Guardians of the Galaxy in Theaters Now

I got to see Guardians of the Galaxy (PG-13, 2 hours) the second day it was out, but I was on vacation and away from computers and just haven't gotten around to reviewing it until now. That means this will be a short one because my first impressions are mostly lost.

Personally, I prefer my heroes a little more serious. But I had quite a few good laughs and enjoyed the cheesy lightheartedness of this film. I especially loved Bradley Cooper's Rocket Raccoon. He was by far my favorite character, and I love seeing the variety of Bradley Cooper's work. The plot was so-so, but I wasn't expecting a lot. I am interested in seeing these characters incorporated into the rest of the Marvel movie universe. I think the play of comedy against serious in the right doses could be really entertaining, although some of the other Marvel heroes are already balancing serious and comedic well enough.

For sure, this style of superhero movie is surprising and unique, and that's what it really has going for it in the sea of superhero movies we are now inundated with (not that it's a disagreeable inundation...yet). So far, Marvel keeps getting it right, but I hope their style and stories continue to evolve. The next Guardians tale won't have novelty going for it anymore. Three stars.

Thor: The Dark World in Theaters Now

I got to see Thor: The Dark World last night on its release date. (Or should I say, the 8:00 pm showing which used to be the midnight showing the night before its release date? Hey, I'm not complaining about the time; I just think it's funny.)

My husband and I like to joke about the fact that we would never have guessed Thor to be interesting fodder for the movies. I mean, come on, he's a god with a sledgehammer. (And I'm aware that all the fans out there are saying, "Yeah, he's a god with a sledgehammer!") Well, I stand corrected. I loved the first Thor, and this second is an excellent follow-up, especially with the help of the tie-in movie The Avengers. Really, Dark World is our third time getting to watch these characters on the screen, and I'd be happy with more.

So, what is it about this world and these characters that brings us all back again and again? Is it the tightly written script (A lot happens in just under 2 hours!), the exquisite look of Asgard (with more detail even than the last movie), the high stakes (All the realms, including Earth, are in peril!), the unequal romance of a god to a mere mortal, the humor and quick wit of some of the dialog, the superb acting, or the mixed motivations of a villain we begrudgingly root for? All of these things impact us, I'm sure, but right now, I think the biggest factor is the last.

Tom Hiddleston's Loki is the perfect villain. In this movie, his scheming takes second place to a larger threat, but he's still there, lurking magnificently in the shadows. The thing about Loki: you just don't know who the real guy is. He's an illusionist. He's something of a victim, and we feel that, but what he's done with his anger is wrong, hence the title "villain." Does he have room for love in his heart, or are revenge and power all he seeks? He's a charmer, willing to pretend and say whatever you want to hear, but sometimes we hope he means it, even though we know we should know better.

The media loves him. The fans love him. I think I even love him. And I'm not sure I should. He's the bad guy, right? He's done terrible things. A smile here, a good joke there, and a little emotion we viewers can identify with don't change the fact that he's bad. But I think part of the reason I love him is that I am always hoping for character redemption. It's the same reason I love characters like Ben Linus, from TV's Lost, and Regina, from Once Upon a Time. There's more to those characters than just one-dimensional evilness. They are complicated, like us.

Having said all that, I also think there's a danger in that belief. We more easily overlook the truly awful things such characters have done. It's difficult to process a character like Loki morally, and I'm not saying I have the answers. It's just something to consider and something that needed mentioning on this blog.

Of course, there's a lot more to this story than Loki. There are darker villains, and oh, yeah, the heroes are pretty great, too. Thor may be a little too perfect now, unlike in the first movie, but I'm not going to complain about a good hero. In a superhero movie, it's probably best to keep a clear definition of good versus evil, especially when you have bad enough evil characters. There has to be good to balance it out. And morality is plenty murky in our world as it is.

Thor: The Dark World is appropriately rated PG-13 for some dark sci-fi action and violence, but it's nothing you wouldn't expect in a comic book movie. In short, if comic books and superheroes are your thing, this movie has it all and is worth seeing in the theater. Four and a half stars.

