Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was released on May 20, 2011, and is the fourth release in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. It was directed by Rob Marshall, written by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot, and stars Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, and Ian McShane.
First, let me give you my brief recap and opinion on the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Curse of the Black Pearl was tremendous, a sheer amount of fun, and one of the best films of 2003. Dead Man's Chest was almost as good, but adding a serious plot, and working just as well. It's only downfall was a scene near the end where Keira Knightley completely screwed up her acting, as well as the lack of Geoffrey Rush. At World's End... well, I only have two words: Pirate King.
After the travesty that was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, I had no hope for this series, thought it was dead, and was honestly not looking forward to On Stranger Tides. However, I went to see it (in UltraAVX 3D, no less, which was a bad move, the was $5 more than a normal 3D ticket), and I have to admit, it was alright. Certainly better than At World's End, but not as good as the first two.
Let's start with the acting. Johnny Depp was great, of course, his best moment, without a doubt, being his first scene. Just go see the film, you'll love it. I heard that he was actually getting sick of playing Jack Sparrow, but it doesn't show here, as he does just as tremendous as he always does. Geoffrey Rush is brilliant as usual. Fresh from 1940's London where he was helping Royals, now he's 300 or so years earlier, helping out Royals, this time by being a Privateer in the Navy. Also, he lost a leg. Geoffrey Rush always does a great performance, with Barbossa arguably being his best performance ever. While Barbossa is typically known as a villain, here, he's the deuteragonist, and a good guy, but still just as brilliant. Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane, the new additions, are also great. Ian McShance was perfectly cast as Blackbeard, creating a truly despicable villain. Penelope Cruz does as good as she always does, having some goods lines occasionally.
Now, the film does get rid of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. I would say this is a good thing, because they were getting kinda boring. More Jack Sparrow and Barbossa, please. However, we do have a romance very similar to Bloom and Knightley's, this time, with a missionary and a mermaid. It doesn't work as well, and it also has a slightly confusing ending. We're also missing Pintel and Ragetti, and their Navy counterparts in this film, which is a bit sad, but you get over it rather quickly.
The directing is pretty good. Rob Marshall, the man who directed the film version of Chicago, does a good job here, nothing spectacular, but nothing horrible. There are many swordfights, all great, and widely enjoyable, but not enough ship battle scenes, in my opinion, with them being traded for more swordfights. Luckily, they're all enjoyable.
Overall, this film is good, not sublime, but not horrendous. Much better than the travesty that is At World's End. If you like the Pirates of the Caribbean films, check it out. It's some of Jack Sparrow at his best. However, don't see it in 3D, it's just darker than it needs to be. And as for the UltraAVX 3D, it broke down twice before the film started, and there was nothing really special about it except it cost more. See it in 2D. Overall, a 7/10, a good film.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Thor
Thor was released on May 6, 2011, and is the fourth entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leading up to the Avengers. It was directed by famed Shakespearan filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, and written by Ashley Edward Miller, Zach Stentz, and Don Payne, with the story by J. Michael Straczynski, and Mark Protosevich, based on the comic created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby, and stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, and Idris Elba.
First off, I'd just like to say that there is a Hulk reference, (that's actually extremely easy to miss) an Iron Man reference, and a fantastic scene with Jeremy Renner as Marvel's greatest archer. I liked the scene with Jeremy Renner. And yes, Nick Fury's in it too. And yes, there's a Stan Lee cameo, and a good one at that.
Arguably, Thor is the hardest superhero to adapt to film. This is due to the reason that Thor is a god. His storylines have always been epic, godly, and some of the best Marvel storylines. Now, I'm not a Thor fan, but I do know the basics. So going into this, I did know the basics of the Thor storyline. They did change the basics,adding some elements, and taking others away. Essentially, there's no Donald Blake, just references to the ex-boyfriend of Jane Foster, who is Donald Blake. (Ha-ha.)
Taking out some elements and adding others, did Branagh do a good job adapting Thor? Yeah, he did a pretty good job. I'm not sure if it's the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it is very good. Branagh is good with these types of stories, so it was a smart choice choosing him as the director. The acting is also very good. Chris Hemsworth, most known for as role as the ill-fated father of James Kirk in 2009's Star Trek, is very good at playing a cocky, selfish, foolish god. Also, he makes a pretty good superhero, but should wear his helmet more, it makes him look cool. Natalie Portman... she confuses me. She did a good job, but I really didn't expect to see her in this film. Here's my reasoning. She's done films like the Professional, Black Swan, Brothers, and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. She has done so many phenomenal films (at least films that are expected to be phenomenal, in the case of the prequel trilogy), and not only that, but she won the Academy Award for Best Actress last year for Black Swan. So what does she do next? She does a shitty romantic comedy with Ashtun Kutcher, and Thor. She could literally pick any film she wants, and she instead of the amazing films that sweep the Oscars, she takes blockbusters. It's a damn shame, is what it is.
Tom Hiddleston is someone I've never heard of, but he does a damn good job here. Aside from a moment or two of overacting, he is extremely good in the role of one of Marvel's most evil characters. Anthony Hopkins does just as good as you'd expect him to be, which is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, he spends the majority of this film asleep, in a bed. A damn shame. And Idris Elba does a good job as well. Matthew Buck, a favorite film critic of mine, said that the controversy about Idris Elba, a black man being cast as a Norse god, has been more prominent than Idris Elba's role in the film, which is true. Regardless, he still did a good job. I would also like to say that Kat Dennings exists entirely for pop culture references, which is very bad, but she is Kat Dennings, so I can forgive her. (One day, she will be mine.)
