Thor: The Dark World

 Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgård, and Rene Russo

Directed by Alan Taylor

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Click here for my previous RyMickey Rating review

The Avengers

 The Avengers (2012)

Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgard, and Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by Joss Whedon

Written by Joss Whedon

Click here for my (current) Letterboxd review

Click here for my previous RyMickey Review

The (current) RyMickey Rating: B-

Thor

 Thor (2011)

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

Written by Ashley Edward Miller, Zach Stentz, and Don Payne

Click here for my Letterboxd review

My Previous RyMickey Review

The current RyMickey Rating:  B

Kong: Skull Island

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly, Corey Hawkins, Jing Tian,  John Ortiz, Thomas Mann, Shea Whigham, Toby Kebbell, and John Goodman

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Written by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, and Derek Connelly

Summary (in 500 words or less):  A team (both military and scientific) head to Skull Island in order to investigate some strange findings.  Upon their arrival, they soon discover the island is home to many larger-than-life creatures including the titular simian Kong.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Anthony Hopkins, and Mark Ruffalo

Directed by Taika Waititi

Written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to his home planet of Asgard and forces his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to help find their father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) who was missing, but then found hiding in Norway.  Odin reveals that he is dying and that his death will unlock the prison cell that his firstborn daughter Hela (Cate Blanchett) has been kept in for years because of Odin's fear that his daughter was becoming too ambitious.  Upon Odin's death, Hela returns to Asgard and chaos begins to reign as she forces Thor and Loki off the planet.  Thor lands on  Sakaar, a weird planet full of space waste and home to massive gladiator-style battles by people captured by The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), one of whom happens to be the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) who had been missing ever since the events of "Captain America: Civil War."

• Right off the bat, I should just say that Thor: Ragnarok is my favorite Marvel movie yet.  Director Taika Waititi (along with the trio of screenwriters) have crafted a fun-filled humorous ride filled with solid action sequences that carry some gravitas and importance in the grand scheme of the Thor franchise storyline.
• The balance struck here by Waititi in terms of action and humor is what the Guardians movies wants to be, but hasn't yet achieved. 
• Considering how much I despised Thor: The Dark World, I admittedly wasn't expecting much here, but the change in tone to something a bit more light-hearted works amazing well.
• Despite the oftentimes more whimsical and humorous nature of the film, there's still some important stuff going on here.  The family dynamic between Thor, his sister Hela, and their brother Loki is some heavy stuff and carries heft in the grand scheme of Thor's story...all the while likely helping to set up storylines for the upcoming Avengers film.
• Kudos to the entire cast -- Chris Hemsworth gets to display his comedic chops (which are always impressive), Jeff Goldblum and Mark Ruffalo appear to be having a ton of fun, Tessa Thompson brings a strong female presence to the proceedings, and Cate Blanchett tears up the screen as the villainess.  SPOILER ALERT -- Here's hoping they can find some way to bring her back in future films because she lit up the screen whenever she appeared.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - High-Rise

High-Rise (2016)

Starring Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss, and Jeremy Irons

Directed by Ben Wheatley

***This film is currently streaming via Netflix***

High-Rise is like some very weird warped Downton Abbey -- an Upstairs, Downstairs-type situation that morphs into a Lord of the Flies-style war depicting the differences between the upper classes and lower classes in an amped-up, manic manner.  And, just as you'd imagine, the chaos of trying to mix those three aforementioned disparate British classics makes High-Rise a bit of a mess.  Although it's visually appealing with some beautiful sets and costumes coupled with a classically retro 1970s vibe, director Ben Wheatley's film simply doesn't work, overstaying its welcome by nearly a third and devolving into a mess in the flick's second half.

Brain surgeon Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) has just moved into an apartment on the twenty-fifty floor of a new luxury high-rise forty-story tower built by architect Anthony Royal (Jeremy Irons) who himself lives in the penthouse with his uppity wife.  The high-rise contains a pool, gym, and even a grocery store, so its occupants find themselves with nary a need to leave.  The further up you live, the ritzier and more expensive your amenities become and the film soon becomes an allegory about class warfare with allusions at the end that capitalism is bad.

