Category Archives: Movies

Thor

Action, Drama, Fantasy.  2011, U.S., 114 Minutes, directed by Kenneth Brannagh

Medium:  3D, Currently in Theaters

Rating:  3.0 (5-point system)

Well, if this review doesn’t blow my image for elegance and sophistication, nothing will.

It’s the question men my age frequently ask one another:  “Hey, dude, are you DC or Marvel?”  It’s a debate that’s right up there with, “Emma Peel or Honey West?” “Jeannie or Samantha Stevens?”  and of course the ever popular, “Ginger or Mary Ann?”  I’m a DC guy myself.  Batman, Superman, and The Flash were among my favorites.  Yet, here I am reviewing a movie based upon a Marvel Comics superhero.  So, if my rating seems a bit low to you, take into account my predilection for DC.

That’s not to say that I am unaware of Thor and his backstory.  I’m not.  And getting some of that backstory and his entire mortal alter ego wrong is but one reason for my rather mediocre assessment of this movie.  In both the movie and the comics, Thor is vain and impulsive.  He suffers from a total lack of humility that borders on the egomaniacal.  This is where the two backstories diverge, to the detriment of the motion picture.

Marvel Comic Backstory:  To teach Thor a lesson, his father Oden wipes clean his memory of Asgard and his previous Godly existence there, banishes him to the planet Earth, strips away his powers, and entraps him in the mortal body of a physician—Dr. Donald Blake—who is mildly disabled and thus walks with the assistance of a cane.  Dr. Blake’s love interest is his nurse, Jane Foster.  Dr. Blake’s cane is actually Thor’s legendary hammer Mjolnir in disguise.  When Dr. Blake strikes this cane upon the ground, it transforms into Mjolnir and Dr. Blake becomes the Norwegian God of Thunder—The Mighty Thor.  Yeah, it’s as hokey and convoluted as it sounds.  But it works better than the movie’s rather simplistic, streamlined version.

Feature-Length Film Backstory:  To teach Thor (Chris Hemsworth) a lesson, his father Oden (Anthony Hopkins) banishes him to Earth.  But Thor is now a mortal who still inhabits the same muscularly built, fully functional body he had before, and his memories of who he is and where he’s from are completely intact.  Mjolnir lies embedded in rock several miles from where Thor appears in the New Mexico desert.  He is found by college student Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who is doing atmospheric research with her professor Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) and fellow student Darcy (Kat Dennings).  Attempting to retrieve Mjolnir, Thor is unable to dislodge the hammer from its stone encasement, reminding him of the powers he has lost and finally bringing home to him his now mortal existence.

From here on the two storylines merge once again.  Thor’s archenemy remains in both story arcs his adopted brother Loki, a being of the race of Frost Giants who was raised by Odin to believe he was a fellow Asgardian until the truth is revealed to him.

From here on we have a tragic Shakespearian hero, which is why I assume the incredibly adept Shakespearian actor and director Kenneth Branagh (one of my personal favorites) was brought in to direct.  And ironically it’s on this level of tragic Shakespearian hero that the film works best.  It certainly doesn’t make it as a comic superhero, especially one which completely forsakes a rather intriguing mortal alter ego with disabilities that provide such a stark dichotomy between the main character’s two identities.  Unfortunately, plot takes back seat to special effects for far too much of the film—pretty much the same affliction that infected Iron Man 2 and made that picture far less satisfying than the original.

At any rate, the Avengers are certainly preparing to assemble.  We’ve already been introduced in the past few years to Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo will take over the role from the incomparable Ed Norton, who did a superlative job).  Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Samuel L. Jackson) has made cameos in both Iron Man pictures.  Captain America: The First Avenger (Chris Evans, who also played Marvel character Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in both Fantastic Four films a few years back) is scheduled to hit the theaters on July 22.  These characters comprise the core of The Avengers, so we all should be pretty well prepared for this movie when it debuts May 4, 2012.

Let us hope that neither Captain America nor The Avengers suffer from the same fate as Thor—SFxF (Special Effects Fatigue).  As the original Iron Man and the two most recent Batman movies have taught us, character development and storyline are paramount considerations in making this type film work on an intellectually adult level.  And if skillfully done, this approach does not adversely impact a movie’s appeal to the younger crowd.  It’s a shame that this invaluable lesson was lost in the making of Thor.

Here’s a neat little experiment—a double movie review.  Both of the following deal with similar themes:  Mountaineering, man versus the cruel vagaries of nature, and man’s innate drive to survive against impossible odds.  The first is 127 Hours, for which James Franco’s performance garnered a nomination for Best Actor at this year’s Academy Awards.  The second is Nordwand (North Face), a film about which you’ve probably never heard.  And that’s really unfortunate, because in a head-to-head analysis 127 Hours in my opinion falls far short in a comparison of the two films.

127 Hours

Drama (Based on a true story), U.S., 2010, 94 minutes, directed by Danny Boyle

Medium:  Netflix Blu-Ray (Available on DVD)

Rating:  3.5 (5-point system)

Versus

Nordwand (North Face)

Foreign Drama (Based on a true story), German, 2008, 121 minutes, directed by Philipp Stölzl

Medium:  Netflix Streaming (Available on DVD)

Rating:  5.0 (5-point system)

First up, 127 hours:

James Franco plays real-life mountaineer Aron Ralston, a cocksure loner who likes to pit himself against nature on his weekend jaunts into the wilderness.

