Avengers: Endgame

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

** SPOILERS **

"Whatever it takes" is the never-say-die mantra of Joe and Anthony Russo's Avengers: Endgame, the 22nd film and the pinnacle of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What it takes, to echo a victorious Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War, is everything... and everyone. Faced with their greatest defeat and the deaths of trillions - half of all life in the universe wiped out by a snap of Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet-wearing fingers - the surviving Avengers regroup and take the fight to Thanos. Their hope is to use the Infinity Stones to bring everyone back. Not all of the Avengers make it through. But over the course of a fluidly-paced 3 hours and 2 minutes, the titanic and unprecedented Avengers: Endgame brilliantly subverts expectations, crescendos, and brings the first 11 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a magnificent and beautiful conclusion while never losing focus on these characters we've come to love so much.

Avengers: Endgame is essentially four movies in one. Picking up 23 days after Infinity War, the Avengers are smarting from their loss. When Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) rescues Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), who were stranded in space, and brings them back to Earth, the Avengers set out to lay the smackdown on Thanos at his "retirement home" on a planet called the Garden. But again, they are too late: Thanos destroyed the stones and not even Thor (Chris Hemsworth) aiming for the head with his magical ax can set this right. The Avengers lose again and that's that. Five years later, Endgame picks up with a spin on HBO's The Leftovers as the heroes and the human race cope with their new reality. Tony Stark moved on and he has a precocious daughter now. But some Avengers like Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) just can't. Others, like Thor, just give into despair and let themselves go. Suddenly, the tiniest, most impossible shred of hope arrives when Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) shows up at the Avengers' door with the craziest of crazy schemes: a time heist - travel back in time and collect the Infinity Stones before Thanos can and then use the Stones to bring everyone back.

The time heists are the centerpiece of Endgame and they brilliantly (and confusingly so don't think too hard about it - Back to the Future this ain't) take Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Nebula, Scott Lang, the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) back to key moments of past MCU movies to nab the Stones. Rogers, Stark, Lang, and Hulk arrive in New York City 2012 at the aftermath of The Avengers to collect the Space, Mind, and Time Stones, which were all in NYC at that exact moment in time. Nebula and Rhodey go to Morag to the moment when Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) first stole the Power Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy. Rocket and Thor go to Asgard to steal the Reality Stone, which is imbued in the body of Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) during Thor: The Dark World. And Barton and Romanoff travel to Vormir, 4 years before Thanos would trade the life of his daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldana) for the Soul Stone, both unaware of the rules of how to gain the Soul Stone means one of those Avengers isn't coming back.

The chaos that ensues during the time heists is simply ingenious, filled with numerous moments that connect to other MCU movies like Ant-Man and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Stark and Lang hilariously fail to get the Space Stone, which means Steve and Tony have to call an audible and make a side time heist to a secret SHIELD base in the 1970s where they both encounter younger versions of Tony's father Howard Stark (John Slattery) and the love of Steve's life, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), who is also joined in a cameo by her Agent Carter co-star Jarvis (James D'Arcy). There's also a brilliant nod to the controversial Nazi Captain America story in recent Marvel Comics when two Steve Rogers from two different time periods fight after the future Steve pretends he's a member of Hydra. Meanwhile, in 2013, Thor gets to heal some of his broken heart by seeing his mother Frigga (Rene Russo) one last time. And, in 2014, the younger versions of Thanos, Gamora, and Nebula find out that the future Nebula is trying to steal the Power Stone. Even more malevolent in 2014, Thanos is cursed with knowledge of his ultimate success in the future and he decides to get that big win now; Thanos manages to pull off a time heist of his own and arrives five years later to lay waste to Avengers headquarters and mount a full-scale invasion of Earth.

