Movie Review: THOR

It is rare that I have the opportunity to review such an absolute triumph of a comic book film. Truly, a triumph of a film in general. Let me preface this review by saying, however, that it is the film's embrace of the source material and numerous nods to the fandom that push Thor to its very high rating. If you are even a casual fan of the Marvel Comics character like myself, you'll fully understand my point of view.

Thor takes place about half on Earth and half in the realm of Asgard. These two locales are nothing alike, but the pacing and cinematography keep the film's transitions feeling fluid and natural, even when we're going from a planet of frost giants to a desert in the United States. The stark differences in setting reflect the changes in our titular character's attitudes. Thor is, in essence, the story of one man's, er, one god's redemption. Our main character, the god of thunder himself, is portrayed by Chris Hemsworth. Being unfamiliar with most of his work, I was not sure what to expect of his performance, but Hemsworth really lives in the role. He made me believe he was the Norse god he said he was.

In fact, not a single actor in this film came out that way to me. While trying to fill some quite ludicrous roles, even those actors we don't always expect powerhouse performances from, delivered masterworks. I feel we have director Kenneth Branagh to thank for this, as he even got great performances out of smaller roles like love interest Natalie Portman, who absolutely requires a good director and script to fulfill her potential. With a lesser director we could have gotten a repeat of her wooden deliveries in 3 Star Wars films in a row.

Even our side characters, specifically Sif and the warriors 3, are both believable and instantly compelling in their roles. Some disappear so completely, like Ray Stevenson as Volstagg, that I was completely shocked reading the credits. Heimdall, a character cast as Idris Elba, was perhaps the most believable character in all of Asgard, despite the seemingly constant complaints from the online community about a black man playing a Norse god. The only member of the Norse pantheon who outclassed him, was the inimitable Anthony Hopkins as Odin All-Father, in an amazing performance.

Now, let's talk villains. In this movie we have 3. Loki, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Destroyer armor. And to an extent, the frost giants. Yet, the film does not feel cluttered. In fact, we wish for more time with each of the enemies. Loki, portrayed by Tom Hiddleston, is of particular note, delivering a human, yet sinister performance as Thor's brother, a role I very much look forward to seeing return in The Avengers.

If you're going to see this movie for the special effects, not only will you be satisfied, but you will not even realize what you're looking at is computer generated. It may be the way the actors treat their sets, rather than the sets themselves, but nothing comes off as fake. Asgard feels like Asgard. Lightning feels like lightning. The rainbow bridge is a rainbow bridge!

If you're going to see this movie as a comic book fan, you will be overjoyed. The mythology is addressed, famous names like Donald Blake Tony Stark, and Clint Barton are tossed around. Everything about Thor's comic book identity is kept spiritually in place. The powers, the attitudes, the language, the world, everything any Marvel Comics fans want, and I went to the midnight showing with Marvel Comics nerds who informed me of such. Oh, and you had better stay after the credits.

My only complaints for this movie were the shortness of the fights, and the unnecessary 3D affects. However, these are my only complaints. All of my other expectations were either met or exceeded throughout. Better even than the first Iron Man film, Thor is the best picture Marvel Studios has ever released, and I hope that the upcoming films such as Captain America and 2012's The Avengers will continue to raise the bar. If things keep going this well for Stan Lee and company, The Dark Knight Rises may have true competition. Thor receives 4 and 1/2 stars, out of 5.

****.5 out of *****

My everything....

After watching an ex's house and dog for a week, she began to realize that she still cared about said ex. She's been keeping our relationship a secret from him because she was afraid he'd leave and take all of their mutual friends with him, pulling a chunk of her life away. She finally told him about us and now he wants her back, he won't let her leave without a fight.

But they were broken up, the fight was over. They were done. She cared for him, but wasn't in love with him. When asked by him, she said she loves us both.

I need to know she's in love with me, not him, and she is scared, and hurts, and upset with herself, borderline suicidal, and doesn't want to hurt either of us.

I never thought this would happen, I just thought he'd be mad and leave with the friends, leaving her broken, but with me to fall back on. Instead he's challenging me for her, and she doesn't know what to do, now that he wants her back.

I may lose her, and I cannot fathom that. She promised me forever, to love me always.

I'm falling apart.

Movie Review: Sucker Punch

Director Zack Snyder finally gets to step out of the shadow of other creators and do a picture all his own, instead of another of the comic book adaptations that have made him his career. This is good for Snyder's creativity and an admirable choice. The problem seems to be however, that Snyder can't write worth a damn. It may have been quite the misstep to go from a literary giant like WATCHMEN and follow it up with a thin action film with copious style but little substance.

