Movie Review: Thor

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The big summer blockbusters have started this week with the release of Thor. I trekked out to my local Regal theater and based on the information I was given last week, I decided to try to new food offerings. I ordered the jalapeno poppers, paid my money and was moving over to the side when my cashier called over to order, an assistant manager barked out that he told them that they didn't have the new stuff. I took my refund and headed into the theater. It was one of the smaller theaters holding about 180 seats. When the movie started the theater has about half full of people including two babies and four cell phones without their ringers turned off. You probably know where I'll go with them later. I was happy to find out at least at this time prices didn't go up and the cost for my 2D version of the movie remained the same. The movie was not a great, but at least a very good start for the string of blockbusters due to roll out over the next couple of months.

The action starts off pretty quickly with scientists Jane Foster and Erik Salvig (Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgård) out in the New Mexico desert when an anomaly in the sky occurs. They take their vehicle and rush to the disturbance which is now touching the ground and they hit something. When the dust clears they see a man laying on the ground. When Jane asks how did he get there we travel through space to a gleaming golden city into a huge throne room. On the throne is Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and his sons Thor and Loki (Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston) are before him. So right off the bat we are treated to some action, superb special effects and backstory to kick off the origin story for our hero Thor.

Director Kenneth Branagh leads us through what caused arrogant and insolent Thor to be banished from Asgard and sent to earth. You would think if your Dad is an all powerful king and fighter and if he tells you not to do something, you'd think that you'd listen to him! In the process of banishment Thor is stripped of his powers and his special hammer Mjöllnir It's at that point where we go back to earth and pick up Thor laying on the ground after being clipped by Jane's truck.

We see that things back in Asgard aren't as rosey as they had originally seemed and Thor's pals Sif, Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral (Jaimie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano and Josh Dallas) realize they need to travel to Earth to retrieve their pal and bring him back to try to set the situation straight. In the mean time a nasty metal robot man called the Destroyer which shoots really strong beams of fire out of its widened eye sockets is sent to Earth too in order to stop Thor who has none on his special powers. He can use his battle training, but that's about it as his piercing blue eyes, big muscles and roguish smile only work on the ladies.

The movie works on most levels. There are great special effects. Asgard and Bifrost, the bridge aka worm hole that took Odin and his forces to other realms looked wonderful on the screen. The origin story is laid out neatly for us, pretty straight forward there. The love interest between a god and a human. Good vs evil. The foundation for SHIELD and the upcoming Avengers movie was referenced including a nod to Ironman and Tony Stark. There were some good moments of comedy some of it coming from Hemsworth and several times Portman.

Where the movie fell short was really setting up the dramatic moments that kept us on the edge of our seats. Three of the big fight scenes were good but were a little short of the extra umph that would make us go "YEAH!" out loud. Even the Easter egg with Nick Fury was worthy of sitting through the credits. What didn't work was the people who didn't turn off their ringers including the one person who had his set on the old fashioned phone ringer that went off four times and the two babies who didn't like the volume multiple times throughout the 114 minute running time. For that reason it was one of the toughest movies I've seen lately due to the crowd but not the presentation.

It was near Ironman good, but lacked slightly. Thor was rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi action/violence and while the ladies got to enjoy a buff Hemsworth with his shirt off, the guys didn't get quite as much with either Portman or Alexander. Let's see if Green Lantern releasing in June and Captain America with its July release date offer the same level of story and excitement.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: The Rite

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Will the start of the year doldrums please hurry up and get over! I posted out via Twitter and Facebook whether I should see The Mechanic or The Rite. The response was to go see The Rite and Anthony Hopkins came up as a reason. OK, that's a good reason, he's a wonderful actor. It also had the earlier of the two show times which is always a plus in my book.

So movie begins and with the credits, any time there was a letter "T" they turned it into a cross except when the word had two. When that happened, only one "T" turned into a cross. So we get the idea that the movie is going to have something to do with religion. For the first quarter of the movie we don't even see Anthony Hopkins. We're given the back story of Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) a young man who has retreated to the seminary to get away from his dad and the family mortuary business.

Michael before final vows to become a priest is sent to Rome to learn about exorcism. The Pope wants to make sure that there are plenty of exorcists to go around. One of the justifications for sending him? Because of the family business he won't be squeamish like other candidates would be. The problem? He's not sure of his faith. So to help with his belief level Michael is sent by Father Xavier (Ciarán Hinds) who is heading up the teaching program to visit Father Lucas Trevant there in Rome.