It's shocking to realize that the epic battles that closed out Infinity War were merely a drop in the bucket compared to Endgame's finale, which matches and even outdoes anything seen in Star Wars or Lord of the Rings for sheer spectacle. The Avengers use the Infinity Gauntlet to bring back... everyone... and during the melee, the resurrected superheroes like Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) all get important bits of business to play keep-away with the Infinity Gauntlet, fight Thanos, or both. In addition, other heroes like the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) finally get to fight alongside the Avengers when Captain America, at long last, utters the rallying cry, "Avengers Assemble!" But the most important and fitting rallying cry of all is by Tony Stark himself, who started all of this when he uttered: "I am Iron Man!" Stark says it once more, pulling a rabbit out of a hat and placing the crowning touch on the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Avengers: Endgame is a miraculous achievement by all involved - and just about everyone who was part of this Marvel Studios journey was involved. The film smartly gives focus to some characters, like Clint Barton and Scott Lang, who didn't get to play a role in Infinity War, it honors Natasha Romanoff (and Scarlett Johansson) as the unsung soul of the Avengers, and it offers a fitting new beginning for Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy, but most of all, Endgame gives sweet closure to the two pillars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Chris Evans' Steve Rogers and Robert Downey, Jr.'s Tony Stark. Captain America and Iron Man broke the Avengers apart in 2016 but together they get to go out as friends, brothers, and legends who will never be forgotten. Avengers: Endgame is a glorious celebration of these characters, their love for each other, and our love for the single greatest cinematic universe that defines a generation. Our world is bigger and better thanks to the Avengers, who will continue on to teach our grateful universe about sacrifice, family, and that we can be the best version of ourselves if we do whatever it takes.

Avengers: Infinity War

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

** SPOILERS **

I Hope They Remember You

"I'm with you til the end of the line," is the famous promise Captain America (Chris Evans) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) made to each other for a century. Avengers: Infinity War is that end, the 19th film and the culmination of the last decade of the unprecedented success called the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A grand and shattering treatise on death, loss, sacrifice, and heroism on a truly universal scale never before witnessed in superhero movies, Infinity War brings the epic feeling of event comic book crossovers to movies. It's not for the newbie; it's for the True Believer. Infinity War demands a working foreknowledge of the characters, relationships, and plot points that have been woven through most of the prior films. It trades on the affection audiences have for these heroes (and villains). And in the end, it shockingly wipes the slate clean with a snap of Thanos' fingers.

A loose adaptation of arguably the greatest Marvel epic, The Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos (Josh Brolin) finally attempts to assemble the six Infinity Stones which represent the fundamental aspects of the universe: Power, Space, Reality, the Soul, Time, and the Mind. He's driven by his lifelong quest to balance the universe by eradicating half of it. In the comics, Thanos is a vainglorious lunatic in love with the personification of Death who is nonetheless charming and fascinating. Brolin's Thanos is a different, but satisfying take on the Mad Titan; driven, intelligent, mournful, but savage. Thanos has a heart, which is reserved for children he adopts and raises to be his lieutenants for his twisted cause. His favorite remains one of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), to the chagrin of her long-suffering "sister" Nebula (Karen Gillan). Thanos and Gamora's relationship takes center stage, the latest and most tragic of Marvel's exploration of the harm fathers can cause their children.

Wholesale slaughter is Thanos' stock and trade, and absolutely everyone feels his wrath. The Avengers, broken apart and scattered on Earth and in space since their own Civil War, assemble in smaller groups to try to protect the two Infinity Stones still on Earth: the Time Stone is in the possession of Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who, along with Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and the remaining Guardians of the Galaxy, try to take the fight to Thanos on his homeworld of Titan. Meanwhile, the Mind Stone ensconced in the forehead of Vision (Paul Bettany) is defended in Wakanda by Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Steve Rogers, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Bucky, War Machine (Don Cheadle), Vision's lover Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). In one of the film's many interesting inversions of expectations, Banner can no longer Hulk out after his gamma-powered alter ego is humiliated by Thanos in battle when the evil aliens slaughter the people of Asgard, including poor Loki (Tom Hiddleston). 

