Thor:The Dark World Movie Review 315

Thor:The Dark World is a 2013 superhero movie and a sequel to Thor. Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know all about Thor. It stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins and Christopher Eccleston.

It carries on from the first movie and we see that Thor's brother, Loki(Hiddleston) has been imprisoned on Asgard for his crimes in the first movie. Then, we have a history lesson and we learn that Bor, father of Odin(Hopkins) fought against a Dark Elf Malekith and that Malekith had a secret weapon called the Aether. Bor and his forces manages to defeat Malekith and his army in their homeland,Svartalfheim. Bor buried the Aether and thinks that that will be the last of it, but Malekith has escaped with some of his men and they are in suspended animation, waiting for the day when they can come back and get their revenge. Thor is going around making all of the nine realms safe, but there is something strange happening and Jane Foster(Portman) can see it. She and her pals go to an abandoned warehouse where there are portals to some other world. They are amazed by these, but Jane gets sucked into one of them and she is exposes to the Aether. She comes back, but she is not the same.

Thor discovers that something has happened to Jane and he comes to earth. She is taken to Asgard and she releases some sort of force. Malekith is awakened by this evil force and he begins to prepare to go to Asgard and cause some destruction. He creates a Kursed which is a huge mean warrior and he brings it with him. They steal into Asgard and search for Jane who has the Aether in her. They find her and they kill Thor's mother Frigga(Rene Russo) to get her. They kill loads of others and when Thor finds what they have done, he has to enlist the help of Loki to get out of Asgard and get Jane away. He wants to lure Malekith with the Aether and then they can have their revenge. They go to Svartalfheim and wait to Malekith to take the bait. He does so and the Aether is released from Jane.
Thor can't destroy it though and Loki gets killed while fighting the Kursed. Thor tells him that he will let Odin know of his sacrifice. Thor goes to London with Jane where Malekith is going to release the Aether and destroy the universe. They have to fight him and with the help of Jane's friends, they do so. Malekith is destroyed and Thor goes home. His father, Odin, wants him to take the throne, but he tells him that he can't and he tells him that Loki made a huge sacrifice for them all. He leaves and it is revealed that Odin is actually Loki!

There are a couple of post credit scenes. The first one has the Aether being given to a man called The Collector. It is to be hidden away and never used again. The Collector takes it and then says 'One down, five to go' so this suggests that he will be a baddie in the future. The next scene is in London where Thor comes to Earth to visit Jane and we see a monster which was released during the fighting, stomping around London...A good movie though not as good as the first one. There wasn't enough Loki in it, but I did enjoy Malekith and I thought that he was a good baddie. I can't say I like Portman at all. She just isn't my cup of tea and I don't think she brings much to the movie. Hemsworth and Hiddleston steal the show as Thor and Loki and Eccleston is good as Malekith. Lots of action and some comedic moments which make the movie worth watching. It was entertaining and fun so I will give it an 8/10.

Man of Steel Movie Review 295

Man of Steel is a 2013 action movie directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Michael Shannon.

The story of Superman is known to everyone, so there is no point going into too much detail about how he came about. Krypton is a planet which is going to be destroyed as it has used up all of its natural resources and cannot survive. Jor-El(Crowe) and his wife Lara have just had a baby boy and he is the first natural birth on the planet in years. They fear for his safety so they send their so, Kal-El to Earth so he has a chance. They give him a genetic codex of the Krypton race and let him go. A baddie called General Zod(Shannon) and his crew are out to cause havoc and he kills Jor-El. He gets caught and he is put in a prison called the Phantom Zone to cool off! Krpyton is finally destroyed when the planet explodes and Zod and he crew are released.

Kal-El lands in Kansas where he finds a family.You know the story. He is called Clark Kent(Cavill) and he wanders the earth working in crappy jobs. A reporter called Lois Lane(Adams) is in the Arctic doing a story on a government discovery of an alien ship. It turns out that it from Krypton and Clark wanders aboard it and meets a hologram of Jor-El. He tells him where he came from etc. Lane comes aboard and she sees all of this and he rescues her when she gets into trouble. She writes a story about it for the Daily Planet but her editor rejects it. She finds out who this superman is but she keeps his secret which is handy. I didn't like the fact that Lois finds out who Superman is so early in the film. It didn't seem right to me.

Anyway, Clark embraces his superhuman side and becomes Superman. Zod arrives on Earth and threatens to kill everyone unless Superman comes with him. He does so. They are seeking the codex but Superman won't give it to them. Little do they know that it is in him and they fight to get it. The rest of the movie has awesome fights and special effects. I suppose that the old Superman movies can't compare in this way, but I have to say that I liked Christopher Reeve as Superman. Cavill does a decent job and he looks strong etc. Adams was likeable as Lois Lane. Shannon was very good as Zod. He is a good baddie and I liked him in this film. The movie ends with Clark starting work at the Daily Planet and of course, Lois already knows who he is, but will keep his secret. Hmmm. Not sure about that, but all in all, it was enjoyable.Lots of fighting and great special effects. I give it a 7/10.

