Bad Grandpa (2013) Movie Review

BAD GRANDPA (2013) MOVIE REVIEW 

It's amazing how something so in your face can still remain to be as hilarious as ever. 

Brought to you by the Jackass crew, Bad Grandpa revolves around 86 year-old Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) as he has been burdened with the task of taking his 8 year-old grandson, Billy (Jackson Nicoll) back to his real father Chuck (Greg Harris) in North Carolina. Essentially, the film is more or less a road-trip movie, except for the fact that it is Jackass' take on the often praised concept. For the most part, I actually enjoyed the movie's plot as it actually managed to make sense throughout the entirety of the movie. Every single pit-stop in the film does in fact relate to the progression of the plot, so props to the movie for that. Overall, I can't really talk too much about the actual story of the film as while it is in the movie, it's not what the film is supposed to focus around, obviously. 

Still of Jackson Nicoll pushing Johnny Knoxville
 in shopping cart

When I was watching the film, I think I saw the film very differently to what others were perceiving it as. This was because while people saw the movie as a hilarious movie, I saw it as both a hilarious film and a social experiment. Many times in the film, you see the grandpa go around and just mess with people and their businesses. In my eyes, I found it interesting how many people will turn a blind eye to what this elderly man is doing. For example, towards the start of the film, Irving attempts to mail Billy in a cardboard box. Upon discovering Billy inside the box, the two women almost do mail him as they are saying to Billy whether he would like a blanket for the trip. Seeing this made me laugh hard as if this is what the world has come to, then I think I like it this way. Other jokes in the movie were used incredibly well, one in particular was the nightclub scene as something happens that scares the dancers and the customers off, but I won't spoil what that something is. Lastly, the biggest aspect that got the most laughs out of me was the use of random civilians in the film. Unlike any Jackass movies before, this movie is a road-trip film and in that, this mismatched pair simply go around and mess with random people on the street or at other venues. Without question the best parts that this was utilized in was at a funeral, wedding and various stores across the film. For example, at the beginning of the movie, Irving gets his penis stuck in a soda machine (yep, you heard me). Anyhow, he gets his penis stuck and needs immediate assistance from randoms. As he is pleading and calling for help, all you hear and see are various people reacting to this in the most cruel and selfish ways. During this, one man was videoing him stuck and one simply laughed and drove off. This diverts back to how society has changed from the highest to the lowest common denominator. While the humour was really good, I feel that the trailer for the film showed a little too much, overall though, the comedy was excellent in the film and really opened my eyes and showed me how society had changed and how we treat each other. 

Still of Johnny Knoxville and Jackson Nicoll
charming a woman

As for the acting, I felt it was extremely strong considering this is a Jackass film. Johnny Knoxville plays the part of a horny old man perfectly as people do actually believe that he is a screwed up senior citizen. Just the way he manages to nail every single trait that an elderly person just managed to have my mind blown while watching the film. Jackson Nicoll as Billy also did a really good job as he is more or less the younger version of the Bad Grandpa, in which you can tell through the many acts that he performs in public. I also have to give props to him for not cracking a smile at whatever Johnny Knoxville says or does as some of the stuff he does is just too funny not to at least smile at. Anyhow, to be frank, those are more or less the two actors in the film and considering the movie is as good as it is, these two must have done phenomenal jobs in their respective roles. Overall, the acting was phenomenal considering that these two are more or less the only important characters throughout the entire movie. 

Still of Jackson Nicoll kicking chair out
underneath of Johnny Knoxville

Overall, Bad Grandpa is actually a really strong and hilarious film. Going into it, I was expecting more or less a shallow and poor attempt from the crew. However, they learnt from their rare mistakes and managed to pull out a film that in my opinion is almost as good as their last film, Jackass 3. 

OVERALL: 7.7/10

The Family (2013) Movie Review

THE FAMILY (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

You know when you go into a movie expecting it to be exactly what you think it is going to be? Well in the case of The Family, it is actually the polar opposite situation. 