Iron Man 3 in Theaters Now

I've heard mixed reviews, but you know, I really loved Iron Man 3. I love superhero origin stories foremost, but next to that, I like to see my superheroes suffer and stumble in the dark and still come out triumphant. I can't relate to them when they are flying about saving the world. But I can relate to them when they are doubting and hurting, confused, alone. I'm not a masochist, really! Sure, I like to see that raw edge, yet at the same time, that grittiness means nothing if it's not followed by victory, or at least hope. Iron Man 3 nicely balances its depiction of raw humanity, groaning against the earth, with a triumphant goodness that makes you want to pump your fist in the air.

In Iron Man's origin story, I liked him well enough. He was funny and cool. I didn't like his morals much, but he started to change. In Iron Man 3, I love him. He's still rough around the edges, but Pepper Potts has centered him. He doesn't chase other women or act like a rich, spoiled brat (well...okay, less so than before, at least). He and Pepper have a great love story (though a little modern for my tastes--there's been no mention of marriage). He still aggravates her and makes mistakes, but in the end, she's the most important thing in the world to him. And he's learned to apologize...sort of. Pepper, on her part, is a hugely forgiving woman. She knew what she was in for when she became Tony's woman, and she can handle him because she's her own woman, too. She can wear the suit and kick butt. She's not a complainer. She's a doer. And she can roll with Tony's sense of humor. If you didn't like Pepper before this movie, I don't know how you can't after it. She's totally sweet and totally tough. She doesn't get a ton of screen time, but she uses it well.

Of course, I'm talking about the actors as much as the fictional characters. To me, Iron Man is Robert Downey Jr., and Pepper Potts is Gwyneth Paltrow. I can't picture anyone else in those roles. Robert Downey Jr. brings such a crazy energy to his character. His lines are fast-paced, sort of mumbly, hysterically funny, and so well-timed. His interaction with his machines (Jarvis) and the suits is believable (within the world) and humorous, especially when putting on his newest creation involves a high-speed, piece-by-piece, body-bruising, groin-punching, airborne suiting up. Great physical comedy, which I love!

The story of Iron Man 3 works for me, but Tony Stark's personal journey through his anxieties and distractions to what really matters: being the hero and keeping Pepper safe, is what struck all the right chords. I'm not at all familiar with the Iron Man of the comic books, so if this story diverges from that or not (which I know now that it does) doesn't matter at all to me. I enjoyed the plot and the villains and the twists. I enjoyed seeing the heart underneath Iron Man's bravado exterior. The kid Tony interacts with is a brilliant touch for humanizing the Iron Man.

And I absolutely loved the short little punchline at the end of the credits. I don't want to spoil it for you. It's a little different than the usual fare you might expect. It's not really a preview of movies to come. But it's funny, so be sure to stick around for the last laugh.

Iron Man 3 is rated PG-13, mostly for action and violence. (I did not find it appropriate for the four-year-old girl sitting in my row.) Most middle school kids should be fine. Incidentally, I had a lot of great previews in front of my showing of Iron Man 3. Marvel has its own corner of the movie market, and they are doing brilliantly, though DC's new Superman was also previewed. Superheroes are definitely in.

Iron Man 3 just came out this past weekend, and if you've been on the same Marvel bandwagon as the rest of us, support some little town's local theater (Cheaper tickets! Everything said, $10 is still an awful lot to pay for the big screen.) and see it now!

The Amazing Spider-Man in Theaters Now

I went to see The Amazing Spider-Man last night. In my opinion, it's too soon for a reboot, but I was interested in seeing it, all the same. I really love Emma Stone (who plays Gwen Stacy), and the previews looked pretty awesome.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Not that it matters, but I got some great previews beforehand, all movies I'm excited to watch (The Dark Knight Rises, Breaking Dawn 2, and Total Recall). The beginning of the story was a little slow for me. I'm one of those who didn't know anything about Spider-Man before I watched Tobey Maguire play the part, so I didn't know what to expect when I saw those Spider-Man movies, which is part of the fun. I love being surprised in a story, and I generally don't like spoilers. So, this time around, with the story relatively fresh in my mind, I was a tad bored. I knew what was coming. Peter Parker gets bullied. Then he gets bitten, and suddenly he's the top dog...er, spider. His uncle dies. I wanted all this set-up to move along...although it was done differently than in Tobey Maguire's version, which I appreciated and enjoyed.

