Since I started my blog awhile back, from time to time I
will express thoughts on films that I have either discovered by chance, or ones
that I have looked forward to seeing and…well, have seen. Silent films have become an interest of mine
(as is evident in my “Silent Film” section), and in the last several years
film franchises have factored in. I have
been a self-professed Harry Potter fan for years, jumping onto the Hogwarts
Express a tad later than my friends with only the first 3 volumes being out at
that time, but I would go on to ingest the rest of the books along with the
other fans. The films were all a part of
that. They never quite measured up to
the books, but film adaptations rarely do.
In my experience, anyway. (Blog
posts related to my views on the world of HP can be found in the ‘”Movies”
section of my blog.)
There is a film that I am currently jones-ing to see. “The Avengers”. You may be thinking, “It’s been out for a
bit, so why hasn’t she seen it yet?” The
answer is simple. My theater experience
since moving to Savannah was less than…satisfactory. While I lived in Los Angeles, I got a tad
spoiled. There was the occasional film I
would want to see that I would catch on the big screen. A theater with state of the art sound,
high-backed ‘clean’ seats with double leg room and seat arms that you could fold
back, and seating that was on a deeper grade so you wouldn’t have someone’s big
head in your way. Not the case
here. Things were a bit more ‘old
school’ here. Sticky floors, smaller
uncomfortable seats…not an experience I felt like shelling out today’s going
rate for theater tickets for. No, I am
waiting for “The Avengers” to hit DVD. I
am avoiding the written reviews, etc., so they don’t taint my
expectations…which are quite high, I can tell you.
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| (Scarlett Johansson as "Black Widow") |
As someone who loves the world of comics (big Wolverine fan)
I have done my part in priming myself for “The Avengers” by seeing the various
movies that have basically acted as set-up.
I started with both of the “Iron Man” films. Robert Downey Jr. is the perfect Tony
Stark. I have always thought him to be a
talented actor, but it’s as if the character were modeled for him. He looks so much like the comic book
character. He also does a superb job
bringing Stark to life. I had no doubts
that he would. One of my biggest pet
peeves about some actors is their proclivity to “scene chewing”. Downey does a bit of this from time to time,
but he’s such a fine and intelligent actor that when he does gnaw a bit, it
works. I did find him nibbling some here
and there in the “Iron Man” flicks, but it fit.
As far as other casting choices, Gwyneth Paltrow gives a fine turn as
Pepper Potts, and Jeff Bridges is fiendishly good as the two-faced Obadiah
Stane (Bridges has never been one to disappoint with any of his acting gigs,
either). We do see an appearance by
Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), in film 2. An “Avengers” reference for the Iron Man
flicks. I recommend both “Iron Man” 1
(released 2008) & 2 (released 2010).
 |
| (Dominic Cooper as "Howard Stark") |
Then “Captain America: The First Avenger” (released 2011)
came out. Another great job of
casting. Chris Evans is a perfect Steve
Rogers/Captain America, and the effects department definitely earned their pay
when making him the scrawny Rogers for the first section of the film. Hugo Weaving portrays the evil Red Skull, and
as always puts in a great performance.
For those of you who have seen the film, you know that Howard Stark (Tony
Stark’s father) is a featured character.
When dealing with the parent of a character in another already produced
movie, some productions will bring in the actor from the ‘child’ role and make
them older to portray the parent. I am
glad they didn’t here. In my opinion it
would have been too predictable, and would have definitely elicited an eye-roll
from me. The actor portraying ‘Daddy’ Stark, Dominic Cooper, looks enough like
Downey Jr. and has enough of the flavoring of Downey Jr.’s performance to make
Cooper very believable in the role. There
are a couple of other notable appearances by Stanley Tucci as Dr. Erskine, and
Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Phillips. Jones’ appearances aren’t many, and Tucci
appears even less, but as always they give good turns in their roles. The last character crucial to the plot of the
film who only appears at the very end, is the one integral connection between
“Captain America: The First Avenger” and “The Avengers”…the appearance of Samuel
L. Jackson, as Nick Fury.
 |
| (The effects dept. did a great job turning Evans from a scrawny guy, into "Captain America") |
“But wait! Something
has been left out. There was a film
released a couple of months prior to the “Captain” hitting theaters. If you were thinking I had missed something
in my post, I am about to remedy that right now. My favorite of the films leading up to “The
Avengers”…”Thor”.
