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Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok
Thor as a character has worked best on screen when he’s been allowed to be funny; that’s not to say he isn’t good when serious as well, but there’s a balance that needs to be struck to get the best out of him. The original Thor found that balance, contrasting the serious Asgardian family drama with Thor’s fish out of water antics on Earth, and the film became one of my unexpected favourites from the Marvel stable. Thor: The Dark World on the other hand is an uneven, gloomy film that only sparks to life when Loki is around, and while I’ve grown more forgiving of the film after multiple viewings, I still find it a damp and dreary piece. →
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My 2015 film highlights
As usual at this time of year, I've picked 20 highlights from all the films I saw during 2015, this time from a pool of 227 candidates. The only rule I follow is that I saw the film during 2015, though this year there's only a bit of an overlap with 2014 so that probably isn't all that important. →
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Review of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Managing expectations is important; this is not strictly an adaptation of The Hobbit. Instead, it's a prequel to Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. This is crucial, because if you go in hoping for a lightweight children's fable, which is more or less what The Hobbit is, you'll find something bloated and overly dark in tone. As a prequel it's a success, though a qualified one. Note: To try and avoid confusion, I'll be referring to the film as An Unexpected Journey, and the book as The Hobbit. →
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Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood
Ridley Scott's Robin Hood plays like Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins; telling us the back story of a noble vigilante we may not have known before leading up to a sequel-friendly ending. It doesn't have the character of Nolan's work, nor does it have the epic nature of Scott's own Gladiator, but what's here is a respectable, solid piece of work with just enough meat on the bone to satisfy. →