Sucker Punch is about a group of women in a 1930's-esque brothel, all trying to escape, accomplishing goals in vast metaphorical fantasies of unique action and violence. All of this is set within a framework of a woman trapped in an insane asylum, committed there against her will for things she didn't do. But that last bit only serves as bookends for the rest of the film, so you can more or less ignore it for 95% of the film. I feel the movie's plot would actually be better without that device. With the asylum plot it adds a layer to this film that the rest of the script doesn't compensate for. Sucker Punch would be a much better film without that added bit. It raises questions that are never even addressed, let alone answered.

Particularly worth questioning is this film's rating, a hard PG-13. This movie screams for an easy R rating. It's about women in a brothel fighting science fantasy monsters with guns and swords. Yet there's no blood, and no nudity, and not even any cussing. If this is Zack Snyder's true vision realized on screen, I would be very surprised. I'm hoping for a director's cut DVD edition of this so I can see what it really should have been. Expect a 2nd review if and when that comes to be.

There isn't much to say for the plot other than what it is. It's ok. The writing is weak, the dialog is tedious, the performances of most of the girls wooden, with the exception of Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish). Solid if predictable performances from Oscar Issac as brothel owner Blue Jones and Scott Glenn as a character simply called "Wise Man." There were no performances that were truly great, but it was still better than one usually expects from an action movie.

The soundtrack, especially if seen in IMAX, is very fitting and occasionally gives off the epic feel Snyder was going for. He failed, however, to acquire a soundtrack that was unique. Two songs came right off of the WATCHMEN soundtrack, and the iconic Pixie's song "Where is My Mind" from Fight Club is covered by Yoav featuring Emily Browning. The soundtrack is good, it just doesn't feel unique, which is sad, because Snyder wanted this film to stand out. In the long run, I feel almost nothing about the film will.

I haven't said anything about the fights because they're absolutely amazing. No complaints, and I could watch those cool as hell sequences over and over again. It's all that stuffed in-between the action that bored me. If you're going into see Sucker Punch for a great action film, you'll be distracted by the rest of the plot, but not at all disappointed by the combat. Giant samurais wielding mini-guns, steam-powered Nazis, and even a dragon, Sucker Punch will satisfy your orgy of absurd combat fetish no problem, but if you're really looking for more, you're going to be disappointed.

Despite some reviews calling for Snyder to never direct a film again, this movie really isn't that bad. It isn't particularly good, well-acted, or memorable, but it serves its purpose as a flashy action film. A good flashy action film even. Sucker Punch receives 3 stars, out of 5.

*** out of *****

Movie Review: Rango

I was hesitant to see this film until I read a few short reviews online. Despite the film's odd marketing strategy of showing the most boring parts of the film, Rango is actually a damn good film, by any standards. I, like many of you, had my doubts about this movie, especially when looking at some of the production team. Nickelodeon does not have the strongest track record in this area, with the last film of theirs I generally liked hailing all the way back from 2002, but Rango's sheer excellence will keep me from disregarding film's based on Nickelodeon's involvement ever again. My one biggest issue with Rango's marketing is that this film is not a comedy. Rango is an action-adventure tale of finding yourself, that has comedy sprinkled throughout. Don't take that to mean I didn't laugh though. I laughed a hell of a lot, but what I remember most is the plot and the action, not the jokes.

Johnny Depp plays the titular Rango, a pet lizard accidentally left in a harsh unforgiving desert landscape who is forced to forge a new identity in this new environment, an environment that was pulled right out of an old Clint Eastwood western. Not only is Depp great in this, but he even reprises a fan-favorite role for a brief but very satisfying Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas cameo. Depp's performance as Rango is masterfully precise. But from Depp, what else would you expect?

Western genre veteran Timothy Olyphant makes a brief appearance as a character simply named The Spirit Of The West. When the character shows up I got giddy like a schoolgirl. I'd say more, but I really don't want to spoil this one for you, because I want you to go out and see this movie.

The rest of the cast was similarly chosen and plays their parts similarly well. Particularly well done is the character Beans, Rango's love interest, as portrayed by actress Isla Fisher. We get a few powerful performances by veterans like Bill Nighy, Ned Beatty, and Harry Dean Stanton. I don't have much to say about any of the voice actors in this film, because I have no reason to complain. Every performance was dead on, and the animation matched the voices perfectly, this most likely owing to the "Emotion Capture" style of acting employed. It's hard to explain precisely what they did, so here's the video: http://www.reelzchannel.com/movie-news/8671/new-rango-featurette-offers-hilarious-look-at-emotion-capture/

Like any good western film, Rango features its share of action scenes out in the desert, but not all of them are simple gun fights. In fact, none of them are. Amazing chase scenes, a couple great shoot outs, and an incredible aerial battle where moles ride on bats and shoot machine guns. Yeah, that's what I said. Moles riding bats and shooting machine guns.