Actually, this post was going to be specifically about
“Thor”, but as it has been out for a bit and “The Avengers” (which the God of
Thunder is a part of) is getting a lot of noise these days it seemed logical to
flesh things out to include the bigger picture.
Moving right along…
For whatever reasons, I hadn’t been able to watch “Thor” in
its entirety prior to the Captain’s release.
I had caught glimpses of it when it was being watched in the living
room, but hadn’t planted myself to watch it from beginning to end. A situation that I didn’t rectify until
recently. Shocking, really. Without having seen the entire first film,
anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of “Thor”. Well…Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Yes, I realize that I could be his mum (I
will point out that it would have been a teen pregnancy…thank you very much),
but I have a pulse. ‘Smitten’ as I am
about the physical embodiment of Hemsworth as Thor, I do have a decent
knowledge of the Asgardian mythos. I
played quite a lot of Dungeons & Dragons in my youth, and I have been an
avid reader of Fantasy for…well, forever.
I am not a walking encyclopedia of Thor comic book cannon like some, but
I know enough. It occurs to me that I
may have painted myself as a bit of a geek…not a geek at all. I would describe myself as…eclectic.
 |
| (Director, Kenneth Branagh, and "Thor", Chris Hemsworth) |
Directed by the very talented Kenneth Branagh, “Thor” is a well-crafted
movie. I think that Branagh’s history
with Shakespeare and chivalry made him a great choice to helm things here. Equally, Chris Hemsworth gives an
appropriately “mighty” performance as the God of Thunder. He obviously was put through a massive
fitness regimen to sculpt his body, which adds to the strength and the swagger
of the character. Hemsworth’s height of
6’4”, and his rich voice also factor in to how well suited he is for the
part. I could go on and on about the
physical attributes of Hemsworth to the point of gushing, so I’ll move on a
bit.
The movie begins…oh, guess I should put in a little warning
here before I launch into specifics of the film. If you haven’t seen “Thor”, but plan to, you
might want to stop reading because there are some spoilers coming up. I do get detailed here and there in my
rundown. Okay…you’ve been warned…
I am happy to say that there isn’t a plodding build-up that
starts things off. Thor falls out of the
sky…why? The immediately recognizable
voice of Sir Anthony Hopkins starts to narrate, taking us to the city in the
cosmos known as Asgard. It’s there that
we learn he’s not only narrating, he is portraying the big kahuna, Odin the
Allfather. When we first encounter Thor
and his “brother” Loki, they are children and Odin is explaining to them what
it means to be king. After all, one of
them (Thor) will BE the next king.
Walking into the relic room, the three look on the casket containing the
source of power of the Frost Giants. The
casket is housed in the relic hall because it was the Asgardian’s who saved man
by defeating the Frost Giants, taking their source of power, sending them back
to Jotunheim, and forming a truce that brought peace to the cosmos. It may fall on one of the boys to retain that
peace during their reign. Boy Thor lashes
at the air saying that he would go to war with them and slay them all, just
like Odin had done. Then Odin says some
key words. “A wise king never seeks out
war, but he must always be ready for it.”
We then skip into the future, and Thor is a young man. It is the day he is to be made king of
Asgard. A smile emblazoned on his face,
he swaggers through the crowded hall to his destiny, his good natured ego
beaming from him like a rock star.
Silencing the crowd, Odin begins the proceedings. Just as he is about to name Thor king, he
senses something. What the…Frost Giants
have broken into Asgard! They are there
to steal back the casket of the Frost Giants.
