Review - Thor

I am a comic geek, but I have to admit that I don’t read nearly enough comics. Mostly I stick to the X-Men. And Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8. Maybe I am just a comic fan or comic reader?

But I do know a thing or two about comic superheroes. This summer, we’re getting a bunch of superhero movies, beginning with Thor, followed by the Green Lantern, X-Men (First Class) and Captain America.

So the first one out in cinemas is Thor, the Norse God of Thunder.

You know, this movie was foreshadowed in Iron Man 2. After the credits, there was a short clip of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, being discovered.

The cast of this movie consists of Chris Hemsworth (A Perfect Getaway) as Thor, Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs) as Odin, Tom Hiddleton as Loki and a barely recognizable Rene Russo as Odin’s mother.

The human cast consists of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Stellan Skasgard as Dr Selvig, Kat Dennings as Darcy and Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson.

Kenneth Brannagh, who is notable as an actor and director of a bunch of Shakespearean movies, directed this movie. At first I thought it was John Favreau, directing because it had touches of Iron Man in it but I suppose there’s not much leeway when it comes to superhero movies, especially two from the same stable. And it is not necessarily a bad thing. Iron Man was a delicious movie that was full of heart and action and was anchored by a great leading man who is charming, sexy and a bit dark. J

Chris Hemsworth is definitely not Robert Downey Jr but he did not do a bad job with Thor. He is charismatic and tall and blonde and hot and sexy… and cocky … just like Thor.

Natalie Portman’s role as Jane Foster should be a walk in the park for an actress of her caliber, especially after Black Swan.

The supporting casts is quite good here, bringing a level of humor and lightheartedness to the movie that would not have been there because Thor and Jane are far too serious here.

So… was the movie good enough for a summer blockbuster? For a superhero movie? For a Marvel movie? Yes definitely.

But I do think it’s missing a bit more action. Like for example… when Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three rushed back to Asgard to thwart off Loki, there was no fighting left, other than the inevitable fight between Thor and Loki. What of the Frost Giants? There should be a big final battle at the end. But I guess that was wishful thinking on my part.

The ending of this movie did not really suggest Thor 2 but of course, much was left hanging and since this movie was quite good, I am thinking that there might be more Thor after this. But we’ll have to wait and see for the box-office figures yes? But definitely more Thor in the upcoming Avengers movie.

Ooh, ooh, speaking of the Avengers… Hawkman has a cameo in this movie. When I saw Jeremy Renner’s face, I was deliriously happy and clapping like a loony. Unfortunately, I wished he’d do more than just stand around.

Like every other Marvel superhero movie, there is a post-credits scene where Dr Selvig is taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility where he meets Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and was asked to study a recently discovered Cosmic Cube. It was also revealed that Selvig was under the control of Loki, who had been transported to Earth.

In case you had to leave before the credits end… :)

Watching Movies

This time, it's two movies filled with fantasy and myth. Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief was the first movie. The second is The Wolfman.

Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief was at the top of my list after I saw the trailer. Looks cool. I did a little digging around and found out a lot of info. It turns out Percy Jackson is a book. A series of books to be exact.

So this would be another entry in the world of fantasy movies that are aimed at the younger crowds such as Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Spiderwick, The Golden Compass and Twilight.

The difference between Percy Jackson and the rest of the movies is that Percy Jackson is more about the Greek Gods and myths. This already piqued my interest, mostly because I play Magic: The Gathering, or used to anyway and there were plenty of fantasy Greek creatures in play. Plus, I am a sucker for the fantasy stuff anyway.

So there story goes like this... Percy Jackson, a Demi-God (offspring of a God and mortal human), has been accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt. Percy has no idea of this and of his heritage. He was not aware of his mother's sacrifices to keep him safe and that his best friend is actually his protector.

It was until a Fury attacked him that all was revealed to him. Oh, wait, all was revealed to him after the minotaur attack.

See, Percy is the son of Poseidon, the God of the Sea, and Zeus' and Hades' brother. However, the power struggle in Olympia is quite bad that the Gods are almost always at each other's throats. Zeus declares Percy as the thief and will war with his brothers unless the bolt's returned to him.

Hades kidnaps Percy's mother in a bid to take the bolt for himself. So Percy, along with Grover, his satyr/protector and Annabeth, Demi-God daughter of Athena, travels across the country in search of the pearls that would allow them safe passage out of the underworld, along the way, encountering fascinating creatures such as Medusa (Uma Thurman, channeling Poison Ivy) and Hydras.

Percy has a tall order. He has to save the world from ending via the War of the Gods. He has to save his mother from the clutches of Hades in the Underworld. He also has to prove his innocence and return the bolt.

This movie has the right amount of action, drama, comedy, suspense and thrill to make it one smooth movie-going experience. Especially for me. Every time a creature comes up on the screen, I'd say its name first, then Annabeth would say it. :)

Guess Part II isn't far away eh? This is a cool poster! :)

Next is The Wolfman... I must admit I did not really wanna catch this movie at first. But then again, Emily Blunt's in it. I loved her in The Devil Wears Prada. :)

This movie started out slow, despite the opening scene... or maybe I was just too tired from the week's activities... but it slowly starts to pick up the pace and before you know it, you're feeling the suspense, the thrill and the scare...

The story goes like this... Benicio Del Toro's brother got killed in the opening scene and Emily Blunt wrote to him to give him the news. He returns to the home town to investigate but got attacked by the creature. Soon after, he himself started to transform into the werewolf.

I'm gonna say this... Hollywood casting sometimes give away the plot... case in point: Hancock. The leading actor was Will Smith, supporting was Jason Bateman. But why is Jason Bateman's wife played by Charlize Theron. Her star power was bigger than Bateman. Half way through the movie, you get to know the reason why. Her small part is actually bigger. If they had cast an unknown actress or some other lesser actress, then we, or rather I, would probably be surprised by the twist or red herring.

In this case, it was Sir Anthony Hopkins. His clout is bigger than all of the actors combined. Enough said.

All in all, an enjoyable entry in the fantasy genre and a good werewolf movie to boot.