Movie Reviews: Fast 5 and Thor

It's the summer movie season. I think that this season I'll write reviews for each film I see and maybe you'll find yourself in the theater seeing something you might not have otherwise?

Fast 5 (Fast and the Furious part 5)
Saw it last week at midnight on the Imax big screen. Now to be honest I've never seen the 1st Fast and the Furious. I saw the 2nd one once with some work buddies. Never saw the third. The 4th one somehow got me interested and it was a fine fine movie. Fast 5 takes place immediately after the events of the 4th installment. This film was ridiculously awesome in that every chance to blow something up was taken advantage of. Vin Diesel's character got to tussle with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Paul Walker and Diesel at one point drove a car off of a cliff for a long...long...time. This is one of those movies where someone can say, "but the acting was cheesy!" Well yeah...but you don't go to these movies to see Shakespearean acting, you go to see stolen street racing cars drag a multi-ton safe through the streets of Rio while being shot by drug cartels. I saw this movie with my buddies: Kelly, Clint, and Robin. I couldn't have seen it with a better group. If you see this, make sure you've seen the 4th one first (it'll fill the story in for ya) and then stay after the credits for one of the best surprises EVER. Not only is this the best Fast and Furious movie, it is also one of the best action flicks I've seen in years. 5/5 stars



Thor...let me try that again...THOOOOORRRRR!

Saw it at midnight last night and it's fresh in my memory! Forgive my bias. I'm a comic book fan who is as loyal to Marvel as I am to my wife. I love that brand the way some may love "American Express" "Pepsi" or "Nike." Thor is the 2nd to last piece that must be placed delicately into a much larger picture. The Avengers is slated for release next May. So far, both Iron Man movies were incredible, the 2nd take on Hulk was unbelievably cool, and all we need is for Thor and Captain America to hold their own. Avengers is currently shooting and may very well be the biggest movie...ever. Of all of these characters though, THOR is the one I was the most concerned about. He's not just a super hero, he's a God from another dimension with the powers of Norse deity. It's a hard pill to swallow, luckily though Kenneth Branaugh gave us a spoon full of sugar to help that medicine go down. First and foremost the acting was insanely good for a comic book flick. Chris Hemsworth stole the show as Thor, while Tom Hiddleston played a very dubious "Loki" and Sir Anthony Hopkins played "Odin" to perfection. Stallin Skarsgard and Natalie Portman were fine in their roles as mortals wrapped in Thor's story but they were kind of outshined by all of the other worldly action. Half of the movie takes place in Asgard while the rest takes place on Earth. Thor's armor looks right at home in the other dimension, but a little out of place on Earth. Hopefully the Avengers movie somehow addresses this. The director for some reason likes to do this weird diagonal shot which was cool a couple of times, but quickly got annoying. Despite its flaws it is one of, if not THE best Marvel movie to date. I can't wait to see how Iron Man interacts with Thor in team up flick. I loved it. Go see it. 4.5/5 Stars