While rappelling into a crevasse, Ralston falls and dislodges a large boulder.  His right arm is pinned between the boulder and a solid rock wall, trapping the young adventure seeker whose only gear and supplies include a cheap knife, a multi-function tool similar to a Leatherman, a flashlight, rope, a little food and even less water, a video camera, and absolutely no communication with the outside world.

For five days Ralston tries everything he can think of to free himself, including one very clever scene in which he rigs a makeshift pulley system.  Eventually he realizes there is no escape . . . at least none that includes retaining his right arm.  By then his knife is so dulled from chipping away at the boulder that the blade will not even penetrate his skin.  The only equipment still offering any chance of escape are the pliers and wire cutter built into his multi-function tool.  It’s a gruesome yet inspiring moment when a dehydrated and hallucinating Ralston begins the slow, excruciated job of self-amputation and devising his escape from the crevasse.

Unfortunately, at least for me, Ralston’s character comes off as an extremely well-prepared and physically capable outdoorsman with one near-fatal flaw—he’s so confident in his abilities that he neglects the cardinal rules of survival:  Don’t travel alone, and always leave word where you’re going.  As such, it was fairly hard for me to stomach his initial arrogance and, later, to muster very much sympathy for his plight.  Eventually, however, Franco’s performance won me over and in the end I did start to root for the character he portrayed.

Alas the film is flawed.  Franco’s performance, while good to borderline great, was not in my opinion truly Oscar-worthy.  And, even at a short 92 minutes, the film still seemed overly long.  That’s never a good sign.

Next, Nordwand (North Face):

So hungry was I for a more satisfying real-life outdoor adventure film after watching 127 Hours that I almost immediately went to my Netflix streaming queue to retrieve a film I had placed there over a month before.  That film was Nordwand, a German word that translates to North Face.  If you know anything about mountaineering, or if you’re a fan of Rodney William Whitaker’s outstanding 1972 spy thriller The Eiger Sanction (written under the pseudonym Trevanian), the title alone will send shivers down your spine.  And isn’t that the reaction you expect from such a story?  When one mentions, “The North Face,” those in the know immediately think of the infamous North Face of the magnificent Swiss Alp the Eiger, a climb that has claimed the lives of no less than 64 mountaineers since the first serious attempt made in 1935 on what would become known as, “The last great problem of the Alps.”

Nordwand details the true-life 1936 attempt to climb the North Face of the Eiger mounted by German climbers Andreas Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas) and Toni Kurz ( Benno Fürmann), who in mid-climb would later joined forces with Austrians Willy Angerer (Simon Schwarz) and Edi Rainer (Georg Friedrich).  Kurz is the reluctant climber who considers the Eiger’s North Face far too dangerous.  Kurz’s childhood friend and current mountain climbing companion Hinterstoisser disagrees, and Hinterstoisser eventually badgers Kurz into taking up a challenge many consider sure suicide.  Also pressuring Kurz is former childhood sweetheart Luise (Johanna Wokalek), who views documenting their attempt as her breakout ticket in photo journalism.

Kurz and Hinterstoisser soon find themselves encamped at the base of the Eiger, having arrived by bicycle, living in a tent, near penniless, and surviving on barley soup made over a campfire.  Meanwhile spectators, the press, and even Luise party in grand fashion and formal clothing, gorging on gourmet food and swilling fine wine at the nearby luxury hotel.  The dichotomy between the high-living death-watchers situated on the overlooking hill and the various encamped, glory-seeking climbing parties below is both stunning and demoralizing.

Kurz and Hinterstoisser begin their arduous climb before sunrise early one morning.  Austrians Angerer and Rainer start out shortly after, vowing to catch and then pass the Germans as each team vie to be the first to conquer the North Face.  Eventually the Austrians link up with the German team after Hinterstoisser discovers a brilliant but technically very difficult traverse that reveals to the four climbers the one route that had eluded everyone who made the North Face attempt before them.  Unfortunately, the team makes a decision that later proves disastrous when they remove and take with them the ropes Hinterstoisser used to traverse the most dangerous and unforgiving portion of the mountain.  From that moment on the team’s fate is sealed.

Disaster strikes high on the sheer rock when, first, Angerer is struck by a falling rock dislodged by a climber above and receives a severe concussion, and then when the weather turns the North Face into an ice-shrouded death chute for which the climbers are ill-prepared and unequipped.  From then on it’s a battle for their very lives as they reverse course just shy of their goal, the dead weight of the injured Angerer strung among the three remaining able-bodied climbers.  They decide their only hope for survival lies in reaching the Eigerwand Viewpoint, a tunnel railway station scenic lookout some 9,396 feet up the side of the 13,025-foot tall Eiger.