It is then that a rather bad ass armored figure appears through a
disappearing wall. A figure known as ‘The
Destroyer’. A thick beam of light shoots
from The Destroyer’s head, slaughtering the Giants. (Think ‘Cyclops’ on steroids…X-Men
reference.) Thor is angered. He can’t believe they were able to break
their way in, and the only thing to do is to go to war! Odin feels that war isn’t called for. After all it was just a few rogue Frost
Giants. Why start a war over a few? Thor is determined. “I as King…”
“But you’re NOT king! Not
yet.” Thor looks extremely wounded, and
beyond frustrated. Odin forbids him to
do anything.
 |
| (Chris Hemsworth as "Thor", and Sir Anthony Hopkins as "Odin Allfather") |
I feel the need to give one more “Spoiler Alert” as I am
about to get into some specifics that will definitely take the surprise element
out of the equation for people who have a) not seen the movie, and b) don’t
know the plotline already. Having warned you twice, I shall proceed.
 |
| ("Mjolnir") |
Thor is extremely frustrated as he is itching to ‘Hammer’
some Giants. Ah, yes…Thor’s Hammer,
Mjolnir (pronounced MYOL-n(ee)r). Forged
from the heart of a dying star, on an enchanted forge. It summons the elements of storms (lightning,
rain, wind). Thor can not only summon it
at will, when he throws it, it returns to him (think a boomerang effect). He can also create incredible upheavals by
stamping it on the ground. It is capable
of more, but you get the gist. Thor is the
God of Thunder. Thor is a major bad-ass!
 |
| ("Frost Giants") |
During all of this, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is watching. For those who don’t know, Loki is a sly
trickster. Very manipulative. He knows just what to say to Thor to get him
to go to Jotunheim (home of the Frost Giants), without really looking like he’s
trying to get Thor to go there. Thor is convinced
and good to go. He uses his immense charm to convince his battle pals to go
with him. So, with Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Hogun (Tadanobu Asano), Fandral
(Josh Dallas), and Sif (Jaimie Alexander) in tow, Thor and Loki head to the
gate. Heimdall (Idris Elba) is rather
pissed at the Frost Giants for finding a way to get by him, so he aids the
forbidden mission and “beams” them to Jotunheim. Needless to say, a battle ensues, Giants are
killed, and Thor kicks some major butt.
We learn from the Frost Giant king, King Laufey (Colm Feore), that
Asgard has a traitor, and that’s how the Giants were able to break in. We also learn that Loki isn’t what he seems. He
is actually a Frost Giant. Just as things look like they are going to start
getting really bad for our band of heroes, Odin shows up and does his best to
calm things down. Things are obviously
not going to be that easy, but the Giant king reluctantly lets them go. Boy, is Thor going to get a talking to.
A fight is had between the two Gods. Odin calls Thor “a vane, greedy, cruel boy”,
and Thor calls Odin “an old man and a fool”.
Odin declares Thor unworthy, stripping him of his Hammer, his power,
everything. He then banishes him to
Earth as a mortal man, telling him he needs to learn some humility. Right after Thor goes hurtling off to Earth,
Odin lifts Mjolnir saying over it, “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be
worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.”
He then throws it to Earth, as well.
Now we’re back to the beginning of the movie when Thor plummeted to
Earth, and is found by Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Darcy Lewis (Kat
Dennings), and Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard).
 |
| (Tom Hiddleston as "Loki") |
Throwing this plot nugget from Asgard in here…Loki confronts
Odin wanting to know why Odin didn’t tell him he is really a Frost Giant. There is a rather poignant scene of Odin
describing how he found Loki and made him a member of his family, raising and
loving him as his own. We also see that
Odin is rather exhausted. Falling to the
ground, he is consumed by Odinsleep. (I
will tell you what that is in a bit…if you don’t know what Odinsleep means.)
 |
| ('Mortal Thor': "This mortal form grows weak. I need sustenance!") |
 |
| (Thor tries to lift Mjolnir) |
Back to Earth (a.k.a. Midgard). Hemsworth does a superb job
of acting like a walking anachronism. Initially he feels such superiority to
the inhabitants of this little planet.
