Archive for June, 2011

The thing about good movies is that you can get so caught up in them that you forget about all the drama going on in your life. You don’t get stuck on the trivial details, you don’t feel the need to examine every scene for a clue, and you just sit back and observe, enjoying the creator’s vision and his attempt at entertaining you. The thing about good comic films however is that they get so much right that even the elements that don’t carry over from its literary counterpart don’t bother you; you take it for what it is: a change.  You don’t care about the years of history a character or team have under their belt, you don’t care about their different portrayal, and you certainly don’t mind a change in continuity, especially if it’s muddy to begin with. Why have I brought this up, you ask? Well, my friends, Marvel’s latest venture into the movie realm has given us two good films I can give a thumbs up to. Thor starring Chris Hemsworth and X-men: First Class starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. Potential spoiler alert.

X-men: First Class

Say what you will about the X-men franchise after X2, but X-men: First Class is like a completely different beast. While X3 put action in the forefront and lost its focus on character interaction and development, First Class returns to form with even stronger character interaction than before, especially between the leading philosophers of Magneto and Professor X, who each get their respective codenames in this movie. In fact, a lot of the conventions that are in play from X1 to X3 get an introduction in this film despite the admittedly awkward continuity and the issue of whether or not to count this as a true reboot rather than a creative team one. In my books, the cameos (yes, there’s more than 1. Try 2), the cast, and the attempt at tying film history and comic history together is a major plus. While watching the film, you won’t find yourself wondering how everything fits together. That’ll only come into play afterwards if you’re into that sort of thing. I, on the other hand, don’t care. My real problem with this film falls on the villain side. Emma’s diamond form looks worse than it did before and she plays a relatively small part. I’m not sure if January Jones was the right fit for the role (she’s neither pretentious nor carries on that faux English accent), but she doesn’t bother me too much. The other hellfire gang members are flatter than a piece of cardboard that has been steamrolled. That’s probably for the best when it comes to the Chuck Austen’s demon Azazel, but the others don’t really have an excuse for how little they add to the film outside of their CGI display of powers. I also wish Angel were a little better utilized. They did all they could possibly do with Darwin given the template they had to work with at the time. It’s not like his comic counterpart is all that developed either, and no one is going to be concerned that he actually has a personality in the film which is very unlike the Darwin we came to know in X-men before he ended up in X-factor. Overall, I rate this film as a mighty 3.5. Go watch it, kids. You’ll like it. While we’re here, go get yourself some X-men characters to add into your game!

Thor

As much as I want to say I have a lot of love for Thor, that’s simply not true. I’ve always looked at him as the mythological (read: Asgardian) Superman who happened to speak in Shakespearian for whatever reason. He was never a character I flocked to until I started to read the JMS run, and I stuck with that until Kieron Gillen left the book (Sorry, Fraction). Even then, it wasn’t because of the character but because of the story and creators involved. He’s not someone I can easily get into because he’s not as fun as, say, Hercules, and his rogue gallery is mostly magic based. In fact, lately, his gallery has been more or less non-existent outside of Loki and the frost giants. Thor is a character you have to jump around with just to find good stories for him and that’s more effort than I’m willing to put into him.

So that brings us to the movie. The film really simplified things. Some might say it OVER-simplified the lore of Thor. I tend to agree with the latter. While the movie was good, semi-action packed, and had some semblance of character development, it did this at the expense of the Warriors Three + Lady Sif, whose entire relationship with Thor is tossed to the side in favor of moving straight ahead with Jane and Thor (the Donald Blake personality doesn’t really exist in this film). Outside of that, I thought the majority of the fight scenes really worked, and I can get on board with the mechanical/golden city of Asgard despite it having no basis in the comics on which it is based. The much teased Hawkeye appearance felt like an after thought, and is it me, or is Samuel Jackson just phoning it in for all of his cameo appearances and not really acting? Maybe it IS just me. Gripes aside, I still enjoyed the movie and would give it a solid 3. In addition, the film’s companion piece, the straight-to-DVD, animated film, Thor: Tales of Asgard, helped to fill in some of the blanks, but it’s obvious that these two movies are meant to be seen as separate entities. I recommend you grab that DVD if you’re interested in the teenage years of Thor, Loki, Sif, and the Warriors Three as they go on an adventure to prove their worth. It, too, is worthy of at least one viewing. And before I go, why don’t you go grab some Thor stuff and spice up your game?

Overall

The last two Marvel films have been “funtastic” and have left me wanting more of their offerings. I’m surprised to be saying that, considering how X-men: First Class’s marketing left me in a constant state of confusion, but it just goes to show you that word of mouth is just as, if not more, powerful than some of the strategies studios swear and die by. Maybe this WILL be a great year for hero films. I can only hope.

What do you all think of Marvel’s current offerings, their upcoming films, and this year’s other superhero movies? And while you’re at it, check out some of the storyboards for Captain America: The First Avenger!