Courtesy photograph
Epic tale ‘Thor’ not as action-packed as expected
Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth star in “Thor.”
Jason Wallis
- ‘Thor’
-
★★ 1/2 (out of four)
2011, Dir. Kenneth Branagh, U.S., PG-13
- New films
-
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger
Tides”
Director: Rob Marshall.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz.
The plot: After crossing paths with a woman from his past,
Captain Jack Sparrow is swept aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the
ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard, on an unexpected mission
to the elusive fountain of youth.
Genre: Action, adventure.
Rating: PG-13.
“Midnight in Paris”
Director: Woody Allen.
Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates.
The plot: A romantic comedy about a family traveling to the
French capital for business. The party includes a young engaged
couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from
their own is better.
Genre: PG-13.
Rating: R.
- Film roundup
-
‘Fast Five’
★★ 1/2 (out of four)
Those car chases are pretty freakin’ cool. I’m not even a
muscle-car fetishist, but I’d be lying if I said that the action
sequences in “Fast Five” are anything short of amazing. They are
among the best car-chase set-pieces of the past several decades,
and Lin pulls off the increasingly rare feat of sustained kinetic
coherence. The story finds our “heroes” trotting the globe and
getting into several frantic, high-speed car chases in a variety of
environments — but through all the jump-cuts and cross-cuts and
elaborate, multi-camera stunt logistics, Lin always keeps his eye
on the ball. Things never spiral of control, and the viewer feels
fully integrated into the action. This is involving stuff, and for
the 30 cumulative minutes that “Fast Five” has its game face on,
it’s cinematic nirvana for action junkies.
Posted: Friday, May 13, 2011 8:45 am
|
Updated: 8:52 am, Fri May 13, 2011.
Epic tale ‘Thor’ not as action-packed as expected
Kenneth Branagh’s hotly anticipated “Thor” is the first of the
year’s would-be summer blockbusters, and it ushers in the season
not with the thunderous bang we were all expecting, but a timid
whimper.
It has garnered some praise and enjoyed a strong opening weekend
simply because it “isn’t bad,” but I ask: Is the absence of abject
stupidity really all we’re looking for in a movie these days? Are
we so relieved not to be met with complete incompetence that we’re
willing to settle for simple mediocrity?
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Posted in
Jason wallis
on
Friday, May 13, 2011 8:45 am.
Updated: 8:52 am.
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