Not every character meets each other, and some long-simmering issues remain unresolved (the biggest being Steve Rogers and Tony Stark's falling out), but the meet-cutes between the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy that occur are beyond satisfying. No surprise, Marvel's two biggest egotists, the technological Tony Stark and the mystical Doctor Strange can't stand each other. Peter Parker is finally christened as an Avenger and fights alongside his mentor Tony, who watches out for him with a care and affection we've never quite seen Iron Man display before. The Guardians meet Thor (Chris Hemsworth), whose handsomeness impresses Drax (Dave Bautista) and irritates Star-Lord (Chris Pratt). Meanwhile, Thor takes a shine to Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel). The God of Thunder has by far suffered the most loss and tragedy in his two most recent appearances, but Infinity War restores him to his maximum godhood, complete with a new weapon, the Stormbreaker ax. 

The Avengers rise to the occasion in Infinity War. Despite their differences and the apocalyptic odds against them in the form of Thanos' powerful servants and their army of CGI monsters who invade New York City and Wakanda, we see the heroes at their very best (except Peter Quill). At a muscular, relentless, and overwhelming two-and-a-half hours, Infinity War is still unable, by design, to deliver everyone and every type of interaction one would hope to see. No one in the film gets the full picture of everything going on. Steve Rogers and his team's actions speak louder than words in defense of Wakanda, while Stark and his warriors are cut off from their fellow Avengers in space. Some of Thanos' minions have sufficient personality for the Avengers to banter with as they lay the smack down on each other, while Tony Stark's fame is revealed to be universal. Rather than kill the man at the center of the Marvel movie universe, Infinity War reaffirms Tony Stark as the center of that universe. It also, shockingly, does the same for the original core group of Avengers who started it all (well, almost all of them). 

The final act goes for the gusto and cements Infinity War as Marvel's version of Lord of the Rings. The universe is changed, and the body count is "Holy shit!" staggering and truly shocking. The boldest choice by directors Joe and Anthony Russo is how the main character of the story succeeds in his ultimate goal, with no obvious path to how the surviving heroes can come back and save the universe. It's a true, genuinely unsettling cliffhanger. Everyone, in the film, and in the audience, loses someone they love in Infinity War, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe loses its innocence at last. There's no telling what exactly happens next or how. Just a slight tinge of hope at the very end that the universe can indeed be saved, by a woman who bears Marvel's namesake.

Thor: Ragnarok

THOR: RAGNAROK

** SPOILERS **

Strongest Avenger

"You'll always be the God of Mischief," Thor (Chris Hemsworth) tells his adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), "But you could be so much more." Those words form the thematic crux of director Taika Waititi's raucous house party of a Marvel film Thor: Ragnarok. Waititi's electric and colorful palette and wall to wall jokes brings the hammer down on the crusty old Marvel formula of how to do a Thor movie. In Ragnarok, Thor has evolved, and continues to, from the haughty muscle of the Avengers into something more, and better. To accomplish this heroic feat, Waititi rips Thor from the things about the franchise that never worked like it should have (Asgard, the Warriors Three, the faux-Shakespearean pomposity) and things that have become crutches (Thor's magical hammer Mjolnir, which is destroyed in the first act and never comes back). The result is a leaner, funnier and better God of Thunder than ever before, ready for whatever the future holds.

Thor: Ragnarok is really a treatise against stagnation, of the Thor character and his side of the Marvel Universe, and of the Marvel brand itself. The yeoman's work of introducing Thor and the concept of Asgard is long past us and there is no time for looking back at those innocent times when Thor was in love with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). Thor is on to new things and he never stops moving. When we reunite with Thor in Ragnarok, he's been on his own for a couple of years since he left Earth at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron to find the Infinity Stones (he didn't find any). No, instead what Thor found and continued to find throughout Ragnarok was something greater: himself and his true compass of what makes him a hero. Also, he found jokes. Lots and lots of jokes.

