Thor (2011)



My first association with Thor came when I was just a kid. My comic-book loving brother had Marvel characters galore coating his walls and I used to stare at them with no comprehension of who they all really were. The first time I could put a name to a face, though, came from "Adventures in Babysitting" - a classic of our times - while little Sara wore a Thor helmet and mistook a car dealer for her hero.
I remember very well when this movie was released. I was working full-time at my college bookstore. There were two TVs behind our desk that would generally play ads for my school, and the occasional BYU-appropriate trailer. I watched the trailer for "Thor" over a dozen times before I saw it that summer. I pretentiously talked to my coworkers about Kenneth Branagh and how excited I was to see what the distinguished English actor/director of Henry V would bring to the table. I didn't know much then, and I don't know much now but I sure enjoyed pretending to know more about movies than my peers. I remember loving it the first time I saw it and I was very curious to see how the movie would hold up seeing it 6 years later.
Thor is the god of thunder. The son of Odin, king of Asgard, a land somewhere lost in time and space.  Once upon a time, Asgard and the Frost Giants were at war where the blue, snowy creatures wanted dominion over the nine realms, including our blessed Earth. When Asgard blew them over,  the Asgardians took their little ice trophy, the Casket of Ancient Winters.
In the present, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is about to assume the throne over his adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Those same frozen creatures come and ruin his big day by trying to steal back their casket. Thor throws a whiny tantrum, thinks he’s king already, and decides to take matters into his own hands and starts up some war again with their frosty neighbors. Odin (Anthony Hopkins) realizes that Thor is acting like a child and unfit for the throne. So Thor is banished to Earth without powers or the ability to wield his hammer. Things get worse upstairs when Odin has some kind of stressed-induced heart attack and falls into his get-better “Odinsleep.” Loki takes over as king and he wants to run things a little differently. Thor meets a woman, is confronted with war again and must face his brother to save everyone from war. Or something.

This story is passable, but I don't think it's terribly strong.
It is not an easy task to melange with Norse mythology - if only because the characters are inherently uninteresting. Thor has no notable personality traits and it seems like a stretch for this distant war to come to such a front in rural New Mexico. It also seems unlikely that Thor would magically grow up and turn into a suitable king over night because he met some ~nice people and a pretty lady. I can see what they were going for, but I'm not convinced. Maybe I'm just not buying the changed-by-a-woman-I-just-met-yesterday plot device any longer. Hemsworth brings a sort of suave charm to the character that is delightful, but it feels like something is lacking in the middle in order for us to appreciate the leader he becomes.
Loki, on the other hand, was the best developed out of anyone else in the ensemble. His disturbed countenance and spark of evil are well portrayed by Hiddleston, and his deep confusion and eagerness to please no matter the cost are tragically relatable. He's compelling because of the evident inner sadness that any sibling living in shadow can understand. 

With time has brought age to the CGI and no it isn't like cheese or wine. 6 years doesn't sit well with a land exclusively built in developing technology. Asgard - while well designed and well thought-out - looks now like a video game tutorial with the audience searching for Mario to cross the treacherous Rainbow Road. It has the air of a heavenly setting, but it looks like something I would see in Hyrule, not in Norse mythology.
While the fish out of water story isn't new by any means, I do find myself highly entertained watching Chris Hemsworth down like 20 pop tarts. This whole section of the movie is fun and light and brought the best moments for the popcorn. The lovely Natalie Portman plays the storm-chasing researcher Jane Foster and she's fine, as always. I quite liked her, even if their romance feels contrived.
We’ve also got things to get us more pumped for "The Avengers"  – Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) plays a bigger role than in previous Avenger-precursors. S.H.I.E.L.D. is all over the place trying to figure out that damn hammer, stuck in the ground like Excalibur. The intrigue ever-builds for the mega-mashup coming the following year and watching these again later does lose some of that edge, but it's an entertaining film nonetheless.
6/10

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Scrawny Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) just wants to heed the plea of Uncle Sam and join the United States Army to fight Nazis in World War II. Due to his frail body, he is rejected at every enlistment camp he goes to until he is eventually recruited as part of a super-soldier experiment. As a result of the serum, Steve Rogers is transformed into Captain America - a perfect specimen in both mind and body - in the best glow-up since Princess Diaries. Captain America goes on to fight the Third Reich, take down terrorists and inspire millions of Americans to fight for what they believe in.

This movie was met with a lot of excitement as the buildup for the Avengers was going down. It was a great strategy by Marvel - all of the after-credits scenes, all of the anticipation leading up to the big meet & greet where these iconic superheroes could join forces against greater evils.

I loved being a part of the anticipation. I loved seeing the pieces come together while the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe was unfolded. Captain America was fun because it gave a precedent - a backstory to not just the hero himself but to the entire Marvel story. It was the last released before "The Avengers" but chronologically it comes far before the others. Seeing him interact with Howard Stark and watching his frozen body be uncovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. brought an "a-ha!" to tip over the filling cup of Avengers anticipation.

While watching a superhero fight Nazis provides for an interesting backdrop - a nice break from the usual New York City Skyline - I find that the sense of urgency ranks very low when we all know that the world is still okay 60 years later. Watching it again, I found it a little boring and a little slow. In fact, in many ways it feels like an extended promo for "The Avengers." The name suggests, after all, that as "the First Avenger" Captain America would set the tone for the super-group with his unfaltering sense of duty & leadership. As the last origin film released, he is deemed to be the glue that will bond them all together.

A superhero film is only as good as its villain and in this case, I am unimpressed. Perhaps I'm playing too much to my preferences but I just ~don't like Red Skull very much. Hugo Weaving plays him very menacingly with a kind of cartoonish side to his devilry. It's a trope, however, that I don't find very compelling. He's evil, of course, but his story lacks depth and emotion which prevents me from connecting to the action. Too much to ask for in a superhero movie? Perhaps. But if it wants to rank up there with "Spiderman 2" or "The Dark Knight" then certainly it's possible.
These things do not make this movie bad. It's still a better film in many ways than "Thor" or "The Incredible Hulk" (though not "Iron Man" - never "Iron Man"). Chris Evans brings an earnestness to the Captain that makes him feel like a real American hero with a heart. He has integrity and loyalty and he exudes these wonderful qualities that everyone is looking for in the super-leader of the free world. His character arc only grows in subsequent movies, but this is a great beginning to his story.

Where some other superhero movies lack focus and a contained story, "Captain America" does not falter. Director Joe Johnston ("October Sky," "Jumanji") makes it a cohesive story which plays on the war-time patriotism and includes some vibrant side characters such as the gung-ho Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), the curious scientist Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), Captain's best friend and soldier Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and the beautiful but serious officer Peggy Carter (Haley Atwell). These characters are all likable and add something tangible and relatable where Red Skull brings only over-exaggerated villainy. The film feels complete.

Overall, "The First Avenger" is the weakest of the Captain America films being less enjoyable the second or third time around, but it is not a bad film. It brought a great hero back to the screen and propelled him to prominence in the hearts of all watching. 7/10

This is a part of a series as Lauren takes on the MCU 2k17