The music was ever-present and always fitting, sometimes expected, but never disappointing. I can now say I've heard Wagner played on banjo, if that gives you an idea. The music is done mostly by the sometimes capable, sometimes amazing, Hans Zimmer, with occasional help from the band Los Lobos. The score may not be as iconic as the classic westerns it is trying to emulate, but it comes pretty close, and is anything but disappointing.

Rango was given a hard PG rating. There's violence, a few adult jokes, and a few surprising curse words. Not many films can find the balance where both children and adults will love the story and how it is told, but Rango absolutely does it. I was taken aback and pleasantly surprised when I heard one of the film's more terrifying enemies, Rattlesnake Jake, say words like "Hell," and, "damn." Actually, that really describes the whole film for me. Taken aback, and pleasantly surprised, by the writing, the acting, the story, the action scenes, the overall messages, I could go on, but what else is there for me to say before I begin rambling and spoiling? If you love animation, or westerns, or comedies, or just Johnny Depp, this film is for you. Go out and see this great movie, whether with kids or not. Rango receives four and one half stars, out of five.

****.5 out of *****

Movie Review: All Star Superman

As a fan and a collector, I hold some comics to be sacred. A few Batman titles, the ever-popular Watchmen, and the unique comic perfection that is All Star Superman. What a colossal disappointment this DVD is to it. All Star Superman is a miniseries of comics created by the similarly all star team of writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely. There are multiple opinions on the series, ranging from dismissive to fanatical devotion, but it is generally received as at least a good comic, if not spectacularly great. I followed the series when it first came out, and since then have re-read it countless times, including once after having seen this film. Having done so allows me to see how much the film fails to grasp. Where do I even begin?

The pacing is awful. You'd think being a comic book geek I'd take issue with character portrayal or changing story lines or screwing with continuity, which I will get to, but no, this film's biggest weakness is the awful pacing. The whole movie moves with this rapid pace, allowing for no scenes to linger, and there are scenes where just a few seconds of silence and stillness would have made a world of difference, but they are tossed aside as the film powers forward with this enthusiasm as if the ending we rush towards was even worth the wait. All Star Superman has a run time of just over an hour. There's comic content for at least 3 hours of movie. An extra ten minutes even could have made this film a lot better. Left out are all of my favorite moments from the comics, moments that at most would have added 2 more minutes to the film. I'm talking about parts of scenes that are already in the film that were cut, one assumes, for run time.

Despite the breakneck speed of the film, everything feels static. All of the glorious flowing art of the comic is not even close to imitated. Everything feels still, like watching a play on a fixed stage. The artist for All Star Superman is famous for his ability to convey movement from still images, something the movie isn't able to convey with actual movement. People gripe about the book's art because everything looks a little ugly and superhero comics and their characters famously feature almost all super-model level attractiveness, and All Star Superman doesn't. But the movie does! I don't understand how they could have screwed up so completely.

Despite being a little average-looking in comics, All Star Superman's titular character portrayed an amazing strength of heart and sincerity and all of his actions and dialog. The superman of the film is an arrogant, patronizing, jerk. James Denton plays all his lines with this syrupy moral goodness, but none of the heart and soul that makes the character what he is. I appreciate that they are trying to use new voice actors in all of these different movies, but not many have been able to live up to the ones we grew up with. 2010's Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths featured a new take on the voice, employing the excellent Mark Harmon in the role. I had my doubts about him but loved his portrayal, even though it wasn't the familiar Tim Daly. Why couldn't Harmon have been used again? I feel similarly about Christina Hendricks' Lois Lane. It just didn't feel real.

Conversely, the voice of Lex Luthor, Anthony LaPaglia, despite being utterly different from every Luthor portrayal I've seen since Gene Hackman held the role, was excellent. I loved his more business-man like approach to the character's arrogant inflection. It is an absolute shame that we didn't get to hear him deliver some of the comic's classic lines, such as, "And then the inimitable Lex Luthor opened up the floor and shook hands with a baboon in a Superman suit." I could have dealt with some of the confusingly bad line changes in this film if only everyone gave as powerful a performance as LaPaglia. The voice for Luthor's neice Nasthalthia "Nasty" Luthor, Linda Cardellini, was also spot on in her delivery of this unique voice.

While we're on voices I have to mention that Robin Atkin Downes' Solaris was utterly perfect, and I just wish we got to see that battle in its complete length, and that the Superman he was bantering with wasn't James Denton. Ed Asner as Perry White was amazing, but were there any doubts? As usual, All Star Superman employed Andrea Romano as voice director. I'm not one to doubt her legendary casting choices since she's been doing casting and direction for essentially every animated DC picture since the early 90's, but with rare exceptions, All Star Superman's cast needed an overhaul. Where's the Andrea Romano who cast Neil Patrick Harris, or James Woods?

