Group Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

Welcome, welcome to the Comic Bastards group review for Guardians of the Galaxy. A small handful of us wanted to share our opinions and scores with you for Marvel’s first film outside of the realm of the Avenger’s, but before that here’s what the movie is about:

Light years from Earth, 26 years after being abducted Peter Quill finds himself the prime target of a manhunt after discovering an orb wanted by Ronan the Accuser.

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Samantha: 5/5

Everything worked for this movie. I thought maybe I couldn’t put into words what worked but then I realized everything did. I think James Gunn put it all together for Marvel when it needed to be put together. I may have never picked that cast, but man they were awesome. Each character was highlighted perfectly. I still can’t pick a favorite which sucks because all I want our some GOTG toys, but not knowing favorite makes it so I have to buy them all! Everyone was funny too. I thought maybe the movie would take on only two characters being funny, while one is stupid, one is smart, and one is reasonable, but no. They all had their moments of kicking some ass then making some comment that left the audience laughing. And with each character having a background story that was relatable and made you feel for them kept even a better hold on us. We all were hoping our team would win.

Even the post-credit scenes were just as fun. I don’t know if anyone will get as excited as my fiancé and I did when Baby Groot graced the screen. I screamed when no one else did. He was adorable and needs to be marketed right now. I would totally buy a Baby Groot plant for my office.

I would recommend this movie to anyone and think that the lightheartedness that came with GOTG will outshine any other Marvel movie. It was pure entertainment.

Nick: 5/5

Guardians of the Galaxy is the most fun I’ve had at a Marvel movie since being pleasantly surprised by the first Iron Man six years back. This is the kind of thing Marvel does really well; fun, swashbuckling, offbeat heroes.

Most of the movie is driven by “the orb,” a MacGuffin if you’ve ever seen one. Everybody wants it, nobody knows exactly what it is, they just know it’s important. The discovery of its import sets up a lot of the quest for what Marvel Phase 2 is building towards, but the downside is we spend very little time with the villains. Lee Pace and Josh Brolin are intimidating, but rarely used, and Karen Gillan is rarely given more than a line here or there. I hope to see some of them come back around for the rest of the Marvel Cosmic phase and continue to kick ass.

Action Hero Chris Pratt on the other hand, is one of the great discoveries of the century. He’s an old school hero in the Indiana Jones mold, quick to take a punch and get beat up, but also crack a joke while he’s down and get everyone to rally behind him. He’s inspiring and hilarious and the movie would be worth the price of admission just for him. Luckily, everyone else was rad, too. Drax cuts a hell of a promo, Zoe Saldana kicks a hell of a lot of ass, Groot is a magical woodland Vin Diesel fairy creature, and Rocket was 10000% better than I expected.

Go see this movie, right now.

Dustin: 5/5

Yeah I bet this is unexpected right? Well here’s a little known fact about me, I love me some space movies. In fact I was a big fan of Marvel’s cosmic line before they crapped it up because Joe Q didn’t like space shit. Yeah it was really good for five years or so and since this team of Guardians spawned from that era in the Marvel U. well color me interested.

What I’ll say about this movie is kind of what I said on the podcast about this movie. It talked like me and my friends. Yeah the jokes come pretty consistently when there isn’t action going on, but isn’t that life? Goofy until you need to be serious? Hell isn’t that growing up!?!

The one thing I will say about it is that the big showdown seemed a bit quick and that’s only after having a few days to think about it. I’m sure when the home release comes out or people have seen it one too many times or they’re just sick of hearing about it… then people will notice that and complain. It could have been tighter there, but it wasn’t weaker because of it.

People of course love Rocket and Groot and they should, but Drax actually won me over in a big way. Really the entire ensemble did a great job. It’s rare that you like the entire cast; can’t say the same about Avengers… which has its work cut out for it.

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Director: James Gunn Writers: James Gunn, Nicole Perlman Studio: Marvel Stuidos Run Time: 121 Mins Release Date: 8/1/14

Group Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Another comic book movie has released which means it’s time for another Comic Bastards group review! Each of the participating writers/reviewers will give their score for the film followed by thoughts on the film. First here’s what X-Men: Days of Future Past is about according to Fox: The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants.

Samantha: 5/5

I was excited to see this movie, but First Class sucked, and I didn’t want one of my favorite comics to get hit in the balls again. But man I enjoyed the hell out of this movie.

