I can't deny that Sir Ben Kingsley was hilarious than and he is here as well. Seeing how much he lacks self awareness even when he isn't on drugs is ridiculous and it gets me laughing every time I think about it. What made me laugh even more was the cameo of Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. I never thought he would return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe because I wasn't sure how would he fit into another story. Well he fits right in here and he still remains hilarious for being just as self centered as we remember him from last time. I actually understood his perspective on being jealous of Trevor because designing a robot army is more threatening than pretending to be a terrorist. The only new character that leaves a good impression is Jackson Norris, who is played welll by the underrated Scoot McNairy. From what we see from him, he does convince us to be a well mannered professional. Because of that, we definitely were caught off guard when he kills all but Trevor in the private cell. Seeing how well trained he is, you sense the loyalty he's given to the master that trained him. In short, All Hail the King was a very interesting tie in to the iconic superhero franchise, which I highly recommend for every kind of fan of the MCU.
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