Iron Man 3 Movie Review 291

Iron Man 3 is a 2013 action movie directed by Shane Black and starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Guy Pearce.

Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man (Downey Jr.)is at a party in 1999 with a friend Maya Hansen(Rebecca Hall)  and he meets a guy called Aldrich Killian(Pearce) who is a scientist with a limp. He wants Tony to join his company, but Stark rejects his idea and embarrasses him. Cut to present day and Stark is experiencing panic attacks after what happened in The Avengers movie. A guy called The Mandarin(Ben Kingsley) is making videos and showing his intentions. He starts to plant bombs and he is being sought by the FBI etc. Tony has to overcome his problems to get this guy. He dares him to come to his house and take him on. Stark isn't ready for what happens when The Mandarin does show up and he blows his house to pieces. He manages to escape in an Iron Man suit along with his girlfriend, Pepper Potts(Paltrow). He is believed to have died. Hansen had come up with Extremis, which is a treatment which allows limbs to regenerate. It has been used in some war veterans, but the problem is that it can cause them to explode.

Now comes a really silly plot line. The Mandarin turns out to be a British actor called Trevor and he is just pretending to be the head of a terrorist organisation. The real boss is none other than Killian who has changed since his meeting with Stark in 1999. This seems really silly to me as I was under the impression that The Mandarin was a Chinese villain but these movies are never like the comics. Anyway, Stark has to find Killian. Killian grabs Pepper Potts and subjects her to Extremis. It also turns out that Hansen was working with him but has a change of heart at the last moment but gets killed. Stark and Killian face off. They have a fight but it is Pepper Potts who kills him. In the end, Stark has his chest reactor taken off and he has an operation to remove the shrapnel near his heart.Potts has the Extremis removed so she is fine. Is this the end of Iron Man? I doubt it. He has to come back for the Avengers etc so there will be more movies!There is a post credit scene of Stark talking to Dr. Bruce Banner(Mark Ruffalo) who dozed off as Stark was telling him his tale...

This was much better than Iron Man 2 and there is loads of action here. Downey Jr. is good as Stark and  Pearce was good as the baddie and there was so much happening that you didn't mind the long running time. If you like a good superhero movie, then this is for you! I give it an 8/10.

The Avengers Movie Review 242

The Avengers is a 2012 superhero movie directed by Joss Whedon who of course you know from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel as well as Dollhouse. It stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk,Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.

If you have seen the movies Thor, Captain America and Iron Man, you will know the characters already. This movie begins with the evil Loki played by Tom Hiddleston. Loki has a plan to take the Tesseract which is a very powerful energy source and use it for evil. He has made a pact with an evil group called the Chitauri who in return for the Tesseract, will give him a powerful army to defeat the earth and all of the superheroes too. Nick Fury played by Samuel L. Jackson is at a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility when the Tesseract suddenly starts to change and emit energy. Along comes Loki who has been brought to earth and he takes it. He also makes Hawkeye and Dr.Erik Selvig played by Stellan Skarsgard into his slaves and takes them with him. Nick decides that he needs help so he gets the team of superheroes together to battle Loki. Loki is caught and brought back to S.H.I.E.L.D. His brother, Thor shows up and tries to bring him back home to Asgard. He is persuaded not to by Captain America and Iron Man. Loki is brought onto an aircraft carrier and put into a prison with a steel trap built in should he try to escape. Tony Stark(Iron Man) and Bruce Banner try to find the Tesseract.

The heroes wonder why Loki allowed himself to be caught so easily. Hawkeye and the other agents he enslaved are going to attack the ship. Banner transforms into Hulk and runs amok. The others try and fight the attack. Loki gets out and puts Thor in the prison and he falls into the steel trap. Hulk heads off alone and  Agent Phil Coulson is killed. It seems as if everything is lost. Hawkeye is rescued by Black Widow and she helps him to come back to himself again. They have to rally together as Loki is using Stark Tower to open the portal to earth. From the portal come the evil Chitauri and there are loads of them. They are destroying everything. Thor and Hulk arrive back and the team is complete.

They have to close the portal and stop the Chitauri from pouring in. The superheroes have to become a team . Hulk goes after Loki and makes him suffer. The others fight the invaders and Black Widow and Dr.Selvig try and close the portal(Dr Selvig having come back to his senses by this stage). They eventually succeed and Thor takes Loki back to Asgard. Nick Fury and the other Avengers are pleased and Nick says that if he needs them again, he will call them. There are two post credit scenes. The first is a set up for the next movie and it involves one of the Chitauri telling his boss Thanos about their invasion and the second has the Avengers eating in a restaurant.

All in all, a great movie. It has everything you could want - fantasy, action, humour and a great baddie. Tom Hiddleston is very impressive as the lordly Loki and he plays the part perfectly. Hemsworth was great as Thor once again. Ruffalo was good as Hulk. It was very impressive when he came out to destroy everything in his path. Iron Man was good, Captain America was good and the other characters did well too. It was a good cast and the movie was well made. I didn't feel the time passing as I was caught up in it and I really liked it.

Everyone had a good part in the film and I think it worked very well. I am looking forward to the next one already!!! This gets a 9/10.