Some things that had me worried that worked. Well first I thought Singer was trying to shove too many characters in this movie. It felt like he was trying to recreate the magic from the first and second X-men.  In DOFP, it was actually pretty awesome. Everything made perfect sense. It looked like the other movies were thought of when making this. The future was visually cool and having all those favs from my childhood made it all the better. There is nothing like seeing Storm glaze her eyes over. The second was pushing back the date for X-Men. It is never a good sign, but having coming out Memorial Day weekend, it gave me plenty of time to decide when to the see the movie. Since I wasn’t that excited I thought I may never get around to it, but having the extra time allowed for more people to give this movie the time of day. And I think this movie deserves that.

Some things that blew my mind. Wolverine’s butt… duh. And Mystique’s body... even bigger duh.

But seriously, it was amazing how awesome Magneto was in the past and future. He has always been a fan favorite. Michael Fassbender brought it! This dude owned Magento and was an equal with Ian McKellen. I couldn’t get enough of it. Quicksilver was pleasantly good too. He didn’t annoy me and added some humor (Probably the funniest X-men yet).

Overall, it was a good movie. The writing worked well. The story added some twists. And the after credit scene will likely lead to another great movie. Thank you X-Men for restoring my belief.

Nick: 3/5

Days of Future Past sort of doesn’t give a shit if its internal logic doesn’t make sense. It knows you’re gonna see it anyway. There’s a lot about sending consciousnesses into past bodies through time and you can only time travel if you’re asleep and for some reason the Sentinels in the future look just like the Destroyer from Thor. It’s another X-Men movie that manages to make itself entirely about Wolverine, the single most overrated comic book character in the history of time and paper, even though the source material made the whole story about a teenaged girl.

It wasn’t a terrible time at the movies. It’s visually impressive, even though Wolverine’s bone claws look insubstantial. It also has a really messy first and second act on the way to a pretty damn impressive third act. You know how you sometimes forget what a badass a villain is until they do something rad? You forget how awesome Dr. Doom is until he becomes Doom the Annihilating Conqueror, and you forget how rad Magneto is until the last half hour of Days of Future Past.

You don’t get much in the theater you wouldn’t get at home, so I can’t in good conscience recommend that you go drop 10 bucks on a ticket. Subscribe to Netflix and wait for it to happen, use the change to buy a comic book.

I will freely admit though, the post-credits scene got me pretty hype. Apocalypse totally rules and he always has.

Erik: 4/5

Someone should write an article about X-Men: Days of Future Past, and call it ‘The Evolution of a Film’. And if you haven’t instantly caught on to my meaning (I can overdramatize things from time to time), what I really mean is that by the end of the movie, an entirely new universe will be created using pieces of an already existing one.

The dictionary defines evolution as “any process of formation or growth”.

That is exactly what this film did. It grew. It found a way to cast off the unnecessary things created in the film adaptations of the X-Men comic books, and gives us something that is completely original. I’ve never been much of a fan of the comic book by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, I just didn’t get what all the fuss was about. If they had made a movie that matched that plot exactly, it would have been boring. A good read, but a boring movie. That’s what comic book fans and moviegoers refuse to understand. Some storylines just don’t make good movies. Which is why comic book movies are so successful. You can be a fan of the movies, not having ever read the comics. And vice versa.

I guess that I haven’t really said whether or not I like it. Well I did. But not for the reasons that I had originally thought that I would. It took a while to really get going, but there is a lot of story to tell here. A lot. But I’m sure Logan would be able to smell the haters coming a mile away.

Carl: 2/5

So far I have read glowing reviews for Bryan Singer’s return to the X-Men franchise.  I went into the film with great expectations, and I was summarily let down.

Bryan Singer made only one good movie in his life.  Every other film has been a rip-off of another story.  X-Men 2 plays as homage (nee plagiarism) of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  Superman Returns borrows so liberally from Richard Donner’s Superman and other comic book movies that the film is more pastiche than movie.  X-Man:DOFP should be called The Matrix for how it plays off with its conclusion where the Sentinels attack.  Notice how the name applies in both situations?  As a side note, the Beast character Hulks out like the Hulk, so we have another character copied for the sake of the story.

Worst of all, Singer rips off Brett Ratner’s fan and critically maligned X-Men:The Last Stand.  In TLS Magneto picks up the Golden Gate Bridge so the mutants could cross the bay and attack the evil research facility.  In DOFP Magneto lifts up a baseball stadium for no discernible reason other than some half-assed way of trying to impress fans with the lack of logic and distract them from the issues arising.