This is an odd film -- director Ben Wheatley peppers the flick with weird flash-forwards and it's full of some of the most bizarre characters I've seen in a long time.  The oddness of the whole thing had me intrigued initially, but I soon grew wary, only holding out hope that the allegorical nature would provide some philosophical intrigue.  Instead, the film becomes even odder, full of anarchic nihilism that had me angry I held on for as long as I did and didn't stop the flick sooner.  The cast admittedly gamely bites in to the quirkiness, but it's not enough to save this one.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Crimson Peak

Crimson Peak (2015)

Starring Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, and Jim Beaver

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Gorgeous to look upon, Guillermo del Toro's gothic horror flick Crimson Peak is sumptuously designed, but considering its ominous appearance, it disappoints by neglecting to create suspense or elicit any sense of dread or fear that should accompany a film like this.  With some of the actors seemingly told to amp up the camp factor, Crimson Peak ends up being a film that had potential, but doesn't achieve what it sets out to accomplish.

Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) is a young American woman with dreams of becoming a great author someday.  When British entrepreneur Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) and his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) visit Edith's father Carter (Jim Beaver) in Buffalo, New York, in order to try and secure money for a clay-mining tool, Edith is drawn to Thomas's mysterious demeanor.  Carter senses something off with the Sharpes and forbids Edith to start a relationship with Thomas.  However, when tragic circumstances arise, Edith ends up marrying Thomas and travels to England to the Sharpes' huge, though run-down estate Allerdale Hall.  Unfortunately for Edith, Thomas and Lucille may be hiding some deep secrets from their new family member, the least of which being that Allerdale Hall may be haunted with ghosts of the Sharpe family's past.

From the outset, Crimson Peak excels in all areas related to design with larger than life, though realistically detailed sets by Tom Sanders and luxuriously extravagant costumes by Kate Hawley (both overlooked by the Academy last year).  However, once one moves beyond the way things look, the film feels empty and fails to deliver on its promise of suspense.  Director and co-writer del Toro can't maintain tension via his story and direction, and considering the foreboding production design it's disappointing that the gothic nature of the horror aspect of the tale falls flat.

While Tom Hiddleston plays things relatively straight, Mia Wasikowska's Edith is too much of a blank, emotionless slate to really carry the film on her shoulders.  Jessica Chastain fares worse, however, as she almost laughably chews up the scenery with her character's chilly vibe.  Some may find her role a bright spot in the film, but I found her performance misplaced amongst the rest of the cast as if she was acting in a different movie than everyone else.  Yes, her portrayal feels very old school 1940s film-esque, but it just doesn't mesh with everything else.  The lack of cohesiveness in the performances is certainly mirrored in the lack of del Toro's ability to amp of the drama and suspense in a film that so desperately requires that tension to exist.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Only Lovers Left Alive

Only Lovers Left Alive (2014)

Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Dazi, and John Hurt

Directed by Jim Jarmusch

My only other experience with director-writer Jim Jarmusch was an absolutely awful flick called The Limits of Control, so when I checked out Only Lovers Left Alive from the library and saw that it was penned and helmed by him, the dvd sat atop my tv for nearly two-and-a-half weeks before I decided to give it a shot.  I must admit that I found myself pleasantly surprised.  The slow pace apparent in The Limits of Control was certainly still present, but Only Lovers Left Alive at least contains a story to latch onto that is surprisingly compelling.

In the simplest of terms, Only Lovers Left Alive revolves around Adam and Eve (Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton), two centuries-old married vampires who have evolved into creatures of the night who don't seek out living, breathing humans for their blood sustenance, but instead get their "fix" by other less brutal means.  When Eve's sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska) comes to town, things get shaken up a bit and Adam and Eve's mellow life becomes a bit more chaotic than they hoped.

Certainly uncomplicated, that's just about the entire summary of Jarmusch's film.  What keeps you interested are Swinton and Hiddleston, both of whom are surprisingly captivating considering that the first hour of the film is about as slow-paced a film you'll have seen from 2014.  Somehow, though, the two actors are compelling with Hiddleston's mopey and depressed Adam being countered by Swinton's more hopeful and pleasant Eve.  Swinton really is one of the best actresses working today and I continue to be impressed with nearly everything she chooses to take part in, and Hiddleston proves here that there's more to him than the egomaniacal Loki from the Marvel Universe.  In addition, Wasikowska really shines in a small role, popping in at about the one hour mark as the childish Ava to give the flick some much needed verve and pizzazz.

