I seem to be obsessed with the endings of stories… movies, books, TV series. (That last one's rough, since I'm convinced Dani has a thing about ending a series — we have yet to see the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel, for instance, and I've lost count of the other series that've dropped off our recording queue once we know the end is nigh. One of these days, I am going to have to watch that last season of Buffy, however.) That hardly seems like a novel obsession (no pun intended), but it does make it plain why I'd never make it as a reviewer… I know I hate it when someone spoils the end, or even just the plot twists, of a story I haven't experienced yet. (So let's just consider this the obligate SPOILER ALERT, shall we?)
The right ending can make a good story great (such as in Animal Kingdom), while a bad ending can take a decent movie south (as when I realized the ending of Sucker Punch was a sucker punch to the audience). This past weekend brought me a little bit of both of these.
Thor
I think I like superhero movies more than I do the comics that inspired them. I used to read Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Batman as a kid, and I enjoy the more grown-up versions of these and other comics today. But give me a big screen, special effects laden version any day. Thor was great fun, with an excellent mix of action, drama, comic relief and a little epic grandeur thrown into the mix. (Now we know why Kenneth Brannagh was tapped to direct this particular superhero film.) Between the digital beauty of celestial Asgard, the harsh environs of the Frost Giants' home and the stark landscapes of New Mexico, it had a visual style that suited its 3D presentation. Chris Hemsworth brought just the right amount of charm and swagger to Thor, Tom Hiddleston did a great job of straddling all the different aspects required of a devious god like Loki, Natalie Portman was, well, Natalie Portman and I love Kat Dennings in anything she does, even as tiny a role as she had here. And Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson is becoming more fun with each of these Avengers films.
But while I enjoyed the movie, I found myself unimpressed by the climactic battle between Loki and Thor. "Dad always liked you best" seems like such a pathetic reason for Loki's actions and I would have much preferred something that tied into the troublesome nature of the trickster god. Instead we got whining and an overabundance of sturm und drang. Ultimately, while it didn't make me dislike the movie, it did leave me less impressed, overall, then I had been to that point.
Source Code
On the other end of the spectrum lies Source Code, which not only didn't disappoint, but had an ending that messed with my brain till I finally wrapped my head around it (several minutes after the final credits rolled) and then kept coming back to me on the drive home with "oh, I get it" realizations popping into my head. The movie was great fun, and I enjoyed the twists and revelations as they were doled out, but it was that twisty, had-to-think-about-it, ending that sold me on this one.
The right ending can make a good story great (such as in Animal Kingdom), while a bad ending can take a decent movie south (as when I realized the ending of Sucker Punch was a sucker punch to the audience). This past weekend brought me a little bit of both of these.
Thor
I think I like superhero movies more than I do the comics that inspired them. I used to read Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Batman as a kid, and I enjoy the more grown-up versions of these and other comics today. But give me a big screen, special effects laden version any day. Thor was great fun, with an excellent mix of action, drama, comic relief and a little epic grandeur thrown into the mix. (Now we know why Kenneth Brannagh was tapped to direct this particular superhero film.) Between the digital beauty of celestial Asgard, the harsh environs of the Frost Giants' home and the stark landscapes of New Mexico, it had a visual style that suited its 3D presentation. Chris Hemsworth brought just the right amount of charm and swagger to Thor, Tom Hiddleston did a great job of straddling all the different aspects required of a devious god like Loki, Natalie Portman was, well, Natalie Portman and I love Kat Dennings in anything she does, even as tiny a role as she had here. And Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson is becoming more fun with each of these Avengers films.
But while I enjoyed the movie, I found myself unimpressed by the climactic battle between Loki and Thor. "Dad always liked you best" seems like such a pathetic reason for Loki's actions and I would have much preferred something that tied into the troublesome nature of the trickster god. Instead we got whining and an overabundance of sturm und drang. Ultimately, while it didn't make me dislike the movie, it did leave me less impressed, overall, then I had been to that point.
Source Code
On the other end of the spectrum lies Source Code, which not only didn't disappoint, but had an ending that messed with my brain till I finally wrapped my head around it (several minutes after the final credits rolled) and then kept coming back to me on the drive home with "oh, I get it" realizations popping into my head. The movie was great fun, and I enjoyed the twists and revelations as they were doled out, but it was that twisty, had-to-think-about-it, ending that sold me on this one.
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