Granted, the story does an outstanding job of weaving in the two worlds of the X-Men film universes: Singer and Rattner’s triumphantly mediocre first three films and Matthew Vaughn’s exemplary First Class.  While the continuity somewhat follows the last film, the promise of the same theme of X-Men as a period piece as established in First Class falls by the wayside.

My problem with the film is that I never once wanted to cheer due to intense action, smile at smart jokes, nor nod my head in fascination.  The Quicksilver moments come off as tragically comedic and breaks the tone of the film.  Additionally, he has no role or function in the story other than to run fast.  I feel that this was more a shot to steal the thunder from a Flash project than to help out with a key part of a storyline.

Overall, this is a strong film with some good moments.  Nothing about this film, however, is great or new.

Dustin: 1/5

I’m not going to lie, at the time of their release I like the first two X-Men films okay. The action was terrible and I didn’t know why a dramatic director was picked for an action film and then when I saw it I realized it didn’t matter because he turned it into a drama with hiccups of action. It’s been downhill for this franchise ever since.

X-Men: First Class looked promising. It looked like a fresh reboot… but then it wasn’t a reboot, it just mudded up the continuity created by the films and cherry picked from the comics harder than any other comic movie had before or since. I didn’t hate First Class, but I didn’t like it either. After our podcast this week I thought about the last time I watched the film and it was just my original theater experience with it.

Let’s not pretend that Days of Future Past is actually based on the comic book. It uses the premise of an X-Men traveling back in time to stop a dystopian future from occurring and uses the name because any comic fan will tell you… that’s a badass name. That’s it. To compare it otherwise would be pointless.

Days is a film that knew it’s ending, worked backwards from there and every time it hit a snag it made up some bullshit to get past it. The entire “future” aspect of the story is pointlessly show over and over just to remind you of the old cast. They’re not interesting, they don’t do anything and you never fear for their lives. Of all the things I could say and believe me after sleeping on this film for a few days I want to obliterate it for being the piece of trash cinema it is, but instead I will just point out the fact that never once do you sense the danger that the film presents. Not in the future, not in Wolverine’s race against time in the past, not even when Magneto is bringing the White House down. The only real danger is to your bladder due to the run time… I felt that for sure.

Oh and don’t try to piece together the time line of the movies… it’s pointless, this is a reboot so none of it matters.

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Director: Bryan Singer Writers: Jane Goldman, Simon Kinberg, Matthew Vaughn Studio: 20^th Century Fox/Marvel Studios Run Time: 131 Min Release Date: 5/23/14

Group Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Welcome to another comic book movie group review. Instead of scoring it, the participating writers/reviewers of Comic Bastards are just going to give their thoughts. We have plenty more Captain America: The Winter Solider for you to experience including an upcoming solo review for the film and our special edition CBMFP that went up earlier today as well. In the meantime check out what Erik, Samantha, Jordan, Dustin and Carl all thought of Marvel’s latest cinematic romp.

--- Erik:

I don’t get excited for comic book movies like I used to, but they’re still primarily why I go to the movies. I don’t seem to spend a lot of time in the theater watching movies about things that could actually happen. I think that I’ve outgrown my independent/artsy/low-budget college film student phase. You probably didn’t know that about me. Yes, I was a film student. I graduated and everything. So I do have a miniscule amount of knowledge and experience in that realm. I also know what it takes to organize and produce a film (crappy student films mind you), but films nonetheless. It’s hard work. And being able to do that and make a good film at the same time? That’s almost impossible. So the fact that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is what it is, is very impressive. This movie doesn’t just rank high on the list of comic book movies, but it will be remembered as one of the best films of a generation. I know that the compliment sounds like a lot of fluff, but I really can’t think of a better way to describe it.

Marvel has impressed me year after year with the caliber of their big budget productions. I was completely sold when I saw Avengers. I think that from then on, I knew that everything would be terrific. Now that they have this incredibly strong foundation built up, they can’t really go wrong. Now if only they could make a decent Spider-Man movie. Of course, that isn’t a Marvel Studios production.

But back to Cap, they did everything right. The evolution of the characters alone was enough to check this out. Black Widow has become an incredibly impressive addition to the team. Nick Fury has grown, and of course, Captain America has become the hero that we all knew he was and could be. The addition of the Winter Soldier storyline was a work of pure poetry. The ad people did such a good job of covering up what the movie was actually about, that I was impressed with every twist and turn. The plot seemed realistic and steady. I couldn’t see any plot holes, and trust me I had every intention of looking for them. Fortunately, there was so much going on that I didn’t really have time to see the negatives. But from an action junkie perspective, there isn’t a better looking movie out there. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was definitely a non-stop adrenaline pumping ride that will leave you wanting more. I wouldn’t be surprised if you get outside the theater and turn right back around. I almost did.