During those missing two years, Thor developed a wicked sense of humor. His wit was always there, kind of, but now it's been unleashed. Thor maintains his alpha god swagger, but it's tempered. He is much more laid back and self-aware than ever before. Hemsworth, who was the comedic highlight of the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, fuses his inherent goofball wit into Thor and the result is as electric as Thor's newfound powers. Whether lying to both Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and his raging goliath alter ego the Incredible Hulk about which one of them he prefers, trying to charm the last Valkyrie of Asgard (a revelatory Tessa Thompson), or being much wiser to the machinations of Loki, Thor becomes more than just a hammer and a mane of hair (not coincidentally he loses both). Thor becomes, at long last, a great character.

Of course, the selling point of Thor: Ragnarok was the big showdown between Hulk and Thor, and it is indeed a fantastic and worthy smackdown riddled with sly in-jokes. In this, and in the grand spectacle of an intergalactic superhero film filled with gods and monsters, Ragnarok succeeds mightily. After a jumpy opening act where much Marvel admin has to get done - dropping by the Sanctum Sanctorum of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), for example - the film finds its sure footing and begins to run at breakneck speed in its second half. Waititi sends Thor bouncing around from Earth to Asgard to the junkyard planet of Sakaar, where he's captured and forced to become a Sakaarian Gladiator. All throughout, Thor encounters a bevy of whacko oddball characters, including Waititi himself playing the affable rock monster Korg.

Thor's fight to save Asgard from his heretofore unknown older sister Hela, the Goddess of Death (Cate Blanchett having a ball) is really a fight against his own status quo. Odin (Anthony Hopkins), ancient symbol of stagnation, shuffles off this mortal coil, and with him goes the old Thor movie paradigm - and good riddance. Hela wants to restore an order even older than Odin. Thor, whether he knows it or not, is looking for what comes next. Thor must save the people of Asgard from the total destruction of Ragnarok - "Because that's what heroes do" - but what both Thor and this movie really want is to move beyond Thor always being the same. As he tells Valkyrie in a revealing moment that gets lost amidst a sea of jokes, his destiny to sit upon the throne of Asgard meant stagnation to Thor. Asgard is eternal (or was), but in his heart Thor is looking for more. 

When Thor forms his team with the purposefully stupid name the Revengers to save Asgard from Hela, he urges his friends to move beyond their status quo to fight for a greater ideal. For Hulk, it means not staying on Sakaar and continuing as the prized champion gladiator of the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum delightfully playing off his rocker). For Valkyrie, it means to stop burying her memories of the Valkyries being slaughtered by Hela millennia ago in a haze of alcohol and once more fighting to save the people of Asgard. And for Loki, it means trying just a little bit harder to be a better person and not resorting to his usual bag of tricks to achieve some vainglorious end. Loki takes the longest to get with the program, but even he finds a glimpse of his better self. Thor cheerleads them all with an unyielding sense of optimism that things will work out all right.

By the time the giant fire monster Surtur (voiced by Clancy Brown) destroys Asgard and Hela along with it, Thor and his franchise have finally cut the cord with what a Thor movie used to be. Marvel itself seems to be evolving as well. 2017 was the year where its superhero films, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and now Ragnarok threw out the dusty old Marvel movie playbook and really explored what their superhero movies could be through color, humor, and the personal idiosyncrasies of their directors. Waititi splendidly seems to take it all the way with Ragnarok, and the result is a joyous and rowdy party with Thor as the Lord of Jokes and Revelry. Though Thor learns Ragnarok is inevitable, there's a victory here because Thor succeeded in saving his people, and he did it his way. Thor is Asgard's king, but more importantly, he is their hero, and he's ours. "They love me on Earth," Thor reminds Loki, at the end. "I'm very popular." After Ragnarok, Thor is more right about that than ever.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