But what makes this movie stand out from previous Spider-Man movies are the characters. Yes, there's a new villain, but that's not even what I'm talking about. The actors are good, but the characters are unique. Actor Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man is still a good person (as Peter Parker is supposed to be), but he also has a rebellious streak that never quite goes away. He's a younger, edgier, saucier, leaner Spider-Man. And it works. Gwen Stacy is a different love interest, a smart, sweet girl who gets to know Parker's secret right away.

The second half of the movie picks up with a complex villain, one we haven't seen on screen before, a doctor experimenting with science to recreate his own lost limb. But the experimentation goes awry, and the doctor's evil side comes out.

I noticed, particularly, that the Spider-Man swinging sequences were different in this movie than in the Tobey Maguire version. I didn't get the same stomach-dropping feel I got watching Maguire's Peter Parker experiment with his abilities for the first time. Also, in this version, Spider-Man doesn't manufacture his own webbing. He needs special equipment to make it. Nonetheless, the special effects are great, and there are a few beautiful, iconic shots of Spider-Man in action.

Be sure to stay after the initial credits for the set-up for the next movie.

Three stars.

The Avengers in Theaters Now

Wow. Go see The Avengers in the theater now! Friday was its first day out. If you liked Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, you will love this one even more. If you haven't seen those movies, watch them before you see this to give yourself a little more context on the characters.

This movie, while having some great conflict and action, is also laugh-out-loud funny. And with a cast of seven main actors, it's amazing how well the movie holds together and how fully each character is portrayed. Balancing such a cast can't be easy, but every character is well-represented and matters. It would have been easy to have Black Widow and Hawkeye be only supporting characters, but no, this movie makes them stand out as much as the others we are more familiar with (speaking as someone who knows these characters from movies alone and not from comic books). Even The Hulk is fabulous. Now, I know nothing about The Hulk, but he seems like a pretty boring brute of a superhero. I realize now that what is intriguing about him is his shy Dr. Banner personality, but this movie makes both sides cool.

The basic premise of the movie is this: Thor's adopted brother Loki has come to Earth to use the power of the Tesseract (the blue energy cube last seen in Captain America) to rule humanity. Nick Fury calls in six superheroes to form a team called The Avengers to save the world. As one superhero puts it, where you fail to protect, you avenge. The problem is these guys aren't team players. Each is used to being the top dog in the situations they've faced, so before they get to the big battle, they duke it out like animals vying for supremacy. It's pretty interesting to see who does or doesn't come out on top.

In case you've been living on the moon (or comic books and superheroes just aren't your thing), this is the cast: Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Joss Whedon directs. Some of the secondary characters from previous movies reprise their roles.

The Avengers is wholesome family fun, providing your kids are old enough to watch sci-fi battle action. It's PG-13 and clean.

I can't really say anything more without spoiling. You just need to see this one yourself, and if you can, see it while it's still in the theater, just because...why not? It's worth it. And stay past the initial credits (before the black screen credits) to see footage of a new baddie for a future movie. By the way, if you see The Avengers in Kendallville (maybe other places, too), you get the added bonus of watching the latest trailers for The Dark Knight Rises and Brave.

Captain America: The First Avenger on DVD 2011

I actually saw Captain America: The First Avenger on DVD a couple months ago, but let's see...that was about the time I was learning to juggle life with a newborn and a two-year-old, so by the time I had time to review it, I couldn't remember exactly what I wanted to say anymore. But I saw it again a few days ago, so here's what I think on a second viewing.

There are things about this movie I love and others I dislike. I'm sorry to all the superhero and comic book fans out there, but I think Captain America's outfit is totally dorky. I'm not saying Superman's isn't, but when big-muscled, soft-hearted Steve wears his stage costume in his first military rescue, well...I had a hard time taking it seriously.

