Movie Review: Thor

Marvel Studios' THOR

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman,

Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hiddleton

Based on the Marvel Comics characters by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Larry Leiber

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

This movie has been hyped for a long time now, and I finally got to watch it yesterday. 

Was courage really immortal as the tag-line said?

Did it live up to the hype-machine that Marvel Studio's created? 

I'm not gonna lie. 

It met and even exceeded expectations. One of those rare summer blockbuster hits that GOT ME SMASHING FOR MORE. 

Kenneth Branagh's Thor is a big eye-candy that showcases stunning visual effects which bends the line between reality and fantasy, and one that is also emotionally deep and entertaining to boot.

Packed with a lot of epic action sequences, the movie had a lot memorable moments that would go down as the best, not only in comic book film adaptations, but also in cinematic history. Like the hammer-smashing, Earth-shattering epic battle between the Thor's 6-man Asgardian gang with  the Frost Giants of Jotunheim from the beginning of the movie, to that awe-inspiring kick-ass transformation by the hero after his trusty hammer - Mjolnir - comes back to him after being separated with it as part of his father's (Odin) punishment. That one got me literally wide-eyed giddy like a child going like: "WOOOOW".

The casting couldn't have been any better too. Chris Hemsworth was perfect for the role and I think it showed that he could be a bona-fide leading actor in the years to come. And with his performance as the arrogant hammer-wielding Thunder God - who was banished to Earth by his father in order for him to learn some humility - he has accomplished something big with this film and definitely etched his own name in Hollywood as one of its fastest rising stars. 

Natalie Portman, who plays Thor's love interest - astrophysicist Jane Foster - did a really good job as well in providing the romantic angle the movie needs as a counter balancing act to the angst and violent leading character. Her chemistry with Hemsworth is something really nice to see on the screen. Not to mention the nice smooch scene they had. 

Other actors like Anthony Hopkins (Thor's father Odin) did bring justice to his character as well, and provided that no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners attitude that the "King of Asgard" needed. But probably the best actor was Tom Hiddleston who plays Loki - the jealous Norse God of Mischief and is Thor's "brother". His acting was superb which brought a lot of depth and drama to the whole film, and I've got to say, one of the finest memorable performances I have seen in a while. 

I really thought that they did well, especially the fanntastic acting by the supporting cast, namely the comic-relief that is Darcy (Kat Dennings), Heimdall, Asgard's gatekeeper (Idris Elba) up to Thor's bad-ass Asgardian friends Volstagg, Hogun, Fandall, and Sif.  And to think that most these actors/actresses are all "newbies" to mainstream films so to speak, that really says something. Their work on screen was believable and really complimented each other. 

Finally, J. Michael Straczynski and Mark Protosevich's  story  under Kenneth Branagh's direction is a formula that truly worked wonders for this film. They concocted a perfect mix of fantasy, well-placed humor, drama, and adventure that leaps through uber-realistic CGI universes and galaxies. Props to those CGI and visual effects people who spent long hours doing the post-production work. 

Add to that the intergalatic family conflict, love, and a humbling life lesson that spans realms and mystical kingdoms millions of light-years away, Thor is an epic popcorn flick that would make you scream for more "Hammer time!" after the credits roll.

'Little Thor' Strikes Down a Car

Here's Marvel's very cute and awesome parody of Volkswagen's 'Little Darth Vader' commercial starring a kid dressed up like the thunder god, Thor. How many kids get to blow up a car with a godlike-hammer firing a bolt of lightning in their lives?

Why can't I get to do this kind of shit? 

Thor is showing in May 6.

[via ComicsAlliance]

New Thor Posters Is As Bloody Red As It Gets

Here are the two new teaser posters for the upcoming Thor movie starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins. They're all red.

Thor hits the big screen on April 17, 2011.

2nd 'Thor' Trailer

Here is the 2nd trailer for the upcoming superhero film starring Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman. This one looks more bad-ass than the first one, with more hammer-throwing and Ultraman-like villains on the loose.

2011 Superhero Film Galore List!

The time is fast approaching for the releases most-awaited comic book movie adaptations and to be honest, I think this year is the biggest of them all because we've got 4 big named characters showing up in latex, spandex, gloves, and a toy hammers.

Marvel is really stepping it up and is continuing their Marvel Cinematic Universe by releasing two of their biggest characters on the silver screen, while DC has finally gave one emerald police his chance to shine. Plus the battle of car transforming robots will continue to wage on for the third time and one of comic's most iconic mutant teams will tell their own beginnings during the 1960s. 

Here's the list of movies we've all been waiting for to get our eyes on (more movies after the jump):

(Now I'm wondering how am I going to watch all of these in theaters.. sheesh.)

Thor - May 6, 2011

Our Mjolnir-weilding thunder god's origins will finally be revealed after seeing his hammer at the end of Iron Man 2. 

Stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor and a recently knocked-up-by-a-ballet-dancer-but-still-hot Natalie Portman. Directed by Kenneth Branagh.

I think this is better than Marvel's official poster. 

X-Men: First Class - June 3, 2011

Another origin story for our favorite mutant team of all time set in the 1960s. Its going to be weird seeing Charles Xavier with a load of hair on his feared telephatic head. Its Wesley Gibson with uber-telekenetic powers baby! 

Will star James McAvoy (Xavier), Michael Fessbender (Magneto), January Jones (Emma Frost) and a bunch of other guys that I don't know. Directed by Michael Vaughan.

Green Lantern - June 17, 2011 

First flight for the greatest intergalactic emerald cop of all time, Hal Jordan! We will get to see the whole GL team, as well as the big-bad evil entity Parallax as well as the big-headed Dr. Hammond. Jordan conjuring giant green gloves, cannons, guns, and panties would be freaking gorgeous. 