In this dark comedy, the Manzoni family are a notorious Mafia clan who have to go under witness protection after a hit has been made on them. Members of this family include the father Fred (Robert De Niro) who is currently going through a mid-life crisis, Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) who is a mother trying to undue her past, Belle (Dianna Agron) who attempts at sparking a relationship with a fellow teacher and Warren (John D'Leo) who begins an extremely thought out system at his school, which involves elements used in the Mafia. Upon beginning their new life as the Blake family in a small country town in France, they soon realise that changing their entire personality and dark ways isn't as easy as they have been lead to assume. On paper, the premise actually sounded really interesting as it could have been a great way to show the emotional struggles that each family member has to go through on a daily basis. While the movie does mention this, I would have liked it if the film focused more around that aspect. Instead, we are left with a generic plot about another rival gang attempting to find them. This would have been fine if I the film's execution wasn't so choppy as the film in general just seems a little rushed. Overall, the premise for the film could have been interesting, though just didn't quite make the cut, still fairly good though. 

Still of Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer

Like I stated earlier, the premise on paper for this film does actually sound like an interesting and potentially award winning concept. However, the way that it was executed just didn't sit quite right with me at least. From I understood, the entire plot of the film is more or less about the family attempting to adjust to the change from killers to civilians. Now this is exactly what I wanted the movie to be like, however, I just feel something was off about the way it was handled. For example, at the beginning of the film, they don't really establish too much as basically what occurs is a family gets killed and then it cuts to the Manzoni's travelling to their new home. Now what I gathered from that scene was that the family that got murdered were filling in for the other family, or perhaps just got mistaken for them. While this may seem not relevant, it does raise the major problem with the film which is that everything isn't explained as well as it could have been. The film just expects the audience to pick up on something that may or may not be important to the plot of the film. Now this is OK if you are foreshadowing messages in the film like "know your enemies and know who to trust", but when you foreshadow important plot lines in the film, it just creates a confusing and to be frank, boring movie. This is yet another unfortunate problem as while he film does pick up the pace during the end, the lead up to the grand finale, in my opinion, is just extremely slow and boring. While there are actually some funny moments sprinkled throughout the film, it doesn't make up for the slow pacing throughout the entire film. If the movie was about 10-15 minutes shorter, I feel like it would have been a perfect length for this extremely dark comedy. 

Still of Michelle Pfeiffer walking away
from explosion

As for the acting in the film, I actually thought it was exceptionally strong. Robert De Niro pulls off the old, wise and ruthless father figure very well. Michelle Pfeiffer plays the headstrong, confused and seemingly nice mother very well and manages to play the borderline between bad and evil well. As for Tommy Lee Jones' character, I never quite understood why he is in this film at all. From what I gathered, he is more or less the agent that is checking on them and letting them know on any updates regarding the investigation. While I can see the relevance of his character, that doesn't quite translate onto the screen which goes back to one of the problems of the film that were previously mentioned. By far the best characters in this film were the two teenagers, Belle and Warren played by Dianna Agron and John D'Leo. I think the best I liked about these two were the chemistry that they had between each other as you actually believed that they care for each other, considering that they are brother and sister. As well as this, I also liked how they handled an everyday day at school as while many may see it as a waste of time, they see it as an opportunity to lie and cheat their way to the top of the popularity food chain. How they do this however is just hilarious and intriguing as when the girl feels uncomfortable around a group of men, she grabs a tennis racket and goes to town with it. While on the other side of the spectrum, the boy uses his wits and hires different students to protect and more or less serve him as long as he does something in return. This had me thinking about how their methods are very different and the way they work off each other considering their personalities are polar opposites was actually really cool to behold. 

Still of Dianna Agron and John D'Leo

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this film. On one side of the spectrum I really enjoyed the premise and the acting. However, I disliked the pacing and overall choppiness of the film. In the end, I have to go with my gut and judge this movie on what it is supposed to be, a dark comedy. Considering this, I must say this film is actually a good one at that. It has darker tones though managed to keep me intrigued, guessing and laughing all the way through. In the end, while the film isn't as good as I wanted it to be, I am glad I saw it. 