The climbing scenes in Nordwand are as stunning and breathtaking as the scenic locations in which they were shot.  By the end of the movie you can almost feel the stinging frostbite on your exposed face and hands, the sharp pain of overexerted muscles and sinews, the overwhelming fatigue of five nearly sleepless night encampments tethered to an icy cliff, and the dull, pounding headache of oxygen deprivation.  This movie truly has everything that 127 Hours lacks, from superb acting to heart-pounding action and flawless direction.  And whereas 92 minutes seemed a tad too long for 127 Hours, the 121 minutes of Nordwand will leave the viewer amazed at just how fast two hours can pass.

This is truly a must-see cinematic event.

Interesting Side Note:  You’ll recall that I earlier mentioned one of my favorite spy thrillers (actually a very clever parody of the genre), The Eiger Sanction.  Please don’t confuse this magnificent novel with the rather tepid 1975 film adaptation starring Clint Eastwood.  If you’ve not read this book, I would highly recommend that you do so after viewing Nordwand.  The climbing scenes from Trevanian’s novel were obviously patterned almost piton-for-piton from the 1935 Hinterstoisser/Kurz assault on the Eiger, clear down to the concussed climber and the sudden, catastrophic, mid-Summer ice storm.  You’ll be amazed at the similarities, and Trevanian’s descriptions are even more effective than even the brilliant Nordwand at putting the reader up on the North Face, the last great problem of the Alps.

The Social Network

Biography, Drama, Some Humor.  2010, U.S., 120 Minutes, directed by David Fincher

Medium:  Netflix Blu-ray rental (Available on DVD)

Rating:  5.0 (5-point system)

It’s not often that I consider a movie (or even a book for that matter) worthy of a 5.0 rating. That rarified status is reserved for those works that are truly outstanding in every way.  The Social Network is one of those rare gems.

The story of Mark Zuckerberg and the genesis of that social networking monolith Facebook is told through a series of legal depositions and flashbacks expertly woven together into a very coherent and highly enjoyable tale.  At its core, The Social Network is about a socially inept misfit who through sheer mental agility and perhaps a bit of intellectual property theft (depending on who you believe) establishes himself as the most significant social networking force since Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of the telephone.  Along the way we see portrayed those who claim that Mr. Zuckerberg cheated on his way toward becoming the world’s youngest “self-made” billionaire.  By the end of this movie one is truly left wondering for whom to root—a sociopathic Mark Zuckerberg, the upper-crust Winklevoss twins Cameron and Tyler, former best friend and initial Facebook financial backer Eduardo Saverin.

The writing is superb on every level, from integration of the various flashbacks to the ever-witty dialogue and subtle putdowns uttered by Mark Zuckerberg as he seeks to place his detractors firmly in their place.  Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay of Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires is as tight as the lid on a recently purchased pickle jar.  Screenwriting, simply put, does not get any better than this.

Let us also reserve credit for the actors. You won’t be saying “Jesse who?” after this picture, that’s for certain.  Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg is over-the-top in its understatedness.  That is not a contradiction.  Mr. Eisenberg deadpans his way through the entire movie, almost never showing emotion except through his use of intellectual insults, references to other people’s lack of intelligence or their bra sizes, and other condescending and sarcastic witticisms.  The final image, of Mr. Zuckerberg repeatedly and robotically hitting the ‘refresh’ button on his computer after sending a Facebook ‘friend’ request to the woman whose scorn initially sent him on this quest sums up the character like no other scene in the movie.

But as brilliant as Mr. Eisenberg’s performance, none of the excellent cast is outshone. There was not a single weak performance anywhere in this movie.  They are all merely differing degrees of brilliant.  For example Arnie Hammer’s turn as both halves on the Winklevoss Twins (or Winklevi as they are referred to by Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg) is flawless through some particularly incredible CGI manipulation.  Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of best friend Eduardo Saverin, particularly in the scene where he finds his shares of Facebook diluted to a pittance, makes you feel the overwhelming sense of betrayal and further serves to highlight Zuckerberg’s petty vindictiveness.  Even Rooney Mara’s all-too-brief scenes as former Zuckerberg girlfriend Erica Albright were outstanding in showing the viewer how Zuckerberg’s misuse of his intellect and his thinly veiled paranoia affected those around him, driving away friends and acquaintances who were already in far too short supply.  Baby Boomers born in the early ‘50s should watch for David Selby (Quentin Collins of Dark Shadows fame) as one of the deposing attorneys—a master manipulator in his own right who verbally lays traps for Zuckerberg, then stands back and smugly watches as his prey ensnare himself with his own diatribes.

Off topic plea: Fellow indie author Tracey Alley has been having a very rough time of it lately.  Her health has recently been deteriorating, requiring a bone marrow transplant just a few weeks ago and an iron transfusion just today.  Being back in the hospital is not fun, and she’s spent a lot of time there this past month or so.  Because of this she has also been unable to promote her books as she should and her sales of suffered as a result.  Her fellow author friends would appreciate it if you could visit her Web Log and leave a quick “Get Well” comment.  Also, please drop by her Amazon Author Central Page and, if you enjoy the fantasy genre, consider giving her a lift by purchasing one of her books.  The Kindle versions are only 99¢.