The inner fanboy won't let me leave this review without touching on the differences between the comic and the film. They are numerous, and they are confusing. The most discussed has been the removal of the Bizarro world subplot. In the comic Superman goes to the planet of what is essentially a twisted mirror world. There's more to it than that, but this is not the place to explain it. It features such heroes as Bizarro Flash, the world's slowest man, and Bizarro Superman who has such powers as freeze lasers from his eyes and fire-breath, the reverse of Superman's powers. The section is perhaps the most poetic of the comic, and its removal is disappointing, but understandable. The removal of other sections such as Doomsday, Kandor, and the Superman squad, are confusing. All Star Superman is intended to be a modern retelling of the Hercules myth in which he must perform 12 labors, with Superman in his place. The film touches on maybe 4.

As one last insult to the comic, the final frame of the film is the same as in the comic, an unmoving picture of Superman. While in the comic the image is glorious, in the film it is bland. Despite using the exact same pose, context, character, and so on, they chose to draw their own. Had it been animated, this would be fine. But it is not animated. It is a still frame shot, just as in the comic, but not drawn as well.

All Star Superman just misses all the points that made the comic great. The deep understanding of the character's mythos, the acknowledgment of modern interpretations as well as deeper mythological allusions, the genuine love for the characters, for the story, for the legacy that is Superman, everything that makes the comic great. The fights are sub-par, the music is forgettable, and the overall film leaves little to no impact. It is really quite sad. The comic is great, and with just a few more minutes and a little extra effort, this could have been one of the great DC animated films, and could have gotten a lot more people interested in reading the much better comic. The film is worth a viewing, but only if you're a fan. Precisely one viewing, and absolutely not worth the purchase. Two and one half stars, out of five.

**.5 out of *****

Movie Review: The Mechanic

Very unusual for me to be reviewing something still in the theaters, I know, but I went with my girlfriend to see this movie after she expressed a desire to. I went not because I had any particular notion to watch it, but because she wanted to, and I want to make her happy.

This movie is ok. It isn't anything special, and there's not a whole lot to be said about it. The Mechanic is a remake of the 1972 film of the same name starring the legendary Charles Bronson. Jason Statham plays an assassin who goes by the name of Arthur Bishop, and after killing his one friend in the world, he trains the friend's failure of a son to be a hit man like himself in an attempt to try and justify his actions, as well as to help him fix his own inner loneliness. Donald Sutherland plays the dead friend, and Ben Foster plays the gun for hire in training.

Frankly, as far as shoot 'em up plots go, I was impressed. We get to see a fairly engaging story, which I was not expecting. True, it could have been done better, but it wasn't done that badly. Jason Statham continues his trend of playing Jason Statham. Not impressive, but not unexpected, and he fits the hole his particular peg has been assigned to quite well. Ben Foster provides the best performance in this picture, really selling himself as the sort of pitiful but not hopeless inured puppy person he is playing. Donald Sutherland is wonderful as usual.

The music for this film is memorable not for the quality, but for how shoved into your face it is. There's a piano theme used at least 3 times that is supposed to be what you come away with when you think of the film's music, and there's a quasi-James Bond action theme they use at least twice, that fails as many times.

Now for what you actually came for, the action. Is it good? Yes. Is it great? Once or twice. There are a few knock down drag out fights that impressed me, both with their choreography and their ruthlessness. Obvious fight directions are ignored and unusual but not unlikely choices are made in combat scenes. It is refreshing as hell to not see the same fight in 40 successive films, and The Mechanic really does deliver some satisfying combat scenes. I was quite pleasantly surprised.

Overall, not as bad as I was expecting. The fights were entertaining, and even got me to wince once or twice, not an easy feat I assure you. Though the R rating level content in some places was absolutely unnecessary. The nudity is in there for no purpose, and comes from characters that are picked up, never developed, and thrown away before the credits. Furthermore, there was a homophobic undertone to a section of the movie that could have been lost and no story element would have been affected. I understand its a machismo fueled film, but it is 2011 people. Still, despite its issues, it wasn't terrible. If you're the kind of person that likes Jason Statham movies, you'll probably like this one. What more can I say? 3 stars, out of 5.

*** out of *****

On a personal note

Like a machine with the wires ripped out, the entire Katie situation broke me. For months I haven't been able to cry, not from deep emotion, from my favorite films, from powerful music. I cried, but it was from deep depression.

But Elaine, she fixed me.