OVERALL: 7.0/10

Captain Phillips (2013) Movie Review

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

When I heard this event was being turned into a movie, I was sceptical. Then I had heard that the director of The Bourne movies was directing, then I was excited. Thankfully, my excitement was more than justified in the case of Captain Phillips.

As the name suggests, Captain Phillips is based on the horrifyingly true story about Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) as his ship becomes hijacked by Somalian pirates. One of the reasons this significant event became such a travesty was because of the events that transpired and the fact that this ship was the first cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years. In terms of it's reliability to the source material, Captain  Phillips does an impeccable job at representing the tragic events that occurred and accurately represents these terrifyingly true events. Another aspect I really liked about the execution in the story is that it shows both sides of the story, though never makes you feel like you should feel for these pirates, well, most of them anyway. I won't lie, towards the end, you feel a tiny bit sorry for one of them in particular, but I won't spoil it for you. Anyhow, Captain Phillips managed to perfectly represent this terrifying story and managed to tell the events accurately and fluently. 

Still of Tom Hanks being held hostage by pirates

One of the best aspects of this film I felt was how real the film was and just the fact that EVERYTHING in this movie actually happened. Every single moment in this film you knew was either incredibly intense, or a scene leading up to an incredibly intense scene, causing you to be more engaged in the events occurring. While many have said that the film is a little slow at parts, and while I cannot disagree with them, I felt it was necessary as with a film like this, it is very hard to keep the viewer engaged and interested for the entire two hours. Another aspect of this film that I did not expect was that in the final ten minutes of the film, I was actually crying just because of the performance that Tom Hanks brought (which will be discussed soon). About halfway through the movie however, the film did something that I did not expect, and that is that the film turns into a more secluded hostage situation film, which I really enjoyed as it gave the film more freedom with it's setting, considering the movie takes place on a giant cargo ship. Speaking of the cargo ship, one of the major reasons I feel that this particular premise worked so well on the big screen was that it was a very secluded area, much like the critically acclaimed film Gravity. The biggest reason that film was so good was because it took place in the most empty place you could imagine, the depths of space. Before I divert off topic, all these elements came together to work off of each other in such a spectacular way. 

Still of Tom Hanks and Michael Chernus

Now we come to easily the best aspect of the movie, the performances from the many actors in the film. Many different critics have stated that leading man Tom Hanks brings his best performance yet in this film. While I cannot agree with this, I must say it is defiantly one of his best as throughout the movie, you can really feel the pain that Phillips is going through. You can see that all he wants is to go home to his wife and never return. Before I digress, his performance is just phenomenal and while I feel it won't go down as a classic like Forest Gump or The Green Mile, I will be beyond disappointed if he doesn't at least get nominated for an Oscar or Academy Award. As for other actors/actresses in the film, I felt although the pirates in the film are completely new to acting, they were still really good to hold up against Tom Hanks as throughout the movie, most of the scenes are actually between him and these four beginners. Judging by their performances in this film alone, it is inevitable that their careers will continue to blossom (hopefully for the better). Overall, the acting was some of the best I have seen all year and Tom Hanks just nails the persona and emotions, according to the actual Richard Phillips who saw this film. 

Still of Barkhad Abdirahman, Barkhad Abdi,
Faysel Ahmed and Mahat M. Ali

In the end, Captain Phillips is easily one of the best films I have seen in a long time. With Tom Hanks bringing one of his best performances in history, fantastic debut performances from brand new actors and a solid and accurate representation of the event, I will be surprised if the film does not get nominated for something at the Oscars this year. 

OVERALL: 8.9/10

  

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) Movie Review

PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Have you ever gone into a movie expecting to just hate it and rip it apart? Well surprisingly,  that was not the case with this film. 

