Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1

This movie was in bad need of some summary exposition at the beginning that worked so well in The Lord of the Rings. It has only been a few years since I read the books, and I was partly lost most of the time. I had a vague notion of what the main point was, but could not follow most of the major plot points along the way.

The original novel was able to pull this off, and I'm wondering if this section of the series is just too complicated with multiple quests going on, but framed as a detective story. They are trying to track down magical artifacts (for reasons I've forgotten) and in the process discover certain things about Dumbledore.

Also, what the book did was exploit the tension between the three main characters and their relationships with each other. The movie had to spend far too much time on the detective elements of the plot, that it did not really get a chance to do this.

That being said, the actors have all grown up very well, and were able to do a lot with not much help from the narrative. Also, the fight scenes are pretty cool, and if they should still be able to muster up the climax of the story, which will work well on screen if done right. Less detective novel, and more epic battle type stuff. It should be a lot easier to follow. So here's hoping that Pt. 2 will redeem Pt. 1.

3 stars out of 5.

Thor

Well, if Hulk is going to be in the Avengers, then Marvel is two out of three so far for the whole gang's origin movies. Hulk was a dud, but Iron Man and Thor are both solid. I thought this was almost as good as Iron Man. Had a little humor, some action, but not too much action, some romance, but not too much romance, and good character development.

I liked how they spent almost as much screen time on the villain as they did on the superhero, which I'm beginning to think is essential for any superhero story to work. Where are the X-men without Magneto, where is Superman without Lex Luther, Batman without Joker, and so on. Most superheros are defined by their villains, and not the other way around. In this regard, the villain of Thor is great in that he is probably one of the more well defined, and developed as a character. Not quite sympathetic, but very realistic motivations. All of this lets us really appreciate the heroic qualities in the main character all the more.

I also liked how they were not tied down to the original comic books, or the Norse mythology. It seems they put story first as a priority, without any sort of continuity issues with the myths either.

I would give it a solid 4/5. I'd like to know why Chris docked it a .1, unless he is using a different scale than me! Also, it's probably better than that, but I already heard good things from other people, and whenever that happens I do not like it as much as the original reviewer. Or maybe all of the original reviewers were docking the movie a .1 just for that reason.

Thor

3.9 stars, if not more.

I am excited for the future of Marvel movies. Thor did what it needed to do. It introduced this god-like mystical character to the Iron Man and SHIELD technological modern setting in a way that I thought worked. Not perfect, but overall I was satisfied. I thought it all hung together pretty well.

I liked the actor who played Thor. Thought he embodied the power and charisma of the character quite well. Also liked Natalie Portman's character, even, and all the other actors/characters. And of course Anthony Hopkins does a good job as Odin. The story and plot were sufficient, parts quite dramatic I thought. The action and fight sequences were all pretty good; some of them in fact were excellent. The movie had a nice balance of emotion and humor, as well.

I liked it! I can't wait for Captain America. Even more, I can't wait for the Avengers movie (next year?) when we will see Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and others all together (including Hulk I think? Hawkeye, too, is what I hear). Based on their past successes, I have increasing confidence that the marvel people know what they are doing, and that we have a lineup of some very entertaining movies ahead.

A-Team

So I'm not sure if I should make this a comment on Neil's review of the movie, or make my own post as I'm doing.

Anyway -

I agree with Neil on the review of A-Team. It has its moments and good points -- I liked Liam Neeson as Hannibal. I liked the other dude as Face man. I liked the familiar old lines and cheesiness such as, "I love it when a plan comes together" kind of stuff. But aside from that, this is a mediocre movie. As an A-Team fan, it kept me entertained. As a movie on its own, it was nothing all that special.

Salt

3 stars

This isn't horrible. The very ending is a bit silly, but the intrigue and the action scenes are good. Angelina Jolie is believable as an action heroine as usual. It's on instant play on Netflix.

Middle Men

2.9 stars

The moral: if someone proposes a business deal to you and the words "Russian mafia" come up, DON'T DO IT.

The beginning of this is fairly juvenile. The dot com stuff is kind of interesting, but it's hard to have sympathy for the protagonist played by Owen Wilson. The movie did keep us watching the entire time, so it wasn't terrible.

Shutter Island

I'd give this one 4.3-4.7 stars. I didn't know much about this, so I won't say much here for fear of plot spoiling. This is another Scorsese/DiCaprio project, and I think I might categorize it as noir/thriller/horror. I kept thinking about The Shining as I was watching it. There are some genuinely creepy scenes that I absolutely couldn't watch.

Oddly, I think you could do a comparison/contrast between this movie and Inception, but I won't tell you why!

Check this out. I haven't seen such a good horror story since The Mist.

Black Swan

Intense. I liked the juxtaposition of the frail beauty and innocence in the ballerina's world mixed with the grotesque nature of the dark side in this movie. I'm not sure if it would be considered allegory, but it is heavy on the symbolism exploring issues with the artist's soul.

I also liked how at times it appears to be a horror movie, but it is not overdone, which would have been a temptation for the film makers.

Probably one of the best non-Sci-Fi/Fantasy movies I've seen for a while.