Samantha:

It isn’t any surprise that Captain America had a huge weekend. Also not a huge surprise that Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting’s comic that started it all is selling big this week too. I have to say the movie was pure awesomeness. I loved the new setting of Cap in present day. Chris Evan’s first Captain America movie wasn’t my favorite, but the next installment added everything I was looking for.

Bucky or the Winter Soldier brings in the emotional side of things, and let’s face it; Cap is a pretty emotional dude, so it fit in perfectly to him trying to find his place in the modern world. Sebastian Stan added just the right flare to the Soldier. By far the best side character was Scarlett Johansson though. Not being the biggest fan of her, I am always nervous to see how she plays in each of the Marvel movies. The Winter Soldier proved she can carry a solo one. She was badass with her moves, talk, and style. Just when I thought she wasn’t going to be a huge part of the story, she comes sweeping in giving the audience entertainment throughout. With a strong villain and a strong sidekick, I was impressed with the team the movie created. And of course Chris Evans fits in right where he belongs as Cap. Personally I love him as this character and glad he didn’t get overlooked being the Human Torch and all.

The action, although slow in the middle for some time, was explosive. It delivers on all ends from kick butt car chases to fist on face action. I did cough up the extra money to see it in 3D, only because I saw the matinee, and you could skip that part of the movie. It didn’t need it. The only cool scenes involved Falcon, but even then I would have liked his parts just as much.

All and all, I just hit on the top highlights of the movie. There are some slower parts, and Falcon needs a suit, but other than these two minor flaws the movie rocked! It will go my top list from the Marvel Universe. Oh and obviously the after the credits scene was pretty rad too. Totally stoked to see where the third installment will take us.

Jordan:

Captain America: The Winter Solider is kind of a dream come true. Never in the history of a superhero film have I felt more transported into the tripped-out, life-is-drugs mentality of a kid and his action figures. Not only that, but aside from all the muscle-bound action splendor and high-budget set pieces, there’s a damn good story here, a simple one, but a good one. But, really it’s the characters themselves that shine most in this Cap film. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely do such a good job in this regard that even weaker roster members of the other franchise movies (be they due to under development or underuse in plot) like Black Widow and auxiliary characters like Falcon are damn likable and honed to perfection here. I`ve never liked Sam Jackson`s Nick Fury this damn much, he finally gets the treatment he deserves as a cold, cunning black ops badass and Anthony Mackie`s Falcon goes from being “that gimmicky looking character with the metal bird wings on the poster” to “yeah, I totally hope he comes back regularly.” This film does it right.

The Winter Solider himself is freaky and intense, being set up first as an urban legend that we don’t fully see until nearly half way through the film, when we do though its full tilt bad as hell and some of the fights between ol` Winty and Cap will make you have to reign back a HOLY FUCK! In the theatre.

I literally can’t think of a major fault in The Winter Solider, it did everything it needed to and a little bit more, surprising me by making its supporting cast some of the most likable characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after its 136 minute running time. If you like comics, go and treat yourself to this movie.

Dustin:

I’ll keep it short since you can actually listen to me, Kevin and Erin talk about this on a special episode of the podcast. My thoughts, it’s the best solo character movie in the Marvel Cinema U. That said as much as it was about Captain America, it wasn’t about Captain America and that was fine. Let’s be honest, the most interesting part of his journey is over. He’s in the modern era and now he just needs to fight, fight, fight for what’s right.

Two things that surprised me was Falcon and that other spoilerish thing. I didn’t expect them to engage a storyline that took years to execute in the comics, in just one movie. It’s interesting and shows that maybe the films have more guts to change the status quo than the comics. As for Falcon, wow. Not only did he play a relevant role in the movie, but he wasn’t annoying. He didn’t come across like War Machine in which he’s forced upon the story and never really does anything that Starks couldn’t just do on his own. It was a good angle.

It wasn’t much of a surprise, but the Black Widow rocked throughout the film. Other than her annoying dating gimmick, she became a fully fleshed out character and yet given room to grow in the future. It’s definitely worth seeing at least once.

Carl:

This movie finally made Captain America a significant character.

Chris Evans can be an outstanding actor; just watch Danny Boyle’s Sunshine to get an example of his prowess.  I never thought he was a great Cap, though.  He always came off as flat and stilted.  In The Avengers, Joss Wheddon’s dialogue fleshed Captain America out and gave him more of a leader role akin to the comic character.  But that was the dialogue and not the acting.