This is one of those flicks that you absolutely have to be in the "mood" to watch and it undoubtedly will not suit everyone's tastes.  However, I found Only Lovers Left Alive to be an intriguing piece of cinema -- one that I assume is much deeper upon subsequent viewings (the Adam/Eve symbolism alone would probably give you enough material to write a research paper), but works quite well on its initial watch as well.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgård, and Rene Russo

Directed by Alan Taylor

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but 2011's Thor is my favorite Marvel comics movie (not including some X-Men co-productions...for some reason I don't think of them [or Spider-Man] when I think of "Marvel" movies).  There was something about the fun that director Kenneth Branagh brought to the flick that made the sheer ridiculousness of the title character and his hammer wielding an enjoyable summer romp.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Thor: The Dark World which feels like a heavy burden to sit through lacking any modicum of the fun and excitement that was found in its predecessor.  Quite frankly, this one is probably the worst film to come out of the Marvel/Disney pipeline in part because of an awful screenplay and direction that can't really compare to Mr. Branagh's in the first Thor. 

What the sequel really boils down to is this:  Two species in space -- one of which is Thor's people and one of which is someone else -- fought with each other a long time ago.  Thor's people won and buried this other people's energy source (or something) deep in the earth.  Thanks to wormholes (which played a prominent role in The Avengers) this energy source has been found by Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) who has been sitting around in London depressed since Thor (Chris Hemsworth) left her at the end of the last film.  This magical energy source somehow gets transferred into Jane which causes the bad guys to chase after Jane only to have Thor help her.

It's all so ridiculous...even more ridiculous than a guy from space coming down to Earth and fighting people with a magic hammer.  Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman look bored out of their mind in this with Portman in particular a blank slate whenever she appears onscreen (and, unfortunately, she's onscreen a lot in this one).  Tom Hiddleston injects a little bit of pizzazz into the mix, but even his Loki isn't able to overcome the inanity of the plot.

The one advantage the Thor flicks have going for them is that they do seem to understand just how silly their plots truly are.  There are jabs here and there about how ridiculous the goings-on are and I do appreciate that.  However, Thor: The Dark World is such a huge step down from the original that I don't think I'll be looking forward to the next one at all.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - The Deep Blue Sea

The Deep Blue Sea (2012)

Starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston, and Simon Russell Beale

Directed by Terence Davies

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Melodrama Alert!  While The Deep Blue Sea was released this year, with the exception of a bit of nudity and language, it could easily have been a contemporary to British romances of yore like Noel Coward's Brief Encounter.  With a classical music soundtrack filled with melancholic violin cues keyed to tell us exactly how we're supposed to feel, director Terence Davies' film about a woman having an affair in 1950 is lovely to look at, well-crafted, and decently acted, but I found myself removed from the proceedings, not caring a whole lot about the main characters.

Rachel Weisz is Hester, the troubled younger bride of Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale), an older gentleman whom she seems to care for, but doesn't love.  Sometime into their marriage, Hester strays into the arms of the handsome and dashing Freddie (Tom Hiddleston) who sweeps her off her feet.  After ten months of fun, during which time she has left her husband to live with Freddie, Hester finds that her new paramour may not be the dream catch she always hoped to snag.  So, on a typically overcast English afternoon, Hester turns on the gas fireplace in her and Freddie's apartment and attempts to end her life.

Don't worry -- there's no spoiler alert needed with that revelation as that is The Deep Blue Sea's opening scene.  The entire film -- which actually takes place over the course of a single day -- plays out as flashbacks to Hester's loveless past countered with the aftermath of her suicidal actions.  And yes, it's as disheartening and morose as it sounds.  This overarching sense of depression and lack of any joviality makes the whole film feel rather heavy-handed and the story difficult to connect with.  The film is certainly beautiful to look at with its brown hues and foggy London nights and Rachel Weisz certainly has the appropriate amount of British angst for her character, but The Deep Blue Sea is just a tiny bit too depressing to recommend.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Avengers

The Avengers (2012)

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Stellan Skarsgard, Paul Bettany (voice), and Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by Joss Whedon

Yes, I'm about sixty days late to the party here...and unfortunately the raves that I've been hearing for two months concerning The Avengers set expectations that were too high to be achieved.  While this is a decent comic book flick, it's still a part of a genre that I'm unable to really relate to because on a purely cinematic level I rarely am able to feel any modicum of tension for the formidable, unflappable, and nearly immortal main characters.

