Hi all, this tumblr mainly exists as a way of tracking all the movies I've been watching and some of the initial thoughts, and general feelings, I've had about them.
5/5 - Fantastic movies; movies which need to be seen and enjoyed by everyone.
4/5 - Movies which are very good but don’t have that spark which compels you to make others watch them as well.
3/5 - Average movies; watchable and enjoyable, but nothing which elevates them higher. The baseline all movies are given before watching.
2/5 - Can be watched but really bland and forgettable.
1/5 - Minimal to no reason to watch these films. It may have some redeeming factors e.g. it’s so bad it’s good or there’s one character that’s awesome enough to make it not a total waste of time.
0/5- Total waste of time. Nothing redeemable about these films.
As with every review blog/site, this is all my own personal opinion so feel free to take everything with a grain of salt.
Also I'm Scottish so all reviews will be in UK English. Get used to theatre, colour and words ending in -ised.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
#338/#55 Thor
(Rewatch)
I enjoyed this film a little more upon rewatch. There was no 3D to bother me this time so the action scenes seemed less muddled and generally better to watch. It did its job for getting me psyched up for the avenger next week but overall I still think it was just an okay story with a lot of good character performances in it.
Hawkeye’s appearance makes much more sense in context however. That whole scene confused me to no end on my initial viewing. 3/5
#119 Thor
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is about to obtain the throne of Asgard when some Frost Giants break in and try to retake their source of power which Odin (Anthony Hopkins) took from them in the last war. Mad, Thor attacks their home world against Odin’s orders and begins war once more. For his stupidity, Thor is banished to Earth where he must prove himself worthy before being allowed back to his realm and control of his magic hammer, Mjollnir.
Usually superhero films either fall into the very good category (i.e. The Dark Knight, Iron Man, X men) or they fall into the very bad category (i.e. Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Elektra). It’s almost odd to have one which falls so squarely in the middle between the two. This is where Thor lands however.
All of the actors are really well cast and good in their respective roles. Hemsworth is a strong main character, Hopkins a good elderly adviser (as he should having played the same role for the last 10 years) and Tom Hiddleston is good as the lamentable villain Loki (as we are shown the rationale behind his motives). The humans (Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings) weren’t really given that much to do but Stellan Skarsgard as the older scientist and Idris Elba as the gate keeper are probably the most interesting characters overall just because they’re a little cooler and gets a couple of good comedic lines. All of Thor’s friends are really pointless.
The story is very basic and almost paint by numbers. I wouldn’t call it boring but its just been done a hundred times before so you know which character is going to do what and when.
The fight sequences are ok but there are a lot of really close up CGI fights which (and I’m not sure if this was just because I saw it in 3d) were very like the transformers fight scenes. A lot of moving parts and the overall feeling of something happening but looking really crap. The static visuals of Asgard were in complete contrast to this however. They were fantastic and really helped to build the idea of a different world.
It also peaks a little early in terms of action having the big Frost Giant battle early on so that when we finally get to the giant robot battle (during which all I could think of was The Day The Earth Stood Still) you’re left feeling unimpressed.
If it weren’t for the actors all working so well I don’t think it would have been a strong enough film for the amount of hype being put around it. Seeing as they are however, it brings it up to just ok but I definitely felt it was the weakest of all the avenger films so far (even behind the Incredible Hulk).
Meh is pretty much how I would describe this film if I could only give a one word review. Not bad but nothing that great about it either. 3/5