Throughout his performance there is something so endearing about him,
even when his ego is showing. Humor is
an element, but they don’t hit you over the head with it. From Darcy ‘Tazing’ him when they find him,
to him expressing his approval of coffee and then smashing his cup on the diner
floor. He may act a bit of the warrior,
but he is also quite intelligent.
Thoughtful even. His initial belligerence
subsides. Especially when he learns that
a certain item has been found out in the desert about 50 miles away. A farmer has found Mjolnir. Guys have lined up and no one can lift
it. No surprises there…the one who wields
Mjolnir has to be worthy. The feds get
involved, surround the Hammer, and also seize all of Jane’s scientific
equipment. Thor is still in town (there
is a funny bit where he goes into a pet store asking for a horse), so Jane
finds him and drives him to Mjolnir. After fighting his way in, Thor reaches
Mjolnir only to find that he can’t lift it.
The Hammer won’t budge. He has a few things to learn before he is worthy
again. The scene of Thor strolling into
the wet environment, his muscles rippling under his drenched t-shirt, goes from
a nice beefcake moment, to a moment of defeat and sympathy. As someone who is familiar with the chain of
events in the story, that moment where he finds that he is unable to lift his
old friend is so sad. Hemsworth projects
the defeat and deflation of Thor’s ego with great effect. His face shows his resignation. I will throw in that it is during this scene
that we get our “Avengers” nod. High
above Thor in a Cherry Picker cage of sorts, is Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy
Renner).
 |
| (Thor sits defeated) |
Back to Earth. Thor’s adventuring pals show up. (They don’t
like the new deal of Loki making himself king.) Thor learns that Loki
lied. The “brother” he thought he could
trust sends ‘The Destroyer’ to Earth to kill the mortal Thor. What is Thor’s
first thought? To save the mortals. Directing all the nearby mortals to go to
safety, a huge fight breaks out between the Asgardians and the Destroyer. Then Thor makes a move that would have been
uncharacteristic for the old Thor. Putting others above himself, Thor walks
forward accepting his fate. He knows that the Destroyer is just meant to kill
him, and if that happens, it will leave and return to Asgard. Thor feels that
if making his life forfeit saves everyone else, then so be it. A heartfelt speech is made by Thor as he
approaches his demise, BUT…from deep in his Odinsleep, Odin hears him and knows
that he has learned the lessons Odin hoped he would. We see a tear rolling out of the corner of
one of Odin’s closed eyes, as the Destroyer knocks the stuffing out of
Thor. Jane Foster cries over the fallen
Thor, all believing that he is dead. Of
course he’s not dead, people! HE’S
THOR!!! I do have to admit that, even
though I know that, I did get a little choked up seeing my hero lying there.
 |
| ("The Destroyer") |
In true hero movie form, the seemingly broken Thor lies
still, but over in the place it first landed, Mjolnir senses that Thor is
worthy. With a thunderous crack, Mjolnir bursts into the air heading to its
master. (I knew this was coming, and
found myself talking to the gal on the screen.
“Jane, you better get out of the way, or you might lose something vital!”) Mjolnir thrusting itself into his hand, Thor
is back. His power surges into him. His Thor garb falls into place. Wind and lightning fill the air around him as
he turns to the Destroyer. Needless to
say, he makes pretty quick work of it.
Thor returns to Asgard to confront Loki. He finds Loki about to kill the entire race
of Frost Giants to prove to Odin that he is the more worthy king. The Thor who at one time wanted to eradicate
the Giants himself, is now defending them.
“Why destroy an entire race?”
Loki lashes out demanding that Thor fight him, but Thor won’t attack his
“brother”. It’s only after calling Thor “soft”,
and threatening Jane, that Thor engages him.