After an event occurs that leaves the safe haven for all demigods unprotected  Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon (Logan Lerman), friends Annabeth (Alexandria Daddario) and Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) and Percy's recently discovered brother Tyson (Douglas Smith) must now go on a perilous journey to the Sea of Monsters to collect the Golden Fleece, all while attempting to stop an ancient evil from rising. I'm just going to say it now, I haven't read the Percy Jackson books so I don't know if they are loyal to the source material or not, so I will just judge the movie as a movie. For the most part I had very few problems with the overall plot. While there were some plot holes sprinkled throughout the film, for the most part, the story of Sea of Monsters although a bit predictable, it got the job done and stuck with the classic good vs. evil storyline. And in my books, that is never a bad thing (most of the time). 

Still of Brandon T. Jackson, Logan Lerman
and Alexandria Daddario

One of the few aspects I enjoyed about the first Percy Jackson film was how Greek mythology and elements were implemented into the mortal world. In this film, while they don't have as many as the previous, they still manage to throw in some cool and funny nods to Greek mythology. For example, about halfway through the film, they need to find the Greek Messenger Hermes. Since he's a messenger, they have to go to a post office to find him which I thought was imaginative as it would make sense for a messenger to be in a post office. As I'm on the topic of Hermes in this film, probably the best thing about this film was actually his character as he was just so suave and acted like a real business man. As if that was not awesome enough, Hermes is played by the great Nathan Fillion, and while conversing, Hermes makes a reference to a certain cancelled TV show which only me and one other person in the audience reacted to, which I felt was great. While some mythical things were good, there were some just bizarre ones that unfortunately created small plot-holes in the story. For example, the whole point of the film is to recover the Golden Fleece which can bring anything back to life. While this is cool, this raises the point that when the film kills off an important character, they don't really die as they can be instantly brung back to life with the fleece. While useful, this leaves a plot-hole and doesn't keep the audience on the edge of their seat in suspense. 

Still of Nathan Fillion and Logan Lerman

As for the acting in the film, I felt it was way better than the acting shown in the previous instalment  Most of this is thanks to Logan Lerman's enhanced acting ability thanks to his role in the 2012 underdog film The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Other heavy-hitters in the film include Stanley Tucci as Mr D. and Nathan Fillion as Hermes, who both for some reason, are only in the movie for a short time. Listen to this directors, when you are given the acting talents of Nathan Fillion and Stanley Tucci, try and put them in as many scenes as possible. Even if they don't say anything, just stick them in the background for no reason. While it would be stupid, I would just be happy they got more screen time. One more person who actually did a good job was Leven Rambin as Clarisse a.k.a the biggest b***h in the movie. I don't know where this chick gets her anger from, but her playing an annoying and angry is just uncanny as this was shown in both this film and in 2012's The Hunger Games as in that film, she played more or less the same character. Overall, the acting in the film while not spectacular  it worked just fine for a family film and didn't really bring anything award worthy to the table. 

Still of Stanley Tucci and Logan Lerman

Overall, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters really did surprise me as it was much better than I had originally anticipated. As a big fan of Greek Mythology, I really dug this film as it managed to make references to various people from Greek mythology. Although I have not read the books, it appears that the film seems loyal enough to the books and although I think the movie needed a stronger plot and some inclusion of the Greek Gods, the film was still enjoyable, to a certain extent. 

OVERALL: 6.7/10

R.I.P.D (2013) Movie Review

R.I.P.D (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Kevin Bacon, Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds. Based on the cast alone I should love this movie, the most important word used here was SHOULD.

Nick (Ryan Reynolds) is a member of the local police and is just about to raid a group of drug dealers which he and the police have been tracking for some time. Upon busting in, something goes terribly wrong which leads to his untimely death. After he has died, Nick suddenly gets transported to a office resembling something that of an interrogation room. Sitting across from Nick is a woman known as The Proctor (Mary-Louise Parker) whom tells him that he is dead, though she wants him to work for the R.I.P.D, the Rest In Peace Department. The R.I.P.D is more or less a police unit that are dead and have to make sure any undead are not among the living, attempting to live a second life as it were. Because of this, Nick is now partnered up with Roy (Jeff Bridges), an eccentric cowboy who is normally used to being a one man army. With no other choice though, these two must now attempt to work together all while Nick tries and finds out how he died and possibly seek vengeance. I don't know what it is, but this plot sounds all to familiar  Oh wait. That's because I've more or less heard this same plot with Men in Black. Seriously, the only difference between the two are that they are dead but that is literally it. While the story did have elements of originality to it, the entire story more or less feels like Men in Black 4, just with weaker surprises and characters. 