On the other hand, I love Steve as a character. He's everything this blog I write is about. He's morally right, and that's why he's chosen to get a body upgrade. By the time he has muscles, he's the perfect soldier: tough on the outside and compassionate on the inside. I love it! Because of his character, his desire not to kill but to see justice done, I'm excited to see him come back in The Avengers this spring. And I have to say, I liked the way his costume was upgraded by the end of the movie (it grew on me), and though I didn't think it possible, he made a shield look cool (the round one, that is). I saw a neat special feature on the DVD about his costume development and how he made the shield work. However, I was disappointed that the special features on the basic DVD did not include how he was transformed from skinny and short to tall and muscular. I know the feature exists somewhere since I saw something about it, but I guess it was too cool for the basic DVD package.

So, Steve as a character is what I love about this movie. If you could separate Steve and Captain America, I'd have to say (sorry to all those fans, again) that I like Captain America less. I realize it's not possible to separate them, really, so let me explain what I mean. I like Batman Begins because it tells about how Batman becomes a superhero, and I like the logical progression of his training. I think Captain America is a less well-done superhero origin story because once Steve has his muscles, it's like he can magically do all these stunts (with the exception of his first run, perhaps), and how does a round shield boomerang anyway? I have to suspend disbelief too much. I'm not against him being so super-cool. I just want to see how he got there with no military training whatsoever. I wasn't aware that the serum gave him any fighting skills, just better cells.

(SPOILER ALERT) I also thought the death of Steve's best friend was a little lame. It added nothing to the movie, so it didn't have to be there. It was too sad, and really, they could zip line off a mountain down onto a speeding train and not slip off, I might add, but Steve couldn't use some of those awesome, unlearned moves to rescue Bucky off the side of the train?

The end was really sad, too, and I hope it was there to give depth to Steve's character for the next movie, because why have it be like that, otherwise? On a related but more positive note, it was refreshing to have a romance not go further than a kiss.

Overall, Captain America was entertaining to watch, even two times, it was funny, and I have one more superhero tucked under my belt for trivia. Last year was the year for that, wasn't it?

Three stars.

Hero

Mike Lupica is a pretty well-known author now, but Hero is the first book of his I've read. I was not terribly impressed. It's written for a middle school audience and targeted more toward guys, so maybe I'm missing something others would get. The style was sparse, and by that, I mean, thoughts and ideas were communicated with few words. But largely, the book is about thoughts and ideas. Not much seems to happen until halfway through, and even then, I was underwhelmed.

Hero is about a boy whose father dies and leaves him a legacy he doesn't even know about, a set of awesome superpowers. Billy begins investigating the "accident" of his father's plane crash, believing, and rightly so, that such a thing could never happen to his father accidentally. His search leads him to a mysterious old man who tells him he has "magic," just like his father. And that's where, halfway through the book, the story starts to get going. Billy faces several tests that are all leading toward a fight with the Bads. The problem is, he's not sure who the Bads really are. He gets conflicting advice from people who know his powers, so he begins to distrust everyone, even some of the people closest to him.

This is definitely an origins story for a superhero because he has to discover who he is, train, and then eventually fight. But I keep comparing it to Batman Begins (the movie starring Christian Bale), also an origins story, and there's just no contest. (I love Batman Begins, by the way.) In Hero, not enough happens. There's too much internal struggle without enough emotional payoff. The reader doesn't know who's right throughout most of the book, and that's frustrating rather than suspenseful. Morality gets confused, and I don't mean sex. The book is clean as far as the normal sex, drugs, and language go. It's more that Right and Wrong get confused so that you don't even know if Billy is a Bad, deep down. Maybe that's more true-to-life, but you don't want that in a superhero. You want him to be a hero, automatically good, and super...so, extra good.

But these are minor morality issues in a book that's main problem for me was a lack of spark. I could just be the wrong audience, and if you like Mike Lupica, there's nothing objectionable in this story for a middle school boy. But if you want my opinion, and I know I've mentioned this before in regards to superhero stories, go with H.I.V.E. instead. It's about the kids of supervillains, but surprisingly, Right and Wrong are more clear-cut, besides which, the plot is much more entertaining.