Stars Ryan Reynolds as Hal/Green Lantern and the bearer of one of the most-desired cleavages in Hollywood today: Blake Lively as Hal Jordan's love interest, Carol Ferris. Directed by Martin Campbell.

Admit it: this is one hell of a fan-made poster.

Captain America: The First Avenger - July 22, 2011

Yes! The transformation of a frail army reject into a shield-weilding, steroid-veined, all-American kick-ass fighting machine is going to be awesome. And V's (for Vendetta) guy fawkes masked head is going to burn! Hahaha! 

Stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America and Hugo Weaving as The Red Skull. Directed by Joe Johnston.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - July 1, 2011

Neil Armstrong finds an alien spaceship filled with Cybertronian robots on the moon and a third war between the Autobots and Decepticons is on its way. (The Neil Armstrong reference is a joke). 

Stars Shia LeBeouf as Sam Whittaker our friendly neighborhood robots from another galaxy. Don't even think of Megan Fox. She's out, which is a REAL shame. Directed by Michael Bay. 

So there folks, note your calendars and save a lot of money if you're planning to watch all of these guys on your favorite theaters because those dates are not too far away from each other. I'm sure to watch Cap, Thor and GL on the big screen then the rest will be on DVD when available. 

And speaking of DVDs - don't you think it would be a GREAT idea if companies would release all four comic book movies in one package? Damn, that would be cool.

5 Things To Watch Out For This 2011

We have all been excited last year because of all the teaser trailers of the various comic book movies adaptations, video games, toys, and direct-to-dvd animated movies. So as we enter the first few days of the Year of the Rabbit 2011, I have listed the stuff we have to watch out for in the upcoming months.

5. All-Star Superman DVD 

Fans of this Eisner-award winning graphic novel by mastermind Grant Morisson have been teased long enough as arguably the greatest story of the the greatest superhero of all-time  is finally scheduled to be released on DVD come February 2011. Oh boy, its just a month away and we cannot wait for it and see if it will deliver.


4. DC Universe Online

Yes folks, after almost 3 years of conceptualization, testing, and numerous teasing, DC and Sony Entertainment will finally release their massively-multiplayer-online-roleplaying game (MMORPG) in the first quarter of this year with the monthly subscription costing $14.99. Players will have the chance to create their own hero with their own unique set of  skills and abilities, train them (level up), complete quests, and do battles with other online players in places like Gotham City and Metropolis. Numerous gameplay trailers have surfaced on Youtube so every bit of info you need to know about the biggest superhero based online game is just one click away

3. Batman: Arkham City Video Game

 

The sequel to the award winning Batman: Arkham Asylum video game apparently has a kick-ass trailer that shows Batman trashing a couple of SWAT guys. Its the Dark Knight vs Counter-Strike featuring Batman's newest and most dangerous foe yet - Hugo Strange. Game freaks have been screaming for months now and I guess they got to have a little more patience until late 2011 comes.

2. Thor / Captain America Films

Marvel has been into a hot streak right now with the success of their Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and Spider-Man movies, and are now about to show two of their other popular characters in the big screen: Thor is scheduled to be released on April 27, 2011 to be followed up by Cap on July 22. Then after that, I guess we are about to see the team up of all those heroes in a star-studded film titled The Avengers sometime in 2012. Nice.

1. Green Lantern Movie

 

It seems that DC has been left behind by their rival comic company, Marvel, in terms of successful superhero movies (at least for now). And after the success of The Dark Knight, questions arose as to which comic book hero are they going to produce for a movie. Superman is still in the reboot stage, Wonder Woman  seems far fetched right now, and to be honest, The Flash isn't going to cut it. Fortunately, there's one beloved DC character that might just do it for them - Green Lantern which light up on June 17, 2011. And with Ryan Reynolds looking good on the trailer, this film has already become one of the most anticipated films of the year.

So there are my 5 things to look out for this year, so make sure that you mark those calendars as to not miss all of the comic goodness coming our way. 

"Thor" Trailer Finally Surfaces The Web

Thanks to Yahoo! Movies, I finally had a glimpse of the latest Thor movie, scheduled to be released on May 20, 2011 in 3D.

Banished by his father Odin for instigating a war in their already peaceful Asgard realm,  the powerful but arrogant God of Thunder Thor finds himself on Earth, away from his beloved kingdom. But as the mightiest and darkest forces from his world come to threaten the humans and Earth, Thor, together with his indestructible magical hammer Mjolnir, would come to face the biggest challenge and learn what it really takes to be a true hero.

The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston and Ray Stevenson.Directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Official 'Thor' Movie Poster

Finally we got a shot of the first official movie poster courtesy of Marvel.com and ComicsAlliance. 

This one looks better than the previous teaser poster that I saw online a couple of months ago, with better graphic presentation and lettering. And I just love the Mjolnir. Only downside is the black and white style they used which could have made Chris Hemsworth look better.

Check it out:

'Thor' Movie Stills Leaked!

Its gonna be a crazy next year for both movie and comic book fans alike, because not only that we're getting a Green Lantern movie, but also Captain America and Thor films! Wow, Marvel and DC is really getting at it. Putting their greatest comic book characters onto the big screen. I'm damn excited.

Thor is up on our preview list now, and I've got some exclusive screenshots from you coming from Comicbookmovie. The film will star Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Jaimie Alexander and Anthony Hopkins with Kenneth Branagh directing a script by Mark Protosevich, Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne. There is a video as well for this but apparently its not longer up, so im sorry for that. Anyway,  we still got some good teasers here, so go check it out!

(images via Comicbookmovie and Comics Alliance)