Thor: Another solid comic book film!

Thor, a powerful warrior from the distant planet of Asgard, is banished to earth by his father Odin for his arrogance. He must use all of his powers to protect the friends he makes there from evil forces sent from his home world by a sinister villian.

Thor can almost be viewed as a companion piece to the other Marvel superhero film adaptation released this summer, Captain America. Both featured richly, complex protagonist that had to learn to deal with the high and lows of the great responsibility of having great power. But whereas Steve Rogers grew up never knowing what it was to have power before he became Captain America, Thor grew up always having that power. He grew into an arrogant prince that needed to have that power yanked from him in order to realize what it meant to be a true leader. This might sound a little complex for a simple action film about a Norse God with a cool looking hammer but director Kenneth Branagh tempered the Greek tragedy overtones of the story with some solid action sequences as well as some truly amusing comedic bits as Thor adjusted to life on earth (the parts featuring his introduction to the taser and modern medicine were the highlights of the "fish out of water" stuff). Where Thor fell short was in showing the audience the Thunder God's transformation from selfish brat into selfless hero. It is true that, once on earth, he meets a beautiful scientist in Jane Foster (the always stunning albeit under-utilized in this particular role Natalie Portman) but it should take more than one romantic conversation under the stars to convert him into someone other than the egotistical brat he was.

All in all Thor was another solid entry into the growing lineup of Marvel superhero films.

Grade: B-

Superman Returns: And what a return.

In this day and age of constant Hollywood adaptations of classic comic book heroes a relaunching of one of the most popular, Superman, seemed like a sure fire box office smash. But when this film was released, it was met with mixed emotions from fanboys and critics alike. But unlike most superhero films, Superman Returns shines.

After a five year search for his home planet, Superman returns to earth. However he finds a great number of things have changed. There are some people that think the world does not even need him around anymore. But when his arch enemy Lex Luthor hatches an evil plan to destroy billions of lives, Superman will once again take up the mantle as protector of the planet.

In re – launching the Superman franchise, director Bryan Singer made a wise decision to not simply retell his origin and rehash what was covered in the first Superman film. Instead, Singer and the film’s screenwriters used the story of his return to ponder, in a broader sense, if the world truly needs superheroes at all. He then set about filling the screen with impressive action, treating the audience to the whole menagerie of Superman’s powers and resplendently composed shots which could take their collective breaths away. Some true action fans might have been disappointed that there was not more fighting and henchman butt – kicking in the film but what separated this film from other recent comic book to film adaptations (and made the first two X-Men films which Singer directed so good) were the directors’ ability to make those quiet moments in the movie so human and sincere. Yes the audience got to see Superman fly around, save lives and other spectacular feats, but that also got to see him interact with Lois Lane as they tried to hash out their personal relationship and grapple with the inner turmoil of trying to be the earth’s savior again. It was those quiet moments which made the return of Superman a film to remember. The lack of enough action could have also been due to the main villain of the movie. Kevin Spacey effectively tore up the screen as Lex Luthor, giving him the kind of snobby flair the character demanded, but his evil plan to destroy the world felt feeble and made Luthor look like nothing more than an evil land developer and not a proper nemesis for The Man of Steel.

Grade: B