Still of Kevin Bacon, Ryan Reynolds and
Jeff Bridges

For a film that holds actors that I KNOW can show some incredible charisma, the film really doesn't show any charismatic acting from..well..anyone. Ryan Reynolds plays the typical, cliché movie cop with very little humour. Jeff Bridges plays the role of an annoying cowboy out of his period too well as his voice really does paint the picture. Lastly, Kevin Bacon plays the best friend of Nick who (I guess spoiler) betrays and kills him. Seriously, whenever Kevin Bacon is on screen, you just know he is going to be a bad guy in some way. There was also one plot point in the film that I believe if it was taken out, the movie would be no different. In the film, Nick has a wife in which he sees more or less 2 or 3 times throughout the entire movie, at the start, once in the middle and once at the end. I feel if that plot point was taken out, it would have made the movie much more enjoyable as if the film just focuses around what real friends are to a person, it actually would have made the movie more relate-able (to me at least). At least Larry Joe Campbell is in the movie, for like 10 seconds for absolutely no reason but to look fat. 

Still of Jeff Bridges, Mary-Louise Parker and
Ryan Reynolds

Like I mentioned before with the whole underused message of the movie, which is finding your real friends, there are some other elements in the movie that could have been expanded upon or at least more developed with it's execution. One of the biggest things that was such a good idea though was incredibly underused were the avatars, in which Ryan Reynold's was a small Chinese guy and Jeff Bridge's was a hot supermodel. This could have made for some hilarious interrogation scenes, though the film instead does a weird thing where it cuts to the avatars for a second and then back to the actors for the rest of that scene. I would have preferred if they executed these scenes where before they enter the room, the say something along the lines of "get ready". Then when they have begun talking with the person, it stays with the avatars until something goes wrong or until the questioning is over, the film shows them as their original forms. If they had done it like this, I feel it would have created for some good chemistry between the two avatars and possibly increase the chemistry between Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds (even though there isn't much to begin with). 

Still of James Hong and Marisa Miller
(Nick and Roy's Avatar's)

Overall, R.I.P.D could have been a funny movie, but it just fell on it's face due to a cliché plot, boring characters and humour that is just way too easy to come up with makes R.I.P.D just another quick cash in. 

OVERALL: 5.6/10

Sharknado (2013) Movie Review

SHARKNADO (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Every once in a while, there comes a movie that just surprises me in it's quality. Unfortunately in Sharknado's case, it didn't surprise me in a positive way. 

You're going to have to bare with me on this one as the story is just too ridiculous and stupid to explain properly. When a freak hurricane begins heading towards Los Angeles, the locals of the city begin preparing for this natural occurrence  What they didn't expect is a hurricane filled with hundreds upon hundreds of sharks, which cause the sharks to fly in different directions and somehow, by their own freewill. As a result of this, a group of survivors must attempt and survive this "natural" disaster and think of a way to take down the Sharknado. No, I'm not kidding, that is literally the premise of Sharknado. Since I had heard such...things about this movie, I knew what I was to expect but I would have liked the tiniest bit of character or even story development. Instead, we are basically left with a movie that is more or less the rejected scenes from Piranha 3-D. Overall, the story is just awful with no character development and not once during the movie does the premise seem real, the realism could be said about the accents as well. 