The battle between the two rages until Thor has had enough, blowing Loki
off his feet. (I love that to keep Loki
where he lands, Thor places Mjolnir on Loki’s chest…after all, Loki can’t move
it. He’s not worthy. *grin*)
 |
| ("Bifrost" a.k.a. "The Rainbow Bridge") |
Thor turns to the gate that Loki has opened to send
destruction to Jotunheim. Loki has used
his Frost Giant abilities to get the ball rolling. Even Thor’s strength can’t get him across
Bifrost (a.k.a. the Rainbow Bridge) to stop things. So…Thor does the only thing he can. Summoning Mjolnir to his hand, he smashes the
bridge breaking the gate away. With each
Hammer strike, Odin starts to come out of his deep sleep. The bridge shatters,
exploding into bits, the gate falling away.
Then Odin is there hanging onto Thor who is dangling over the edge, Loki
dangling from him. Feeling defeated, a teary-eyed Loki lets go falling into the
closing rift and disappears.
 |
| (Chris Hemsworth as "Thor", Natalie Portman as "Jane Foster") |
The movie ends with a moving father-son moment between Thor
and Odin. Also, Thor and Jane are pining
for one another. Oh yeah…there was a
small love story between Thor and Jane.
I did kind of gloss over that. It
is an element of the plot, but interestingly it wasn’t a huge one. Not as I saw it anyway. Their meeting did help Thor learn a few
things that led him back to his powers and Asgard. They do have one kiss before Thor returns
home to Asgard to square off with Loki, but other than that it’s free of any ‘gratuitous
naughty bits’. Kind of refreshing,
actually. Most films these days either
have a heavy sex scene, or strategically placed boobs and/or butts. I’m glad to say that someone out there still
believes that a solid, entertaining, well-crafted movie can be made free of
what sadly have become genre stereo-types.
Okay, yes, we did see Hemsworth without his shirt, but that was…integral
to the plot. (That’s my story, and I’m
sticking to it.)
Bifrost is broken making it very difficult to get to Midgard
(Earth), but in a side note there are other portals and other ways to get
around the 9 realms and get to Earth. I’m sure we’ll see about that in “Thor 2”,
which is scheduled for release some time in 2013. IMDB.com does have a listing up for it, and
for the most part the original cast is back for part 2. I have seen a little intel about the
production, and apparently they had been having trouble nailing down a director
for it. The first couple bowed out due
to "artistic differences”. Branagh
was approached about directing the second since he had directed the first, but
it appears that he declined because of the short production schedule the studio
is giving it. I’ll be curious to see who finally lands the gig. One thing I am wary of is the reported “short
production schedule”. I like the first one so much. I hope that a fast shooting schedule doesn’t
translate to a less than acceptable sequel. Unfortunately, that seems to have
become the norm with sequels. Knocking
wood…
You may still think that I left something out of my above
critiques. You would be right. I didn’t really say much about “The Hulk”. Not a thing about either film. The first was terrible…couldn’t sit through
it. The second was a bit better, but…couldn’t
sit through it. I will eventually see
the second one with Ed Norton playing Bruce Banner/Hulk. Until that time I’ll refrain from comment on
it.
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| ("The Avengers" director, Joss Whedon, and Chris Hemsworth as "Thor") |
Next up is “The Avengers”.
I am waiting patiently for the DVD release, so I can watch it in the comfort
of my own home. No sticky floors, or too
small seats. No big heads in my
way. With that cast, and Joss Whedon
directing (big fan since the “Buffy” days), I know it’s going to be great. I mean, come on. It has THOR in it!!! *grin*
Here are some links to IMDB pages related to the films in this post...past, present, and future...for those interested:
THOR
THOR 2 (Pre-Production ~ 2013)
IRON MAN
IRON MAN 2
IRON MAN 3 (Filming ~ 2013)
CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST AVENGER
CAPTAIN AMERICA 2 (Announced ~ 2014)
THE AVENGERS
AVENGERS 2 (Announced ~ ????)
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