** SPOILERS ***

Peace In Our Time

The defining moment of Tony Stark's life wasn't when he was captured in the desert and built a crude Iron Man suit to escape. It was at the conclusion of Marvel's The Avengers when he flew a nuclear missile into the wormhole over New York City, glimpsed the horrific alien Chitauri force in outer space ready to invade Earth, and nearly lost his life. Since then, Stark has battled PTSD (as seen in Iron Man 3), and now his deepest fears take shape and are given murderous artificial life in Avengers: Age of Ultron, writer-director Joss Whedon's bigger, badder, denser, more aggressive, and thoroughly idiosyncratic follow up to the second biggest blockbuster of all-time. So psychologically damaged was Stark that his misguided dream (whereas before, his dream was merely to pleasure himself in any way he saw fit) has become "to build a suit of armor around the world" and usher in "peace in our time." "To end the fight... so [The Avengers] can all go home," as Stark tries to justify to Captain America. Instead, Stark's hubris invites catastrophe and gives birth to Ultron (a wicked James Spader), the killer robot to end all killer robots in the Marvel Universe. The Age of Ultron is just a few days from when Ultron comes to life to when he kicks the Avengers' asses and tries to destroy all life, but it's a few days the Avengers will never forget.

The Avengers are all back -- Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye -- and then some. Age of Ultron flexes outward, making plenty of room for Samuel L. Jackson  as Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, both formerly of S.H.I.E.L.D., to return, as well as inviting guest stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/The Falcon and Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine to drop by. On the villainous front, Ultron recruits "the Twins": Aaron Taylor-Johnson as super speedster Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch, because, you know, Ultron needs someone to talk to about his nefarious schemes. (Of course, the more Ultron talks, the more the Maximoffs realize this thing they sided with is insane. Then again, the more Wanda and Pietro talk, the more we grimace at Olsen and Taylor-Johnson's affected Eastern European accents.) Meanwhile, talk Ultron does; this loquacious, eloquent evil robot is equal parts mad genius and undisciplined child stomping around a toy store breaking all the toys. In addition to destroying the world, Ultron also seeks to evolve himself, creating a humanity-sympathizing android called the Vision, which then gains the artificial intelligence of Stark's robo-butler J.A.R.V.I.S., played by Paul Bettany.

Joss Whedon has spoken at exasperated length to the press that Age of Ultron is the hardest thing he's ever done. To see the fruits of his toil and labor is to understand completely: Age of Ultron is an astonishing, all-encompassing juggling act, telling a gigantic superheroes vs. homicidal robot comic booky tale, while weaving in myriad clues to the forthcoming events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The result makes Age of Ultron feel like it's bursting at the seams. Whedon opens Age of Ultron with the resolution to the year long saga of Hydra (#ItsAllConnected to TV's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). The Avengers, at the apex of their teamwork (but at the nadir of CGI making their superpowered fighting look realistic) are riding high with maximum swagger after finally putting an end to the evil Hydra organization and retrieving Loki's lost scepter and the Infinity Stone contained within. As Scarlet Witch uses her mutant powers to give each Avenger "visions," Whedon drop hints of the upcoming Ragnarok Thor must face, makes a point of spotlighting the African nation of Wakanda to set up the Black Panther movie, and previews the galactic catastrophe awaiting the Avengers in their announced Infinity War sequels. Tony Stark's motives and judgment are repeatedly questioned and he's treated almost as a villain by his fellow Avengers, boding ill for when he will wage Civil War with Captain America next year.  Black Widow's traumatic past of growing up in Mother Russia's Home for Future Assassins and Captain America's lost dreams of a happy life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) are also given their due. Age of Ultron requires an exhaustive, encyclopedic knowledge of past and future events of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and makes no apologies to non-True Believers.