So we finally get to see Sir Anthony Hopkins as Father Trevant. He's living in a run down villa surrounded by cats. He's not the crazy old cat man, but one has to wonder as you watch him. So the man of faith and the man of questionable faith meet. When a mother and her pregnant teenage daughter visit Father Trevant, Michael wonders if instead of being possessed she just needs a good psychologist. Michael was asked if he was expecting pea soup and the girls head to start spinning around as proof of possession, an obvious reference to the classic movie, The Exorcist.

Michael isn't sure what to make of everything. In class he meets Angelia (Alice Braga), a reporter who is covering the class. She's trying to make sense of what happened in her own family with her brother. Was it sickness or possession? The two seem to be in the same river at the same time paddling in the same direction just in different boats.

Eventually the good father himself gets possessed and it's up to Michael with Angelia's help to save Father Trevant. But does Michael believe? If you don't believe in the devil and his evil, how can you believe in God and his good? But if the devil exists that would mean that God is real too. When confronted will faith and belief step forward or will it be easier to turn and walk away?

As with exorcism movies you'd expect scenes contain disturbing thematic material, violence, frightening images, and language including sexual references which earned the movie a PG-13 rating for the 112 minute running time. There was only one scene that made me jump in my seat. The rest of the movie was blase. As I told one person: been there, seen that, bought the t-shirt. So please have faith in me when I tell you to keep the money in your pocket for this one.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.

Movie Review: The Wolfman

At Universal Studios Hollywood is the House of Horrors, a place where you walk through many scary scenes from classic horror movies like The Mummy, Psycho, Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolfman.

As I was walking through I managed to get by the wolfma's area unscathed but after I rounded the corner and was exploring the world of Frankenstein, the Wolfman came up behind me and gave me a good startle. Some of those same startles got me as I watched the new updated version of The Wolfman.

In this version of Benicio del Toro gets the lead as Lawrence Talbot who will eventually end up as "Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." Lawrence has come home to at the behest of his brother's fiance Gwen (Emily Blunt) as his brother Ben has gone missing. Anthony Hopkins plays his father Sir John Talbot who greets him as he enters the dark, large and brooding Talbot Manor in the English countryside.

After the funeral Lawrence wants to find his brother's killer for himself and for Gwen.

Inspector Abbeline (Hugo Weaving) comes in from London to officially investigate the murder. His father recommends that since the moon was full he stay at the manor but does Lawrence listen, no. Gypsies are in town so he goes to their encampment to talk to them about a medallion that was found among his brother's personal effects. He's told to stay in the encampment by the gypsy Maleva; does he listen No. The encampment is attacked by something big, fast, strong and brutal and when Lawrence chases whatever it is, he gets attacked and wounded. So by not listening to people Lawrence ends up in deep kimchi as the saying goes.

Most people watching knows what is coming. At the next full moon Lawrence turns into the wolfman bringing hysteria, death and destruction to the local populace. The movie has an R rating due to the violence and the gore of primal violence displayed by the beast. Between his bite and several turnings Lawrence develops feelings for Gwen who tries to rescue him from his curse. Like all good monster movies the monster is sacrificed for the love of the women. Lawrence does it for Gwen like King Kong did for Fay Wray. "It was beauty killed the beast."

The makeup for the monster was done by Rick Baker. He's the same guy who did the make up for Michael Jackson's transformation in Thriller and David Naughton in An American Werewolf in London. Del Toro's Wolfman is not as animal like as Naughton but not quiet as human as Jackson but somewhere in between. Baker makes a cameo in the movie as one of the gypsies. The transformations are relatively short and it takes a while to see the monster's face but when you do, it's a good homage to Lon Chaney's look in the 1941 original.

Del Toro doesn't fully emote a man conflicted between the man who says his prayers by night and one who has knowledge that he shreds people just as a beast has sliced his brother. A sense of urgency doesn't seem to be there. Hopkins comes across as the man who knows more than he is telling since he lived in the countryside for so many decades.

The plot moves along. I didn't look at my watch because I was bored. While watching I had a couple of questions that did lead to a section of plot that I wasn't expecting within the familiar wolfman story. There were a few points where I got startled and jumped in my seat which is what I hope will happen when the movie genre is horror. Being a remake one hopes that it will be much better than the original. This didn't reach that level, but it was good enough to keep me engrossed for the two hour and five minute movie worthy of the matinee admission that I paid.