Thor (Kenneth Branagh, 2011) -- The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders. I've always been a distant fan of Thor since he's the only one capable of defeating Hulk (theoretically) and that's a lot to say. What has me not liking the movie so much is just part of my comic book fan-ology in which, though the heroes are thought-out characters that act in this or that way because it's the way they are and everything that comes from developing a characters throughout the years; when making the movie, it all sort of falls in a 2-hour time period. And while it's not a major issue with this movie, it's commonplace with all superheo movies. With that said, Thor was much better than I expected, especially because since plans for
The Avengers rised up, it became apparent that a lot of independent superhero movies had to be done soon to give each character a decent background, and I though that would be an issue with this one, I'm surprised they could strike a decent balance between Norse mythology and the real work in the Marvel universe. Both actors who play Thor and Loki are convincing enough and make a good impression of the characters they portray, and Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman bring a good balance to the mix to bring out the relative unknowns. As I said, this movie is just pop-corn epic superhero movie, but it's a fun adaptation cut above the usual fare. 6/10
Green Lantern (Martin Campbell, 2011) -- A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe. And while I've usually been more of a DC (actually, Vertigo) fan than Marvel... I have to hand it to Marvel above over this one. Especially because this one more or less assumed the viewer knew everything beforehand and just wanted to be given an example of what it would be like in a movie. While both stories go from the start, this one acts on too many assumptions and rely too much on Ryan Reynold's asshattedness in an effort to make him fun. While
Thor is a pop-corn movie that I enjoyed,
Green Lantern is just
another summer flick, and while both terms may seem interchangeable, I think there's a bit more to it, especially when you take into account all the other titles from both sides of the comic spectrum; inevitable, Thor is going to be compared to
Spider-Man,
Iron Man,
Hulk,
Wolverine and others, and to be honest, it fares well enough.
Green Lantern is going to be compared to other DC comic remakes, and that's mainly
Superman and
The Dark Knight, which is hard to top and whatever comes after it should at least be comparable. Overall Green Lantern was a fun movie that apparently needed to be 3D'd to be more appealing. I would skip that, but to each its own. 5/10
In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008) -- Holed up in Bruges, Belgium after a difficult job, two hit men begin to differ on their views of life and death as they become used to local customs. While the movie is shown as a black comedy and as such it works quite well, as you watch it, you might take in a few cues that will point you into another direction... one in which Bruges might be a sort of Purgatory. because the script is so brilliantly written, the movie ends up being two movies at once, in which you can take in any which of these plots. The smallest characters become the important ones and the central ones become just part of the scenery. Just when you think you have the movie figured out, in comes a new set of situations that turn it all around. Impressive dialogues and very smart scenes make this debut movie a keeper. While the ending might be a bit more grim than the rest of the movie is, depends entirely up to you and what approach you took while watching the movie. But tha way everything ties together makes it worth it. 8.5/10