More pleasingly, when not blowing things up or having the Avengers smack things down, Whedon hones in on what makes each Avenger tick, lending special TLC to the characters currently without their own cinematic franchises. Renner's Clint Barton receives ample screen time, wisecracks, and reveals a heretofore unknown happy home life with his wife (Linda Cardinelli) and young children. An unlikely but unexpectedly touching romance blooms between Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner (her whispering "I adore you" before pushing Banner off a cliff to make him Hulk out is the weirdly sweetest moment in the movie). Whedon even goes the extra mile to explain just why Natalie Portman as Thor's love Jane Foster and Gwyneth Paltrow as Stark's better half Pepper Potts are absent this time around, while carrying out a drunk Stan Lee making his traditional cameo. Finally, Thanos (Josh Brolin), perhaps aware the Internet has been mocking him mercilessly for managing to obtain zero Infinity Stones after a dozen Marvel movies, finally dons the dreaded Infinity Gauntlet in the traditional mid-credits tag. Through it all, during the many quiet moments, the patented Whedon Wit is at the height of its powers, delivering snark and running gags about Captain America's disdain for foul language and the logistics of being "worthy" to lift Thor's hammer. Whedon's character work deepens the conflicts and relationships between the characters themselves as well as between the audience and these characters we've come to love.

Two years since Man of Steel, Whedon and the Marvel braintrust seem well-aware of the cacophonous complaints levied at their Distinguished Competition about the horrific destruction of Metropolis and the repeated ad nauseam accusations that Superman didn't save enough innocent people. In response, Age of Ultron is a chest-thumping treatise how How Superheroes Save People. In the crowd-pleasing centerpiece action spectacle where Iron Man, clad in his gigantic Hulkbuster armor, grapples with the rampaging Hulk, Whedon pointedly makes sure that everyone in their seats is aware the buildings they smash into and demolish have no innocent people in them. After musing about meteors and extinction-level events, Ultron's ultimate scheme (visuals borrowed from a different Superman movie, Superman Returns) involves using vibranium (the indestructible metal Captain America's shield was forged from) to rocket the fictional Eastern European city of Sokovia into the stratosphere and then drop it onto the Earth to create a deep impact that would wipe out all human life. With thousands of people trapped on an ascendant rock surrounded by hundreds of Ultron replicants, the Avengers assemble and beat the living crap out of all of those robots while again pointedly making sure no one (who isn't an Avenger for a few minutes) dies. Amidst the astounding superpowered action, the Avengers go out of their way to rescue every innocent person in Sokovia, with a big assist from Fury, Hill, and a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier they happened to have lying around, which is a welcome sight indeed.

Being all things to all Marvel movies, Age of Ultron is also a darker, more somber middle act in a grander saga, and one of transition to boot. Avengers comics tradition has always been about the fluidity of team membership, and as any Marvel fanboy would expect, the Avengers roster going into Age of Ultron is not the same coming out. By the time the smoke clears and all of the Ultrons are dismantled, the emotional and psychological toll of the ordeal sees a mass exodus of no less than four of the original six Avengers: Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Hawkeye all disassemble and disappear (they are joined in real life by Whedon, making his grand exit as well). Captain America's New Avengers aren't the household names the originals have become, but they aren't exactly slouches either: Black Widow thankfully remains and they are joined by "some hitters": War Machine, The Falcon, The Vision, and The Scarlet Witch. Their fates will be guided by directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who made Captain America: The Winter Soldier arguably the best of the Marvel movies, and will helm Avengers: Infinity War Parts I and II. If the New Avengers can't save the world, they'll damn sure Avenge it, with the help of a certain friendly neighborhood wall-crawler before long. But until then, the Avengers, Marvel, and Joss Whedon can be proud that they have wrapped the world in a suit of armor made of money. Here's hoping Joss Whedon enjoys the quiet of life without the Avengers and finds well-earned peace in his time.

Thor: The Dark World

THOR: THE DARK WORLD

 

** SPOILERS **

Thor walks into an apartment... actually, the London flat of his human lady love Jane Foster (Natalie Portman)... and greets some old friends he hasn't seen in a while, Portman's effervescent assistant Darcy (Kat Dennings) and newly batty physicist-cum-nudist Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard). Immediately noticing a coat rack, Thor considerately hangs his hammer Mjolnir on a hook. It's hilarious. And we see in that instant, Thor has come a long way from the lout who used to smash coffee cups on the floor in diners.

