Well I loved Mirrors Edge, but that was video game. Do I need first person shaky cam on the big screen? And do we really need a new origin story movie? Couldnt we just start from the middle? We’ll see.

Went to see Thor today. I liked it. Not loved it. And the problem is that its a really good Thor movie. And the fault lies in that. Of all the Marvel heroes, we’ve seen on screen so far Thor is by far the most otherwordly. We have Spider-man, the NYC troubled teen. We have the X-men, also relateble teens. The Hulk represents our nuclear fears. Iron Man, our wartime and power corruption ones. With Thor, you have a fantasy, mythology, folklore. And you lose part of what those other stories have; human personality. Natalie Portman brings a lot to the screen time she is given, and her interactions with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) are some of the best parts of the movie, but alot of the film takes place in the beautiful and cgi painted Asgard. It’s well done, enjoyable, and a good action set. But something about it doesn’t grab me the way Tobey McGuire did when he swung through New York the first time, or when we first saw Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine at that bar in Canada.

That being said Asgard is great, and if you could make a “rainbow bridge’ cool, they did it here. The frost giants were neat, and above all Tom Hiddleston as Loki stole the show. I can not wait to see what they do with him in Avengers. Speaking of Avengers we get some neat sneaks into that movie throughout this film, and they really have built the expecations pretty high. I may skip work when that film opens next year.

If your looking for a good start to the Summer movie season, Thor is a good place to start. I just wish it felt a little more human.

Lets stay on the Marvel Movie kick with the Red Skull picture just released by EW. Think it looks alright.

Rumor is the Skrulls brought to Earth by Loki (from Thor) are the villians in next years Joss Whedon directed Avengers. Get me to 2012 now.

Looks like it could be good. Could also be pretty awful. I’m still more concerned about Captain America than this film.

I liked Iron Man 2. In fact things I liked better in this one. Better Villian. Mickey Rourke is cooler than Bald Jeff Bridges. There I said it. I also liked that CGI is now good enough that fight scenes aren’t a blurry mess. You can actually see the motion and it looks like a real fight. WAR MACHINE. Awesome.
Alot of critics and people I know hate that Marvel is making each movie about the Avengers. I think it’s a bold step and if it works can you imagine the cinematic universe they would create? The easter egg at the end of the credits makes me wonder what timeline we are dealing with in regards to a certain Norseman. And maybe it makes sense now that Kenneth Branagh is directing Thor if it takes place in Asgard more than Earth. Either way, I thought Iron Man was fun, and my only real negative is I sometimes thought Downey took the Stark Ego just a little too far, even for Tony. Otherwise solid sequel, and a nice romp in Marvel land.

The Good. Hugh Jackman. Nice opening title sequence. Gambit actually worked for me, and I liked Dominic Monaghan’s character. The locations. The Pacific Northwest looks great on film.

The Bad.
Almost everything else. If your going to have a story that really butchers the comics, then at least have the decency to spend money on the special effects. Some of it was just awful. There is no excuse anymore for being able to tell when someone’s on a blue/green screen and there were many many scenes that looked awful. And then the terrible cameo with really bad ‘young’ make up. Really?
And the brother on brother fight scenes every ten minutes. Who cares after the first five fights. Really?
And aren’t guys in Fat suits for comedy, like so Austin Powers 3? And it wasn’t funny then.
If you haven’t gone yet, save your money and go see Star Trek next week instead, for better special effects, better story and an altogether better movie experience.