Movie Reviews

Thor

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  • Title: Thor
  • IMDb: link

thor-poster

There are quite a few challenges and obstacles laid at the feet of Thor given its main character and choice for both leading man and director. Could Kenneth Branagh direct an action-heavy comic book film? Could Chris Hemsworth carry the movie? Would Thor look cool or ridiculous as a live-action character? Is there another important post-credit sequence? How large is Jeremy Renner‘s role in the film? Would the movie start out the summer season with a whimper or a bang?

We need not have worried. Yes, Hemsworth does a great job carrying the weight of the film. Yes, Branagh not only succeeds in the character-driven scenes but also with the film’s not inconsiderable amount of both humor and action. Yes, Thor looks good. Even the character’s more ridiculous features (such as spinning the hammer to create whirlwinds and tornadoes) come off as impressive and very, very cool.

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Fast Five

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  • Title: Fast Five
  • IMDB: link

fast-five-posterThere’s insane and then there’s INSANE. Every time I thought the latest edition of The Fast and the Furious franchise had hit the limits of insanity they proved me wrong and found new ways to defy logic, common sense, and basic laws of nature. There’s a scene in last summer big-budget version of The A-Team where the team attempts to fly a tank that is falling through the air. The last twenty-minutes or so of Fast Five feel a lot like that.

With the exception of Michelle Rodriguez (whose character was killed off in the last installment), Fast Five brings together all the major characters of each of the films and picks up right where Fast & Furious left off with springing Turetto (Vin Diesel) from a prison bus.

Fast Five also gives us a new lawman. After the team is framed from the murder of two Federal Agents (because hunting them down for crimes they actually committed would be silly) the US Government sends the best to bring them in – Dwayne “Now that I’m back in the WWE you can call me The Rock again” Johnson.

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Rio

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  • Title: Rio
  • IMDB: link

Rio is by all accounts a very traditional animated feature. We get likable stars in the form of cute animals, a few big musical numbers, stories centered around friendship and true love, and even a menacing villain or two. Although the film doesn’t stray too far off the path of what we’ve seen (many) times before, Rio delivers a colorful film and its share of fun.

The story centers around Blu (Jesse Eisenberg), a domesticated Spinx Macaw who never learned to fly. Blu travels from his cozy home in Minnesota to the Brazilian wilderness with his owner Linda (Leslie Mann) when an ornithologist (Rodrigo Santoro) convinces them to help save Blu’s endangered species.

I would have liked to have seen more of Linda and Blu’s life together in Minnesota. After a brief introduction, we only get a montage of the two growing up together and then a single scene before moving onto to their adventure. Although the film has plenty of relationships, this is the one that held the most promise, and is sadly interrupted by the series of events which follow.

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Soul Surfer

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  • Title: Soul Surfer
  • IMDB: link

soul-surfer-posterBased on the experiences of Bethany Hamilton (played here by AnnaSophia Robb), Soul Surfer tells the story of a young girl who lost her arm to a shark attack which threatened to end a promising amateur surfing career.

The main focus of the film is Bethany’s struggle, and that of her family and friends, to come to grips with with what has happened and her attempt to move forward. It’s a little too Hallmark Hall of Fame for my tastes, and more than a little formulaic, but there’s definitely an audience for this type of movie.

The young protagonist faces hardship, learns something new about herself and the world, has her faith tested and then renewed, and eventually comes out stronger for the experience. Sound familiar? That’s because it is.

Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid star as Bethany’s parents, and both do well to present the emotion called for in each scene, even if at times the dialogue lets them down. The movie does get the feel of the entire family, including Bethany’s best friend (Lorraine Nicholson) and her father (Kevin Sorbo), just right.

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Miral

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  • Title: Miral
  • IMDB: link

Directed by Julian Schnabel and adapted from her own novel by Rula Jebreal, Miral is an attempt by the Jewish filmmaker to examine life from the point of view of several Palestinian women after the establishment of the state of Israel.

The film begins with the rescue of 55 orphaned children by Hind Hussein (Hiam Abbass). The children were the first discovered survivors of Deir Yassin Massacre, but within six months the number of children would swell to several thousand.

I’ll stop for a second to discuss Hind Hussein, who is definitely worthy of a film dedicated to her life and accomplishments. Using what resources she had, Hussein transformed her grandfather’s estate into an orphanage and institute of learning which continues today. Abbass gives a strong performance, even overcoming some questionable old age makeup for the character’s later years. But, somewhat to the film’s detriment, Hussein isn’t the film’s main character. In fact, I’m not sure it has one.

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