Seeing as how everyone has already seen this third highest-grossing movie of all time, I'm not going to waste time detailing a summary except to say that this gathering of Marvel's Superhero Elite does prove to be successful once it brings its cadre of power players together, but the round-up of these heroes is where the film lacks.  I must preface my "complaint" by saying that i watched The Avengers at the end of a three-movie, seven-hour marathon so that may have something to do with my lack of excitement for the product, but I do also think that I'm maybe using that simply as an excuse for my disappointment in the movie since everyone else seems to be fawning over it.  The whole thing eventually comes together rather nicely and the final ninety minutes really does seem to fly by, but I couldn't help but find myself in a state of ennui during the first hour.

It doesn't help that Robert Downey, Jr., is as annoying as heck in this.  His egotistical Tony Stark plays fine in a movie on his own where he's the main player, but when you put him amidst a group of other more unselfish folks, his character rings obnoxious more than anything else.  [Yes, I realize that's probably the point -- he's kind of a jerk unlike these other guys -- but it still didn't make his character any more tolerable to watch for extended periods of time.]  The less said about Chris Hemsworth's Thor the better (fortunately, his part was minuscule).  Oddly enough, it's the Iron Mans and Thor flicks that I found most successful in the Marvel universe so not caring for those characters here was a bit odd for me.

Mark Ruffalo kinda steals the show with his Bruce Banner/Hulk.  It's a shame the Hulk movie didn't star him as opposed to Ed Norton.  Surprisingly (considering my disdain for his movie), I found Chris Evans' Captain America a big improvement over his eponymous film.  It's also nice that a bit of the focus went to Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow as she's not only pretty on the eyes, but has a storyline that's at least a bit intriguing.

In the end, the whole thing is silly nonsense, but director and screenwriter Joss Whedon is able to at least direct action sequences without relying on Michael Bay-esque nonstop camera cuts and his script has a few witty moments which provide a needed boost.  Some may call this the greatest comic book movie of all time, but coming from a non-comic book fan, I didn't find it as impressive as the millions who did.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - War Horse

War Horse (2011)

Starring Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Thewlis, and Niels Arestrup

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is a guy who always tries to tug the emotional heartstrings.  There's nothing wrong with that and its an overarching characteristic of nearly all his movies.  In War Horse, though, this heartstring tugging is more like manipulative puppeteering, forcing the audience to feel a certain way even if the story doesn't naturally lead its audience down that road.  I found War Horse lovely to look at, but absolutely stilted in terms of storytelling and repetitive when in comes to telling the tale of the "miracle" titular horse known as Joey.

From the very outset, I totally understood the vibe that Spielberg was trying to invoke here.  There's a 1930's Rin Tin Tin childlike innocence on display in both visuals and story.  The opening act in which teen Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) gets a ragged looking horse from his father (Peter Mullan) and must train it to pull a giant trough through England's stony landscape felt like I was watching a old-time children's movie.  Not that there's a problem with Spielberg replicating his innocence of E.T. -- War Horse is, in fact, based on a children's book -- but after the opening act ends with Albert's father selling off Joey to save the family farm much to Albert and his mother's (Emily Watson) chagrin, the film falls into depressing episodic melodrama.  We watch as Joey exchanges hands multiple times throughout the battles of World War I causing surprising amounts of bad luck and harm to those who come in contact with him.  It all just becomes laughable rather than emotional.