Now, onto Asgard and the other realms. They look PHENOMENAL. Branagh did a stupendous job in creating Asgard, as well as the ice world we see, but Asgard steals the show. Honestly, I feel that if the entire movie was set on Asgard, I would've liked it more, which isn't to say I didn't like it, but I could've liked it more if we had more Asgard. He creates a truly beautiful landscape.
Now, onto my negatives. In adapting the film, they changed a few fundamentals. Like I already mentioned, Donald Blake is nowhere to be seen, only referenced. In the original story, when Thor is sent to Earth (by the way, he wasn't banished, he was sent there to learn humility), he becomes the alter ego of Donald Blake, a doctor on holiday in Norway. Whenever Donald Blake strikes his cane ont he ground (Mjolnir is disguise) he becomes Thor. Essentially, Blake was the earth version of Thor. It's quite confusing, but can be easily transferred to film. Thor is punished by being banished into a human's body on Earth, only able to come out whenever he touches his cane, which would be Mjolnir is disguise, or something of the like. In the film, he's just Thor. Which is weird. He becomes mortal, but eventually returns to god status in the third act. Aside from that, my only other problem is his helmet, or lack thereof. He wears it once, in the beginning, and then we never see it again. Why? That helmet is a symbol of Thor, so why exclude it? Overall, they seem to be adapting the Ultimate Thor, which I believe is a mistake, but whatever.
Overall, the film is enjoyable, and is a good entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I recommend everyone to check it out, if you haven't already. I give it an 8/10.
P.S. There's a post credits scene, and a damn good one at that.
First off, I'd just like to say that there is a Hulk reference, (that's actually extremely easy to miss) an Iron Man reference, and a fantastic scene with Jeremy Renner as Marvel's greatest archer. I liked the scene with Jeremy Renner. And yes, Nick Fury's in it too. And yes, there's a Stan Lee cameo, and a good one at that.
Arguably, Thor is the hardest superhero to adapt to film. This is due to the reason that Thor is a god. His storylines have always been epic, godly, and some of the best Marvel storylines. Now, I'm not a Thor fan, but I do know the basics. So going into this, I did know the basics of the Thor storyline. They did change the basics,adding some elements, and taking others away. Essentially, there's no Donald Blake, just references to the ex-boyfriend of Jane Foster, who is Donald Blake. (Ha-ha.)
Taking out some elements and adding others, did Branagh do a good job adapting Thor? Yeah, he did a pretty good job. I'm not sure if it's the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it is very good. Branagh is good with these types of stories, so it was a smart choice choosing him as the director. The acting is also very good. Chris Hemsworth, most known for as role as the ill-fated father of James Kirk in 2009's Star Trek, is very good at playing a cocky, selfish, foolish god. Also, he makes a pretty good superhero, but should wear his helmet more, it makes him look cool. Natalie Portman... she confuses me. She did a good job, but I really didn't expect to see her in this film. Here's my reasoning. She's done films like the Professional, Black Swan, Brothers, and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. She has done so many phenomenal films (at least films that are expected to be phenomenal, in the case of the prequel trilogy), and not only that, but she won the Academy Award for Best Actress last year for Black Swan. So what does she do next? She does a shitty romantic comedy with Ashtun Kutcher, and Thor. She could literally pick any film she wants, and she instead of the amazing films that sweep the Oscars, she takes blockbusters. It's a damn shame, is what it is.
Tom Hiddleston is someone I've never heard of, but he does a damn good job here. Aside from a moment or two of overacting, he is extremely good in the role of one of Marvel's most evil characters. Anthony Hopkins does just as good as you'd expect him to be, which is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, he spends the majority of this film asleep, in a bed. A damn shame. And Idris Elba does a good job as well. Matthew Buck, a favorite film critic of mine, said that the controversy about Idris Elba, a black man being cast as a Norse god, has been more prominent than Idris Elba's role in the film, which is true. Regardless, he still did a good job. I would also like to say that Kat Dennings exists entirely for pop culture references, which is very bad, but she is Kat Dennings, so I can forgive her. (One day, she will be mine.)
Now, onto Asgard and the other realms. They look PHENOMENAL. Branagh did a stupendous job in creating Asgard, as well as the ice world we see, but Asgard steals the show. Honestly, I feel that if the entire movie was set on Asgard, I would've liked it more, which isn't to say I didn't like it, but I could've liked it more if we had more Asgard. He creates a truly beautiful landscape.
Now, onto my negatives. In adapting the film, they changed a few fundamentals. Like I already mentioned, Donald Blake is nowhere to be seen, only referenced. In the original story, when Thor is sent to Earth (by the way, he wasn't banished, he was sent there to learn humility), he becomes the alter ego of Donald Blake, a doctor on holiday in Norway. Whenever Donald Blake strikes his cane ont he ground (Mjolnir is disguise) he becomes Thor. Essentially, Blake was the earth version of Thor. It's quite confusing, but can be easily transferred to film. Thor is punished by being banished into a human's body on Earth, only able to come out whenever he touches his cane, which would be Mjolnir is disguise, or something of the like. In the film, he's just Thor. Which is weird. He becomes mortal, but eventually returns to god status in the third act. Aside from that, my only other problem is his helmet, or lack thereof. He wears it once, in the beginning, and then we never see it again. Why? That helmet is a symbol of Thor, so why exclude it? Overall, they seem to be adapting the Ultimate Thor, which I believe is a mistake, but whatever.
Overall, the film is enjoyable, and is a good entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I recommend everyone to check it out, if you haven't already. I give it an 8/10.
P.S. There's a post credits scene, and a damn good one at that.
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