Movie review: "The Avengers"

This weekend my girlfriend and I went to movies to watch "The Avengers". Not her first choice, but neither she was really against it. I intentionally did not want to go last weekend, hoping to avoid the biggest crowds. In the end, we were both satisfied. I have been following "The Avengers" hype for some time, although passively - I like super-hero franchises, but I am not really a fan. So I knew what to expect of the movie and it turned out I was pretty realistic in my expectations.

"The Avengers" is a movie that combines and continues several movies starring super-heroes: Iron-Man (watched both and liked), Thor (watched and liked), Captain America (didn't watch, heard it was not good), Hulk (didn't watch) and Black Widows and Hawkeye (don't have movies). It also features the agency S.H.I.E.L.D., which was mentioned and played parts in mentioned movies. The plot is pretty simple: S.H.I.E.L.D. has been tampering with some alien artifact called Teserakt and accidentally freed Loki (a villain from "Thor" movie), with a little bit of help from his new allies, Chitauri. He steals the Teserakt, abducts some scientist and agents and escapes in unknown direction with nothing good on his mind. In reaction, S.H.I.E.L.D. gathers restarts the Avengers initiative, which has a goal of centering all Earth's superheroes and ally them against common foe. They are later joined with Thor who comes to Earth to put his brother Loki to order. Considering their strength, the Avengers should not have any trouble defeating Loki, except two tinny problems: they have to find out what Loki's plan is, and they have to overcome their own differences (which are pretty big).

This movie takes after "Iron Man 2" in atmosphere - flashy, fast, lots of high-tech gadgets, much of ironic banter. As I said, it is not a plot-driven movie. Although it lasts more than two hours, it is all about characters, and some about the setting. This means that it is mostly oriented to those who like the franchises and will be able to disregard weak plot. To me, it also looked like they wanted to introduce the setting and prepare the field for the second Avengers movie or other connected movies. Characters were interesting enough, and humor was quite good and successful.

In my opinion, the only flaw of the movie was the weakness of the enemies. Loki was more of a daze and confuse mind-bending player, so it OK if he is physically week (even though he is a god). But I really expected much more from the Chitauri, considering how they were announced and referenced. Also, the ending reminded me much of "The Transformers 3" trailer I saw (didn't see the movie, yet).

All in all, "The Avengers" is a standard super-hero movie multiple several times (considering all the big-name super-heroes). If you like such movies, you will love it. Even if you don't, the movie has a bit of everything to offer: humor, action, Scarlett Johansson for guys, Chris Hemsworth for girls... Just don't expect some plot-heavy intelligent drama, and you will not be disappointed - because this is THE super-hero movie.

Movie review: "Thor"

This weekend I went and watched "Thor" in the movies. I didn't watch it in 3D; I didn't even know it was playing the cinema with this option, but I don't think I would have gone there even if I did know. I don't see the appeal of 3D technology when watching movies. Sure, I like when a book has visually appealing cover, when paper has good quality and font is nice, and in case I really like the series, I will add extra money for better edition, I usually go for the cheaper paperback edition. This is more of a topic for some book review, but I've been thinking lately about investing in e-reader. I prefer paper editions, but in long-terms I think that e-books are better choice.

Now, let's get back to the movie. I know before that "Thor" was based on Marvel comics, which was (of course) based on Norse mythology, but I did not know any specific. I never watched any cartoon adaptation nor did I read the comics. I also knew that the movie was discussed often in SF/Fantasy community and that expectations were big. I had no expectations before watching and I must say I was positively surprised.

"Thor" is in my opinion a nice introduction to this franchise. There is a lengthy portion at the beginning of the movie that explains history, characters and concepts of Asgard, place where Thor, Odin and rest lives and where half of the movie takes place. I wouldn't go deep into explanations and plot, because you got the movie for that. In short, Prince Thor is the son of King Odin, Loki is his brother and after they get in trouble with Frost-Giants, Thor ends up exiled to Earth.

Plot is nothing exceptional or convoluted, but it hasn't any obvious flaws. As I said, there is good intro to lead you into this universe and movie is neither slow nor rushed. I especially liked when the guys from S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived. I was quite surprised. I know that often super-heroes share the same universe, and here is the case with Thor and Iron Man (and some others).

Characters and acting are good for this type of the movie. Thor is played by Cris Hemsworth. I never heard about him before, but he very good in this role. Natalie Portman is playing Thor's love interest, but I think she was wasted in this role. Anthony Hopkins plays Odin and I must admit that I didn't recognize him. Rest of the cast is good, although I didn't like Thor's companions: too generic and predictable.

Best thing that can be said about the movie is that it is not pretentious. Usually in super-hero movies you like him; then he does something really stupid and has to redeem himself to audience. Here this is not the case. Sure, Thor does some stupid things, but they are all believable and normal. I was very surprised the way he reacted to his brother visit in S.H.I.E.L.D. tent. When I think about it, I like this movie much more that I liked "Iron Man 2".

For conlusion, "Thor" is quite good super-hero movie, with no big flaws and a nice evening watch. I don't know about the fans, but as a part of general audience, I like the movie and would recommended it to any who like this kind of movies.