I understand the old film vibe Spielberg is trying to achieve, but War Horse just feels awfully hollow and uncertain for whom the flick is made. We get these grand war scenes (which lack the violent brutality of Saving Private Ryan), but then they're interspersed with the silliness of moments like Joey literally "volunteering" himself to save his fellow horse from a deathly job on the battlefield or a young French girl -- one of Joey's "owners" -- hiding the horse in her room when the Germans invade the family farm.  There's a severe lack of balance and Spielberg is never able to figure out what type of movie he wants to display.

The film looks fine, but even on that front, there isn't anything overly special about the visuals.  Spielberg certainly culls lighting and lensing from the olden golden age of cinema, but it once again feels like a rehash of things we've seen before.  Granted, one could certainly say (and I did say in my review of it) that The Artist is a rehash of films that came before it, but it at least knew who its audience was which is the huge overarching problem of War Horse.  It's too simplistic for adults and too violent for kids and therefore finds itself wallowing in the middle of mediocrity.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Thor

Thor (in 3D) (2011)

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, and Anthony Hopkins

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

No one will ever mistake Thor for being a cinematic masterpiece, but in the realm of summer action movies (and in their subset "comic book movies"), it's a solid flick that is decently written, capably directed, and (for the most part) adequately paced.

Somewhere in the cosmos is the land of Asgard, ruled over by Odin (Anthony Hopkins).  Long ago, Odin waged a successful war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim who desired to take over the Nine Realms (one of which is Earth).  Cut to a thousand years later and Odin is ready to pass on his crown to his son Thor (Chris Hemsworth), but the ceremony is interrupted by an invasion of the Frost Giants which sends war-hungry Thor into a vengeful state.  Odin, desiring to keep the long-standing peace between Asgard and Jotunheim banishes Thor to Earth where he meets scientist/astrologer Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and finds himself in the midst of a fish out of water storyline.  Meanwhile, back in Asgard, Odin's other son, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who has always been jealous of Thor, is finding himself next in line for the throne now that his father has slipped into what is essentially a (magical) coma.  Let's just say Loki may not be keen on allowing Thor to return to his homeland.

Believe me, the whole thing is as silly as can be -- sillier and lighter weight than the premises behind any Iron Man, Spiderman, or X-Men "origin" (read: first) movie.  Still, somehow this thing works and I think a large part of that is due to the tone set by director Kenneth Branagh.  He knows that what is unfolding is altogether ridiculous, but he never sets this movie up with a winking tone.  This will sound kind of silly, but Branagh culls some Shakespearean undertones from the script -- brother vs. brother, son vs. father, etc. -- and successfully gives them gravitas when they really had no right to have any.  He plays it for all its seriousness, while allowing a few moments of needed humor when necessary.  Normally, I'm all for tongue in cheek flicks, but I don't know if that would've worked here especially because Thor is part of the overarching storyline setting up an Avengers movie sometime in the upcoming years (and contains cameos from some folks who will be part of that story as well).

Branagh also manages to get some above average performances from his actors.  Not being familiar with the source material one bit, I'll be honest and say I expected Thor to be more of a "Me Tarzan, you Jane" kind of macho figure.  However, Chris Hemsworth's Thor isn't like that a bit.  In fact, Hemsworth is absolutely believable as both action figure and romantic love interest for Natalie Portman's equally likable Jane.  Portman is eons better than moviegoers are used to seeing onscreen in a part like this that amounts to hardly anything but is standard in any kind of comic book movie.  While she doesn't play a damsel in distress, she's pretty much there simply to gawk and stare with mouth agape at the wonders of the superhero she's feasting her eyes upon.  Still, Portman manages to really hold her own here despite the irrelevant role and she manages to be completely enjoyable every time she is onscreen.

Kudos also to Tom Hiddleston as Thor's devious younger brother who Branagh allows to chew the scenery a bit...which I found altogether necessary for a role like his.  It was also nice to allow Hiddleston to take on the "chewing the scenery" role as opposed to Anthony Hopkins who tries to do that in every single movie he's in anymore (heck, he won his Oscar for doing that same thing).  Here, Hopkins is rather subdued and that's a good thing.

Overall, I was impressed by Thor.  It's certainly not perfect and the middle felt a little draggy (although I do commend Branagh for keeping the flick under two hours which is altogether uncommon for movies like this nowadays), but it's a pleasant start to the summer season.

The RyMickey Rating:  B