Still of Man with no leg

This may be hard to believe, but there is actually something in this movie that is worse than the premise. The special effects in the film are just god awful as literally nothing looks real. When sharks are supposed to be the main aspect of your movie, you would think that they would put effort into their appearance but no, they didn't. Instead, we are left with transparent sharks that can somehow eat a person whole in at max two seconds. If you thought the sharks were the only bad special effects in the film, well think again as the violence and various buildings that get destroyed look incredibly fake. This cannot be more evident than with the Ferris wheel scene as when someone gets crushed by it, it honestly looks like a special effect I have seen by an amateur on YouTube  If people in Hollywood are getting paid to make a movie like this, then why aren't people on the internet, who make better quality films, get paid as well? Uhhhh... Anyhow, the effects in Sharknado were just down right sickening, though this was to be expected when going into the film. 

Still of the Sharknado approaching 

Uhh, do I really have to keep on talking about this movie? Fine. The acting is exactly what you would think it would be. There is no strong actor/actress in the movie and everyone just does an awful job in their respective parts. I feel like the cast for this movie would have worked better if it consisted of people that I actually know. Out of everyone in this movie, there are only two recognizable faces. Tara Reid (known for The Big Lebowski and American Pie) and Jon Heard (known for Home Alone and well, Home Alone 2) and both of these two just deliver terrible performances, and they somehow manage to be the strongest ones in the entire movie. I mean, could you just imagine if this film starred Bruce Willis, Dwanye Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson? I would be more than eager to see a movie like that. Even if the movie was god awful, I would say that the best thing about that movie was those men. However, since I have no interest in John Heard or Tara Reid, I can't really say if there roles in this movie were necessary or not. As for everyone else, they are just some D list actors and actresses who have more than likely never been in a movie before. Overall, the acting was exactly what I thought it would be, terrible and over the top, though the over the top performances did manage to make me chuckle throughout the movie. So there's that...

Still of Ian Ziering jumping into a shark, yep,
I just said that.

Overall, Sharknado is just a catastrophe of a movie. Thanks to a terrible story, god awful acting and even worse special effects, Sharknado is one of those rare movies for me that could EASILY be considered the worst film ever made. Strangely however, I feel that this movie could make for a good time with friends, that's if everyone was drunk. 

OVERALL: 3.0/10

Gravity (2013) Movie Review

GRAVITY (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

I think now is the time to officially start choosing Oscar contenders as Gravity may just be worthy of winning this year.

Gravity centres around two astronauts, Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) as these two are apart of a team sent into space to repair a satellite  However, things go in a different direction as an accident occurs which leaves the two drifting in the silence of space. Now on the brink of survival, these two must work together to get back to home on Earth. Judging by the story, the movie sounds like a survival movie in an unimaginable setting, and that's more or less what it is. This is because throughout the entire movie, Ryan and Matt are working together to find a ship that can take them home. However, the story for a movie like this is hard to do as it is space, so this opens the question of would it actually work like that? Thankfully though, scientists have actually said that this movie is a faithful representation of how physics would work in space, so at least we know we got that right. Overall, the story was flushed out very well and although at times bored me, it was meant to in a way as the entire movie is SPACE! How can you not be bored for some parts?

Still of Sandra Bullock and George Clooney

Since this is a survival movie, the acting must be the thing that carries this movie and determines it's final score. And to be completely honest, if Sandra Bullock doesn't win Best Actress for this performance, there WILL be controversy. Believe me, I'm serious as Sandra does a phenomenal job in this movie as she is more or less the driving force of this movie. When she is faced with a problem, it honestly feels like she is going to die if she does not overcome this. This statement could not be more true when she is faced with her oxygen being low. However, everytime she overcomes a problem, you just feel so happy for her and I will be completely honest, I was crying during one part of this movie because of her reaction to something terrible that occurs as she just looks torn as if she just watched her own mother and father be shot right in front of them. I would talk about the other actors in this movie, but there is literally only two other people (well...technically three) in this entire movie. These three men include George Clooney who plays the cocky, veteran astronaut very well, Phaldut Sharma who is only in the movie for like 5 minutes so he didn't show anything really and finally Ed Harris' voice as Mission Control who has the perfect voice to work at NASA, so props to him.