Humorous, clever moments like this pepper the splendidly muscular Thor: The Dark World, director Alan Taylor's (Game of Thrones) smashing follow up to Kenneth Branagh's 2011 original which introduced the gods of Asgard into the Marvel cinematic universe. "We are not gods!" bellows stern Odin All-Father (Anthony Hopkins). "We have a beginning and an end." It's true, while incredibly long-lived, the -- er, aliens doesn't sound right, let's stick with gods -- of Asgard are not immune to death. Thor: The Dark World is a marvelous escalation of what came before, raising the stakes not just of Thor's cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe, but ultimately, for all of the Marvel movies to follow.

Hopkins' Odin fills us in on long-lost Asgardian lore: millenia ago, Odin's father defeated creatures called the Dark Elves, who sought to use a power source called the Aether to plunge the universe into eternal darkness. Now, on the occasion of the Convergence, an event that occurs every 5,000 years where the Nine Realms line up perfectly, weakening the barriers between the realities, Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), the leader of the Dark Elves, has awakened and seeks to use the Aether to finish what he started. Because space-time is topsy turvy and worm holes are opening up between the worlds, astro-physicist Jane Foster stumbles through a wormhole and is infected by the Aether. (For a simple human female, she handles being the host of a catastrophically powerful energy source like a champ. Just blackened eyes and the need for an occasional nap.) 

After a separation of over two years, during which both pined for the other from across the stars, Thor returns to Jane, and The Dark World returns to the brainy human girl meets studly thunder god romantic comedy that was the winning heart of the first Thor movie. "Where have you been? I saw you in New York," Jane scolds, being one of billions who saw Thor assemble with The Avengers and save the world from aliens. But Thor has been busy indeed, fighting wars and forging peace in the Nine Realms while preparing to assume the throne as King of Asgard. It's as good an excuse as any in the universe for not coming back for your human girlfriend. Because she's the host of the Aether, which will eventually kill her, Thor whisks Jane off to Asgard to meet the family. ("We have to do that again!" she beams after riding the Rainbow Bridge.)

Asgard, the golden city, looks better than ever, grander and more populated (it seemed oddly barren of life in the first movie.) There is even an Asgardian version of Lake Como where Thor takes Jane on a date, which is both a sly reference to and a huge improvement over a similar movie date Portman had with another blond son of destiny named Anakin Skywalker over a decade ago. Thor didn't utter any creepy declarations of love while complaining about the coarseness of sand. Odin disapproves of Thor's affection for this mortal female (Jane: "You told your dad about me?"), though Thor's mother Frigga (Rene Russo) takes a shine to her. Odin is not entirely incorrect that the comely warrior woman Sif (Jaimie Alexander) is a better match for Thor. What Sif thinks, she keeps to herself. After all, she does have all the time in the universe to find Thor's hammer between her loins.

When Asgard is attacked by the Dark Elves, the golden city unveils defensive weaponry that wouldn't be out of place on a Death Star. In the contest of superhero sci-fi home worlds, sorry, Superman, but Asgard trumps Krypton in Man of Steel, just for the glorious Viking funerals alone. Malekith invades the castle of Odin searching for the Aether, and we see in her final act of courage that Frigga is no helpless maiden but a formidable warrior herself. Thor's retaliation for the murder of his mother is to use Mjolner's lightning to scar Malekith, turning him into the evil space elf version of Harvey Two-Face from The Dark Knight. But Thor is now an Avenger and he must Avenge, as well as save Jane from the Aether. To do this, he has to defy Odin's wishes to engage Malekith and destroy the Aether. Which means he must commit treason. And if you need to commit treason, you need Loki (Tom Hiddleston), imprisoned and seething in resentment in Asgard's dungeons.

