Thor (2011) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

These days have to be a pretty exciting time for Marvel... I mean with the mega success of, The Avengers (2012), and their equally successful individual movies based on the Heroes that make up, 'The Avengers'... And with the slow resurrection of the series that helped Marvel really catapult in to the world of movies permanently... You just have to be impressed!

Now before I go on I should be honest and say that growing up I was a comic book fan... But the truth is, is if I had to choose between, 'The Avengers' or, 'The X-Men', I would have to say that, 'The X-Men' were always my favorite... But I will say that, 'The Avengers' were always pretty bad ass as well, (with, 'Thor' and, 'The Hulk' being 2 of my favorite characters...)

And that is why I was surprised the first time I saw, Thor (2011)... I don't know, I mean maybe it was because the movie took a decidedly different turn then the comic, I'm not really sure, but for whatever reason I just have to admit that I was very... 'meh', about the whole thing, that was until I saw the movie for the second time!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] 'Thor' (Chris Hemsworth) with his father, 'Odin' (Anthony Hopkins) in, 'Asgard'![/caption]

You see this movie, which was written by: Ashley Edward Miller (X-Men: First Class),  Zack Stentz (Agent Cody Banks), Don Payne (Thor: The Dark World) & Directed by: Kenneth Brannaugh (Hamlet), Joss Whedon (Angel). Starring: Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers), Natalie Portman (Star Wars: - Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace), Tom Hiddleston (Crimson Peak), Anthony Hopkins (Silence Of The Lambs), Stellan Skarsgård (The Glass House), Kat Dennings (Day One), Clark Gregg (Marvel's: Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Colm Feore (The Chronicles Of Riddick) & Idris Elba (Prometheus), tells the story of how a young and some what arrogant, 'Thor' (Chris Hemsworth), ends up going on a quest to the, 'Frost Giant' planet of, 'Jotunheim' after the Frost Giants attempt to breach, 'Asgard' and steal back the, 'Casket Of Ancient Winters' (an artifact of great power and importance to the Frost Giants...)

Well after the massive defeat that Thor and his soldiers suffered there, Thor and his soldiers end up going back to Asgard only after, 'Odin' comes to their rescue... Because of this, Odin ends up banishing Thor out of Asgard and down to Earth along with his hammer... (But powerless.) While he is there of course, he is seriously out of place... That is until he meets, 'Jane Foster' (Natalie Portman), and her research staff... And starts to learn how to fit in...

[caption id="attachment_2012" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Thor as he is trying to get his hammer away from the, 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' agents that are studying it![/caption]

During this time though, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) decides to seize the throne of, 'Asgard' when Odin goes in to his sleep, and when he learns that he is actually the son of the King of the Frost Giants and not Odin's son, Loki adopts a plan that will not only destroy his true home world, but would also destroy the brother he was so envious of, and hopefully gain the love and affection that he always wanted from, 'Odin'.

I mentioned earlier that this movie for me was better the second time, well the truth is, is if you are like me, then you like special effects movies, but are not a fan of movies that are just butchered with to much CGI.  The truth is, is when I first saw this movie I couldn't see past that, but when I saw this for the second time, I found that in truth that this movie truly was a fun one, and well worth it, and in all honesty I guess really my main critique on this movie is just how much they changed the story between the movie and the comics!

In the end though, if you haven't already checked this movie out yet, then I would say, 'give it a try', you may end up having a better experience then I did the first and the second time!

http://youtu.be/JOddp-nlNvQ

Star Wars: - Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace (1999) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Now In all truth and fairness, the original Star Wars movies that George Lucas made in the 1970s were great! I mean they had (for their time), ground breaking special effects that at the time had been not much further than a pipe dream (and I am sure since then have been a lot of the basis for a lot of modern Space Adventure movie’s special effects of similar ilk…)

Another thing that made the original Star Wars such an amazing good time, was obviously the action/stunt work that both the actors and any stunt men would have had to do in those movies (I mean who doesn't like a good, ‘explosion’ or, ‘Light Saber’ duel, you know?)

And the next thing that I wanted to say that made this original series so fantastic, was the cast in this movie! I mean this movie helped to launch Harrison Ford’s career (who would go on to do many great films, but whom in my opinion is most recognizable for the work that he did as, ‘Indiana Jones’ in another George Lucas classic of the same name, as the role he maintained as, ‘Jack Ryan’ in the classic movie series that are based around the character of, ‘Jack Ryan’ and that had originally been written by Tom Clancy (The Hunt For Red October) as well as playing Han Solo in the original Star Wars movie series!

These movies would also help make legends out of such amazing talents as, Mark Hamill (Corvette Summer), Carrie Fisher (When Harry Met Sally), as well as Billy Dee Williams (Batman) to name a few…

And lastly, I think the top person that made this great (because in all honesty, a lot of this really was his vision), is George Lucas (Raiders Of The Lost Ark)!

With all of this in mind though, the series itself was incomplete!

As great as the original series was, in all, the three original movies, had actually been (from a story stand point anyway, the final three sequels in the entire saga!) So George Lucas would embark on a journey to bring what happened that led up to a Galactic Empire seizing control of the Universe and the Rebels that will stop at nothing to try and take it back!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Before Luke Skywalker was fighting his father in the original Star Wars saga, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi were fighting Darth Maul in, 'Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace' (1999)![/caption]

The first movie, which starred Liam Neeson (Taken), Ewan McGregor (Big Fish), Natalie Portman (V For Vendetta), Jake Lloyd (Madison), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Anthony Daniels (Doctors), Kenny Baker (U.F.O.), Frank Oz (Zathura: A Space Adventure), and Ian McDiarmand (MI-5) to name a few; tells the story of how the Star Wars saga began… You see, during this time, The Republic (the pre-cursor to the Empire) is having some serious problems, and a war has broken out between the, ‘Naboo’, and the, ‘Trade Federation’… Now during this time the head of the government sends 2 Jedi’s to mediate this latest crisis, by the name of ‘Qui-Gon Jinn’ (Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor)…

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] 'Qui-Gon Jinn' (Neeson) and his apprentice, 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' (McGregor) as they prepare to fight there way through the Trade Federation ship![/caption]

After they get their though, they are held captive, and the, ‘Trade Federation’ people try to have them killed, so after they escape and make it to the, ‘land based’ Naboo government, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with Queen Amidala (Portman), and eventually a spirited pre-Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker (played by: Jake Lloyd) will head out on a journey of discovery that will not only affect them, or the Naboo, or even the Trade Federation, but the will set events in motion that will affect the entire Galaxy in a way that no one will ever forget!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="381"] Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Queen Amidala, and Anakin Skywalker as they prepare to fight their way in to history![/caption]

In the end, I have heard said that this movie was pretty bad, because of the Jar-Jar Binks factor (a particularly annoying Alien from the movie), and the truth is, is if that character hadn’t been in there, the movie would have been a lot better… But the truth is, is that I liked the movie, and if you can get past Jar-Jar then I think you might like it to… I did!

http://youtu.be/I6hOlI9cg4o