Movies: Thor

I finally went to see "Thor" this weekend, kicking off another big summer of comic book movies (next up is X-Men: First Class, with Green Lantern and Captain America to follow).

The quick review; Thor was fun. Be warned, for from here on in, spoilers will follow.

The movie was directed by Kenneth Branagh, the actor who does have some directorial experience, but mostly for Shakespearean adaptations (As you Like It, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing) and not for huge summer blockbusters.

(Two things here; the Branagh version of "Much Ado About Nothing" is one of my all time favorite movies, and if you are at all amused by sarcasm and whip-crack verbal exchanges, I highly recommend it. Secondly, on the topic of blockbusters, the Blockbuster video store in my neighborhood is going out of business. I worked there for 4 years when I was in college, and both of my sisters worked there after me, two years a pop. Internet/Netflix, this is on your shoulders, and while I do not mourn the late fees and the dusty shelves, there is something valuable in having a wisened clerk tell you that your choice is in fact an awful movie.)

Back to Branagh, he did a good job mixing the glories of Asgard with the humble American New Mexico, while at the same time, borrowing from "Iron Man" actor-turned-director Jon Favreau, and making the movie a light hearted action romp. Thematically, it is very close to the 2008 "Iron Man", in that a bad boy learns a valuable lesson about responsibility and mans up in time to save the day. (Also, SHIELD shows up to meddle a little bit.)

I'm amazed that the writing made as much sense as it did, considering this is the writing crew:

Writing credits

Ashley Miller (screenplay) (as Ashley Edward Miller) &
Zack Stentz (screenplay) and
Don Payne (screenplay)

J. Michael Straczynski (story) and
Mark Protosevich (story)

Stan Lee (comic book) &
Larry Lieber (comic book) &
Jack Kirby (comic book)

That is a lot of cooks for one broth, but they did okay. The movie also borrowed a bit from the great Walt Simonson run in the 80's, (like the Casket of Ancient Winters, amongst other things), so he should get a nod, too.

On to the casting. Chris Hemsworth as Thor was a far better pick than a)I expected, and b)the actor that played Thor in his first appearance in film. He does a good job of being both fierce and war-happy, and then softening up both to turn into a well rounded hero. He does a good job. Nathalie Portman plays Jane Foster, no longer a nurse, but now an astro-physicist. She's very good at playing a cute love interest, but it's not her finest role, and she plays it a little bit softer than she could have.

The star of the movie, for me at least, was Tom Hiddleston as Loki, who does an excellent job of playing the god of thunder's less-loved brother. He's very expressive on screen, often wearing an expression of pained resignation mixed in with just enough insincerity that makes you almost feel for him while at the same time knowing that you shouldn't and he's just faking you out. It's very subtle and it works wonderfully. Loki is the choice role of this film, and my favorite part of the script is that while Loki possesses the powers of an Asgardian and the skill of a wizard, he is at his most destructive when he is simply lying to people. The script is written so even the viewer is not certain when he's telling the truth or not, and that makes his inevitable betrayals even more devious, as the view now has to hate him for fooling him as well. It is really quite fun to watch.

The rest of Asgard is filled with great characters, and seeing Heimdall, Sif, the Warriors Three and Odin is really a treat for the fans of the comic, and shows you how a comic movie can be full of character without having them get in the way (I'm looking at you, Spider-Man 3).

All in all, "Thor" was good times, lived up to the trailer, and was worth seeing in the theaters.

Quick Links: May 17th

"Beast Wars" was often hit or miss for me. But when it was good, it was great.
Shout is offering the complete series for 50$. That's some good value for robots fighting. Ah Dinobot, you were so brave.
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Comics Alliance has the new Tin Tin live action movie posters.


I am oddly enthused to see this movie.
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Spinoff Online (and many other places) are reporting that the Wonder Woman pilot wasn't picked up. They submit that TV might be giving up on geeks (as Smallville also just wrapped up for good). I would prefer to think that Wonder Woman just wasn't that good a pilot, especially since the superhero movies have set the bar so high in terms of production value.
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"Thor" seems to be doing well. I should get out to go see it, I guess.

Thor and Captain America Trailers

Ah the Superbowl. The best commercials that you can't see in Canada because you only get the CTV feed.

But, as they say, the internet heals all wounds.

So check out the trailer for Captain America:

And in case you haven't seen it yet, here's the Thor trailer:

Thor: Poster

Marvel.com has released the first look at the new Thor movie poster.

Here it is:

Not too shabby.

I like Thor, but I've always preferred his adventures in Asgard over his time on Earth. I hope it's more "Iron Man" and less "X-Men Origins: Wolverine".

Hulk Vs.

I had picked up a copy of the Hulk Vs. DVDs a few weeks ago, but did not watch them right away because I had figured that Marisa would want to watch them with me, at least the Wolverine one. We went out Saturday night and were up late, so yesterday, a lazy Sunday morning, was a good time to slap on some cartoons to watch while having breakfast and before the big gold medal hockey game.

The other Marvel cartoon movies have been okay, but not great. The Ultimate Avengers, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange ones were good, but nothing spectacular, so I went into this one with low expectations, and realizing that anything with the Hulk will have a lot of time on screen of the green guy smashing stuff.

Hulk vs. Wolverine was the first one we watched. First of all, I should note that this DVD had so many trailers on it, that it was getting a little ridiculous. They just kept going and going. They had trailers for movies that had been out for years on it. Marisa got fed up after about the 5th one, and insisted we skip ahead.

The movie probably should have been called Wolverine vs Hulk, as it had to do more with Logan than his foe here. Aside from the headliners, Sabretooth, Omega Red, Lady Deathstrike, the professor from Weapon X and Deadpool were all involved. Wolverine slashes everyone and everything, and kills several guards in the villains compound. (Yeah, there's no doubt that he kills them, claws, blood and screams made that pretty clear.) The plot was very elemental, but the one aspect that elevated this from just a beat 'em up was the dialogue they gave Deadpool. He was funny. Marisa laughed out loud more than once, and I thought he was great. The ending of the movie was a bit of a cop out, not really giving you a clear winner between Hulk and Wolvie, but all in all, it was at least a fun ride.

Hulk vs. Thor was probably a better constructed movie, and flowed a little better in terms of telling the story, but it didn't have the same flair. Set in Asgard, it was also not very Hulk-centric, with The Warriors Three, Balder, Loki and the Enchantress all involved. While this one was a nice story, it didn't have the same pop that the Wolverine one did. It did, however, quite clearly show who won in the fight between the two title characters.

These flicks were worth watching, exactly as we did; hung over on a Sunday morning while having breakfast. It was almost as much fun as the last Hulk movie, not great cinema by any means, but they were a fun violent romp.