The Winter Soldier provided a platform for Evans to make the character more dimensional against a backdrop of some amazing action and intrigue.  And this film sold me on how great a character Captain America can be.

Still adjusting to life after the thaw, Steve Rogers takes time to understand this world while making a few friends along the way.  He will need those friends because Hydra, his mortal enemy from the first film, still lurks in the shadows.

I went in to this film having seen as little about it as possible, save for some trailers.  That made all the difference.  Therefore, I won’t spoil any more of the plot so as to permit you the best experience possible.

What I will say is that this film exceeds the genre of mere comic book movie by being intelligent, well-acted, and excellently paced.

The crux of the plot focuses on the issue of America’s fascination with intelligence gathering and control.  As stated in the dialogue, we gladly sacrifice freedom for safety—and we don’t understand the ramifications of that.

Captain America never comes off as holier-than-thou.  He admits that his generation committed acts that made it difficult to sleep at night, yet those acts were done with the intention of the others.  In today’s world, security seems to be to favor those who wish to use information against us or to claim power, and that is criticism that is true and unexpected from a popcorn film.

As mentioned, Evans brings depth to Cap.  Steve Rogers flirts with his neighbor to awkward results.  When visiting his Army training grounds, his faces emotes the pain/fondness of his bygone era.  And when he acts opposite A-list celeb Robert Redford who chews a little scenery, Evans as Cap holds his own.

I might be the lone voice, but I don’t like Scarlett Johansen as Black Widow.  She seems to prim and proper, and she does not convey Romanoff’s haunted past with her beautiful doe eyes.

Only a few elements of the story made me grimace, and one part of the film was predictable.  While Captain America also slightly suffers from the same malady as Thor and other Marvel films (namely that nothing really changes at the conclusion of the films) the end of this movie felt like a significant course direction for Captain America.

The Russo brothers helmed this film, and the action moves like a Bourne movie.  The writing staff consisted of talent that worked on some of the Narnia movies, yet their script came off as though written by a Ludlum or Clancy.

Please see this film on the big screen.  It is well worth it.  Of all the stand-alone Marvel films, this has been the equal—if not the superior—to the first Iron Man.  While this is no Nolan film it has kicked off the summer movie season in the best possible way.

Chris Evans, I thank you and the crew for making a movie worth the admission price while also giving me a lot to think about.  Kudos and much success to you all. --- Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely Studio: Marvel Studios Run Time: 136 Min Release Date: 4/4/14

Group Review: Thor - The Dark World

A group review for something other than a comic! No way, but yes way. Not all of us could see Thor 2 over the weekend, but those of us that did are here to present their thoughts on the film. There are some spoilers in the last few reviews, but I guarantee that the first is spoiler free so you can read that before running away holding your ears. Here's what the film is about in case you couldn't piece that together already:

Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

Carl:

I walked into Thor, The Dark World excited for the continuation of the Marvel Universe on-screen.  After the movie ended, I felt let down.  With a safe plot in which none of the major characters fear death, an undeveloped villain, and an anti-climactic ending, the movie added nothing to the mythos of the character or the Marvel Universe plotline.

Outstanding actors flounder with no solvent story to act to, and the only thing going for the film is the outstanding effects.  A little kid in the theater kept oohing and aahhing at the events of the film.  He was entertained, but anyone slightly older than him will find this movie forgettable.

Samantha:

Let us first start off with the good. You really can’t go wrong with Chris Hemsworth, especially when he takes his shirt off. The cast of him as Thor is perfection at its core. Then you have Natalie Portman in which you wish she would take her shirt off. The two on-screen have some great chemistry. But ok let me get back to the superhero stuff. The action is packed in with this installment. The battling scenes are fun and visually amazing (btw did not see it in 3D). You would think there is only two ways to use a hammer, going down and across, but this movie proves that Mjolnir is as badass as Thor.

I thought shoving Loki’s appearances would become quite obvious in the movie, but I thought it was played nicely. I was pleased with his performance, and the heartfelt brotherhood between him and Thor was probably my favorite part.

The negatives. Where the hell was Sif? She gets a movie poster, but we barely see her. The previews were misleading thinking that she gets in the way of Thor and Jane. Even so, she wasn’t in the movie all that much. It was disappointing and a total cop-out in my opinion.

