They keep jamming more and more into these movies and making them harder and harder to summarize. Someday I’m going to give up on discussing the plot and just list all the things I thought about and discuss what the audience did, sort of a meta-review, but that day is not today. I’ll do my best to hit all the high points.
Thor: The Dark World
So the Norse gods are still right in the middle of fighting everybody all the time, Thor is still “all muscly”, as Darcy (Kat Dennings) rightly points out, and Asgard still looks like a giant pipe organ, so all’s right with the world(s), basically. And pretty much the whole gang is back from the first Thor, and / or The Avengers, which is always nice to see in a sequel.
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Red Dawn
I would’ve reviewed this movie sooner, but it took them two years to release it. Seriously. Filming wrapped sometime in 2010, but that was right around the time MGM started having financial troubles, so they couldn’t afford to do anything with it. In the intervening time, two of the actors here ended up becoming abruptly much more popular, so maybe it didn’t work out so badly for MGM after all. On the other hand, maybe it did, since I’ve just seen what imdb users are rating it.
Snow White and the Huntsman
Once upon a time — because really, how else can you start a review of a fairy tale? — there was a girl named Kristen Stewart who beat out half the up and coming young actresses in Hollywood to play Snow White. She was Bella in Twilight but I tried not to hold that against her. It wasn’t any easier to cast the Huntsman, apparently. Tom Hardy was one of the candidates, and Viggo Mortensen of Lord of the Rings considered it for months before dropping out. Hugh Jackman was asked, but didn’t want it. They even considered — wait for it — Johnny Depp. Ugh.
The Avengers
You probably know the basics already: An impossibly powerful energy source, a Norse god or two, the original 1940’s superhero, a noted assassin, a narcissistic billionaire playboy inventor, and the world’s best archer. Okay, that last one ends up sounding a little lame summed up in so few words, but the effects of a well-placed exploding arrow should not be underestimated. Oh, and there’s an alien invasion. I almost forgot.
Thor
Remember when I told you to stay for the teaser after the end credits for Iron Man 2? Well, this is why.