Thor: The Dark World

So rather than try to make a coherent and cohesive post about Thor, I'm just going to use the trusty bullet list:

• I love Tom Hiddleston.  I think he is great actor and never takes himself to seriously (which is fun).  And he is clearly having a good time play Loki, which is unsurprising because he gets to be completely bananas in this part. 
• I enjoyed the dichotomy of the uber-muscular Chris Hemworth fighting next to the slight Tom Hiddleston.  
• It is hard to go wrong when you cast Christopher Eccleston as the villain (who I recognized almost immediately by he voice, even though he was speaking an alien language).  
• Apparently, there are no barbers in Asgard, since both Thor and Loki have much longer hair compared to the first Thor movie (maybe they were too busy).  
• They recast one of the minor characters with a more famous actor (Zachary Levi).  I kept looking at the actor and saying, "Is that a different guy? I think so."
• Clearly, the writers realized what they had and expanded the role of Idris Elba.  And made him even more awesome, he takes down a spaceship single-handedly. 
• Like the first Thor movie, there were so many helmets.  

Trailers, Trailers

I saw two movies back to back this weekend (Catching Fire and Thor: The Dark World), and so I saw a lot of trailers.  And here is a quick rundown:

RoboCop: Was this a reboot that someone was asking for? I saw this trailer twice, and both times when they show the classic RoboCop (in silver, the new one is in black), I hoped that Peter Weller was in the suit.  I don't know if they are planning on making a darker and bleaker RoboCop (I haven't seen the original in a long time).  I think it is a result of the success of the Nolan Batman series, and more and more superhero movies are bleak and grim (I think that the success of the Avengers may be partial due to the fact that that movies is lot more fun and lighter).  I hope it is decent (though I have no real desire to see it) because Jennifer Ehle, Gary Oldman, and Joel Kinnamen deserve to be in good movies.

I, Frankenstein:  Should really be called : I, Frankenstein's Monster.  Why is this movie being made? It looks terrible, however there is one cool special effect in which what I assume to be stone gargoyles flap their wings over their bodies and then become human actors.

The Legend of Hercules: (the title may wrong) As much as a collection of myths can be canonical, it bothered me that they are making up a completely off cannon story about Hercules.  If you were going to make a story about Hercules, why not use the 12 Labors?  I think that is a interesting story and there are plenty of action set pieces and interesting special effects that are available. Also, there is something about Kellan Lutz that I cannot take seriously as an action star.

Divergent: Meh, looks kinda of interesting

X-Men Days of Future Past:  So it looks like they doing the tricky thing of bridging the original 3 X-Men movies (so Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, and Hugh Jackman are in it) and the prequel/reboot from a few years ago (James McAvoy, Michael Fassbinder, and Jennifer Lawerence).  If it was anyone other than Bryan Singer, I might be worried but he clearly cares about these characters and made two really good X-Men movies before Brett Ranter drove that franchise into the ground.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier: I am so excited for this movie.  The first Captain America movie is one of my favorites and the story line of Steve Rogers adapting to modern America seems to be an interesting one.  Add the fact that some of it was shot here in the DC area (I love recognizing places that I have been) and it is no wonder that I am excited.  And I only have a wait a few more months!