Also, when the first Thor was made I feel like there was no pressure to please too many people. Surprisingly, Thor ended up to be a favorite Marvel movie by many. I think part of that magic came from the tiny jokes that lead to some unexpected laughs. So when the writers sat down to make this movie they tried to force that magic all over again. The jokes are so overdone, and you catch onto this five minutes into the movie. It is annoying. I still laughed some, but found myself most times frustrated.

All and all, I would still recommend the movie. It has lots of action, and also leads up to some big reveals about Thanos. It leads perfectly into another Thor or Avengers.

Steve:

Of all the so-called Phase 2 Marvel films heralding the Avengers sequel, Thor: The Dark World has been my least anticipated. Like many others, I’ve always found Thor to be a one-note beat; not ironically, a blunt object without much pathos.

Still, I went into this with an open mind, and I’m glad I did. As a pure popcorn movie, it scratched my action itch with a pretty sound hammering. Saying that, the fight scenes were marred by an ill-defined nefarious plan that didn’t really inspire and some exceptionally phoned-in acting (c’mon, Hopkins). Chris Hemsworth is still pretty damn hammy; but then again, I guess the role calls for it, so I’m gonna give him some leeway.

Tom Hiddleston is the reason to watch this movie. I know: shocker, right? Sure, he’s a funny trickster with great timing, and he still plays that role to smarmy perfection, but in Thor 2, we see much more of his sorrow, guilt and, at times, reluctance, with Loki even playing the hero. Sure, he’s motivated by his own selfishness - a murderer raging against a murder - but the exhaustion he shows after the tantrum he throws on learning of his “mother,” for example, is as palpable as Loki usually is smooth.

Finally, I’ve heard others complaining about the “Star Wars-ing” of Asgard, but I actually thought the Golden Realm was well done, and enjoyed seeing its viking-tech approach, particularly when set against the incursion of dark elf-tech (since we’re just making shit up now). The elf soldier masks especially were pretty dope. Altogether, it brought home the idea that these are actually advanced alien/inter-dimensional societies seen as gods and fairytales: an outlook I’ve always preferred in this Marvel mythos.

Altogether, with a mid-credits scene that gave me throbbing nerd wood - not necessarily because of Benicio del Toro’s Collector, but rather what he was “collecting” - I’d give this a solid ... Thor-out-of-five (I’m so sorry) and thought it was a fun, if mediocre distraction.

Jordan:

Is Thor: The Dark World a plot driven masterpiece? Will it compete with the likes of 12 Days a Slave or Gravity at next year`s Oscars, vying for a spot among those films that attempt to leave you shaking in your seat or thinking big, new thoughts? Absolutely not. Will it have you at the edge of your chair with a “holy shit this is awesome” gaping mouth for the duration of its 120 minutes? You bet your sweet ass it will.

Thor TDW is no Oscar bait by any means, but the amount of sheer imagination and spectacle here was enough to make it one of my most enjoyable theater going experiences this year so far. Sure it’ll get knocked for not having a complex enough plot, even though the story functions on the scale of a myth and I never thought it needed any more explanation than it did, this way it felt like you were seeing a tale from Olympia or something play out on screen. But so much works, Eccelston kills it as the dark elf Malekith whose mystery and darkness makes him formidable every time hes on screen. Hemsworth again personifies the thunder god Thor onscreen as you’ve always wanted to see him portrayed and Tom Hiddleston`s Loki? Well, he’s Tom Middleson’s Loki. Enough said.

What really got me though was just how damn awesome the creative team did on world and character designs. The eerie masks of the accursed dark elves, Malekith’s holy-shit-this-guy-is-evil design, the spaceships, even Asgard itself all look wonderful here. I’ve only ever seen fights like these, worlds this big and strange and enemy designs this dark and frightening play out in the inside of my head. Seeing stuff this cool, loud and gnarly looking is, for me, a step in the right direction towards the kind of epic, kick-ass fiction I’ve always wanted to see onscreen. I haven’t been this breathlessly radded-out since watching Superman battle other Kryptonians in Man of Steel this past summer. Forget all the fuss about this or that, go to this movie, enjoy the spectacle, and allow yourself and your mind to be transported back to your childhood playroom and the action figures you’d create worlds and battles with there. Whens the last time you felt that wonder and glee? As self-respecting nerds, we owe this to ourselves.

Dustin:

I saw this version of Thor 2 and it was way better... not as many ass shots as you'd expect, but still better.

Score: Hammer Time!

Director: Alan Taylor Writers: Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Don Payne, Robert Rodat Production: Disney/Marvel Studios Run Time: 112 Minutes