Having been recommended Iron Man 2 and being somewhat bored lately, I decided to check Iron Man 2 and Thor out tonight. Iron Man 2 alluded to Thor as being in the next chain of events in this Marvel series, piquing my curiosity at the end of the credits. I have to say both movies were quite compelling and had reasonably decent direction (far better than the crappy/campy X-Men reboot). However, the hook for me is just the continuation that seems to lead to the first Avengers movie.
I’m not a huge comic book buff but I like continuity and linking stories together. The Avengers is slowly shaping up to be an all-star type of cast and super hero scenario. The writing for the most part between the movies involving the characters for The Avengers has been decent, so I’m hoping that the glut of star power and super heroes won’t detract from a good storyline.
Iron Man 2 did a decent job at re-establishing Robert Downey Jr.’s overly egotistical character, yet introducing weaknesses of his super powers. You gotta hand it to the actor who practically has lived up to the image he established in Less Than Zero because it seems as though nothing has changed. Hopefully, the added humility demonstrated in Iron Man 2 through his personal issues both with the suit, his lack of faith in his friends and his private insecurities that he battled similarly mimicked (mimics?) how he handles himself in real life.
Thor was a change of pace from the cybertronic, high tech imagery in Iron Man 2 since it delved into the Norse mythos to engender its lore. In scenes reminiscent of a He-Man type of science/magical universe, the world of Thor blended both, providing some stunning imagery of what the realm of impossibility could look like if we halted our doubts about the way the universe operates. The character of Thor himself was quite likeable and managed to convince me of his slow transformation/growth from the arrogant/high tempered son to a more cautious individual who becomes more aware of vulnerabilities because of his transient banishment to the mortal world. During his banishment, Thor still remained noble of character, despite occasionally demonstrating conventions of etiquette that most people would probably consider “rude.” These qualities gradually won me over from his hot headed disposition.
In examining both movies as well as the ambition of adding some major super heroes to the Avengers movie mix, I think that the director needs to be cautious in avoiding the dilemma posed from the X-Men movies, which was the limited character development and difficulty in providing enough screen time for each character. On the other hand, the positive aspect in producing each of these super hero movies separately has been being able to create a few back stories to help pre-familiarize audiences before diving head first into the story and forcing on screen character development in unnecessary haste.
At any rate, 2012 May looks to be an ambitious month. Can’t wait.