Thor (2011)

Title, Year:  Thor (2011)

Director:  Kenneth Branagh

Behold Thor, the mighty son of Odin, heir to the throne of Asgard and brother to the traitorous Loki! 

The summer movie season for 2011 kicks off with a fine adaptation of the Marvel Comics hero and future Avenger.  This may be just another way for Marvel to cash in on their decades old product and ride the wave of set up for next years The Avengers, but even so they have not taken the easy road.  Thor is a terrifically staged adventure that brings a lot of well-timed humor, theatrical drama, and action set pieces to the table.  I’m a big fan of comics based movies, and I admit I wasn’t expecting a movie centered on Thor to be very impressive.  After all, it has the kind of elements (Viking mythology meets modern day Earth, God of Thunder falls for Natalie Portman), that really could have been cheesy if not handled very carefully. 

Here’s my breakdown.  First, they hired Kenneth Branagh to direct the movie.  He brought the perfect feel of Shakespearian-level tragedy to the story of Thor (perfectly cast Chris Hemsworth), his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), and his brother Loki (a terrific Tom Hiddleston).  The story switches back and forth between Earth, where Thor is cast away for his arrogance, and Asgard, where Loki plots to gain control of the realm.  While on Earth, the fish-out-of-water story could have gone Crocodile Dundee silly, but they find a pitch-perfect balance of humor and subtle depth of character as Thor becomes humbled by his time with mere mortals such as Portman’s Jane (an astrophysicist who picked up on the worm hole that Thor channeled to Earth through).  The film has no dead space…it is entertaining the whole way through.  There is also a very nice cameo from a certain Marvel character that we will see more of in next year’s The Avengers.

The beginning of the film features a battle sequence with impressive visual effects.  I must say, it was a kick to see Thor use his hammer as a boomerang to take down enemies and then twirl it helicopter style to fly and create a tornado of destruction.  This is the stuff that makes kids (and men who grew up reading comics) keep coming to theaters in droves to see these movies. 

The Green Hornet (2011)

Title, Year:  The Green Hornet (2011)

Director:  Michell Gondry

Awkward…that’s the word that kept coming to mind while watching The Green Hornet.  Does that mean I didn’t like the movie?  No.  I actually enjoyed many moments where the actors in the film were just cutting loose and having fun.  Overall though, the movie has trouble finding its tone, which can be a problem when  filmmakers try to blend genres.  In this case, The Green Hornet attempts to be a knowingly comedic version of a hero origin story as well as a visual effects laden action movie. There’s also some pretty weak family drama thrown in. 

I think the “good” moments in this movie all involve the goofy, brotherly spats between the two lead characters played by Seth Rogen (as Britt Reid, aka the Green Hornet) and Jay Chou (as Hornet sidekick Kato!).  Kato is the role famously played by Bruce Lee on television.  As expected, Chou does his best to make Kato the cool, genius martial arts expert that he needs to be.  Rogen plays absurdly wealthy Britt Reid like a big nerd who has way too much money and isn’t very bright.  So much so that he actually thinks dressing up like a crime fighter and sporting around town in a revved up car for no reason at all is a great way to spend an evening.  In a funny bit of the script, Reid and Kato take direction from an un-witting accomplice secretary played by Cameron Diaz.  She feeds them research on the crime hot spots in Los Angeles and thereby leads them into uncovering a conspiracy involving the District Attorney, a local crime lord (played by Cristoph Waltz, looking lost an un-amused by his involvement), and possibly Britt’s deceased father. 

Here’s my breakdown.  The script and the lead actors brought together moments that made me chuckle.  The action is just average and there isn’t enough of the cool car and gadgets that Kato brings to life.  Some of the fun that the filmmakers appear to have had while making the movie does translate to the screen.  Some of the movie just falls flat.  Michell Gondry is an odd choice to direct a movie such as this.  He is the quirky director that so brilliantly wove together Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  With this movie, he is obviously out of his element. 

If you are feeling light and looking for a few decent laughs, give the movie a try.  It helps to enjoy comic-book based movies and the nostalgia for the Kato character along is appeal enough for many fans out there.  Overall though, I think the movie is about as good as we can expect in any movie about the Green Hornet.  After all, the character is really just a very campy joke version of Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Key point though:  Kato could kick Robin’s *&@!