Still of Sandra Bullock

As for the special effects, they were simply breath taking. Seeing this film in 3-D actually helped the film's overall score as singing the wreckage of other satellites and ships drifting up close and in the distance is just a great thing to watch. Another aspect of the visuals that was done well was the look of Earth as as George Clooney says in the film, "Beautiful, isn't it?". His words could not be more true. When the visuals were combined with Sandra Bullock, I feel they created for some of the most intense and thrilling scenes in film as when she is struggling to stay attached to George Clooney, you actually feel like you're drifting with her into the dark void of space. Overall, the visuals were extremely good and really made the audience feel as if they were in space.

Still of George Clooney

Overall, Gravity could easily be considered worthy of an Oscar thanks to incredible acting from both George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. Though acting is not the only thing pushing this movie as the film holds perfect realism, fantastic visuals and a great sense of danger makes Gravity an intense, Oscar-worthy survival flick.

OVERALL: 8.8/10

Thor: The Dark World (2013) Movie Review

THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Marvel had begun their second round of movies with the in many ways dissapointing Iron Man 3. Now we have a film that I believe is most worthy of being a lead up to Avengers 2. 

Taking place after the events of The Avengers, the god of thunder Thor is now the protector of all the 9 realms, including Earth. As protector, Thor is now faced with an enemy that even Odin or Asgard can withstand, Malekith, a mystical dark elf. Knowing there is only one person who knows anything about his enemy, Thor must now call upon the help of his backstabbing brother Loki to help take down Malekith, all the while meeting with Jane Foster and company along the way. For the most part, I really enjoyed the story of this movie more than I did the first Thor, and I loved that movie. I think the thing I preferred in this film was that it explored more into Thor's emotional side as besides the whole god thing, he basically is human. Another aspect I liked was that it showed how people are still affected after the events of The Avengers as Erik Selvig is now in an mental institute because of what he saw in New York. Anyhow, the story was quite compelling and although some plot points were kind of easy to guess, it still had me guessing. 

Still of Chris Hemsworth

As with any movie made by Marvel, it is expected to be the perfect borderline between serious and hilarious, and Thor 2 did this like a champion. There is one scene in particular that was just so awesome involving a character from The Avengers (don't worry I won't spoil who it is) but it was just hilarious. Most of these hilarious moments were actually thanks to everyone's favourite Marvel villain, Loki, the god of mischief. While Loki was not the main bad guy in this movie, he was still menacing when him and Thor were going up against Malekith or just random thugs. As for the seriousness, I felt in many parts it was substancionally effective as there were many parts that made me guessing how it is going to play out. However, there was one part in  the movie that just rubbed me the wrong way, I'm not sure what it was, but I just didn't like it as much as I though I would. However, this is only minor and doesn't change my opinion on the movie at all. 

Still of Anthony Hopkins with guards

On the acting side of the spectrum, I felt it was extremely strong. Chris Hemsworth once again nailed the charismatic and cocky Thor, though I am a little disappointed with the amount of thunder he used in the movie, maybe it was lots but I expected more...oh well. Jane Foster was actually a more relevant character in this movie and it actually made logical sense for her  be in it more, besides the fact that it's Natalie Portman. Out of everyone however, I honestly feel that Tom Hiddleston once again stole the show as Loki. He stole the show in Avengers, Thor 1 and now the sequel. Seriously, Loki is just such an amazing, devilish, backstabbing, and just badass character, which he showed to the fullest in this movie, especially towards the end. I am honestly speechless on what to say as I'm not sure what I can say besides Loki is simply...badass...oh and everyone else was good in their respective parts as well.

Still of Tom Hiddleston 

Overall, Thor: The Dark World was a really good and enjoyable addition to Marvel's box office smashes. While riding off the success of The Avengers seemed almost impossible to top, I do believe Marvel have almost beat their 2012 phenomenon, almost.

OVERALL: 8.1/10