The relationship between the princely brothers of Asgard, Thor and Loki, takes center stage in The Dark World and we find they are even more entertaining as odd couple partners than they are as adversaries. No one trusts Loki, nor should they. ("I wouldn't," Loki concurs.) There's an amusing runner of each of Thor's friends threatening to kill Loki if he betrays Thor. "It seems there'll be a line," Loki quips. Loki's running banter cheerfully provides comic relief for the stoic Thor, but Thor finds moments to one up his scheming brother, like pushing him out of their airship while he's in mid-snark. When Loki does what everyone expects and betrays Thor -- cutting his hand off! (the second Star Wars reference in the movie) -- I must admit, they totally fooled me with their ruse. Loki making the ultimate sacrifice, or so it seemed, to save his brother made for a genuine emotional moment between the two. At least for Thor it was genuine, though some deeply hidden part of Loki probably does appreciate his brother's love for him. In his third go around as thorn in Thor's side, Hiddleston's Loki shines brightest of all, tricking his way into his ultimate goal unbeknownst to his brother and his Asgardian brethren.

For such supremely powerful beings, the final battle between Thor and Malekith was remarkably scaled down in terms of wonton destruction. The novelty of the two gods falling through wormholes between Earth and the Dark World created some terrific comedy asides, the best of which was Thor landing in the Underground and experiencing riding the tube back to the battle (with a lovely lady grasping him for balance.) All of the action in The Dark World was worlds improved from the original, using the template The Avengers laid down for balancing the mayhem with bits of levity. Speaking of The Avengers, Loki's shape shifting allowed for a mocking star spangled cameo of sorts that brought the house down. Thor's celebrity status as an Avenger also means that no way can he be in the midst of battle on Earth without people whipping out their cell phones to record him in action. "That's Thor! And he's swinging his hammer around!" The requisite post-credits sequence also provocatively established the Infinity Gems and throws down the gauntlet - i.e., Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet!

Finally, there is the Mighty Thor himself, embodied by Chris Hemsworth with a new kind of confident swagger. This isn't the vain, greedy, arrogant Thor of yore. Love of a bright, beautiful human woman and fighting alongside the Avengers as matured Thor, tempered his hale heartiness. Thor today is more noble and self-sacrificing than ever; he'd rather be a protector than a monarch. After all, one cannot be an Avenger while sitting worlds away on a throne. In all, Thor: The Dark World is a grand triumph of Marvel Studio's planned Phase Two, leading up to the return of The Avengers in Age of Ultron. If you ask me, The Dark World truly brings the thunder. It's the finest Marvel movie that doesn't feature all of the Avengers assembled. It is Thor-oughly entertaining.

Thor

THOR

Hammer Time

** SPOILERS **

Kenneth Branagh's Thor tells the mythic tale of how the "vain, selfish, greedy" God of Thunder fell to Earth and had a change of heart after a weekend with Natalie Portman. Equal parts otherworldly, comic booky tale of gods and monsters and pretty girl-meets-thunder god romantic comedy, Thor is surprisingly more successful and entertaining as the latter. Even if there happens to be a better rom com this summer than Thor, it will no doubt lack Frost Giants, giant Destroyer robots, and the Warriors Three. 

Chris Hemsworth, who portrayed the doomed father of Captain Kirk in JJ Abrams' Star Trek, exceeds all expectations as the mighty God of Thunder, heroically balancing Thor's godly and human sides. Hemsworth is quite simply awesome as Thor; his performance embodies the comic book character and vividly brings Thor to life in a manner equal to Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. In the first act of Thor, Hemsworth has all the arrogance and proper swagger one would expect from the Odinson, wielder of the enchanted hammer Mjolnir. The headstrong Thor leads his bestest fighting buddies into the land of the Frost Giants to avenge their affront of attacking Asgard and ruining his coronation as King. For this folly, Odin (Anthony Hopkins, who can and does play this role in his sleep) strips Thor of his powers and banishes him from Asgard to Earth "forever" to teach his son some humility. 

Remarkably, the now-human Thor only gets more charming, gallant, and heroic when he meets theoretical physicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), her wiseacre assistant Kat Dennings, and fellow scientist Stellan Skarsgard, who grew up in Norway hearing all about the Norse myths and can't accept this tall, jacked up blonde dude is the actual God of Thunder he claims he is.  Despite repeatedly running him over with her van (a very funny running gag) Thor and Foster take an immediate shine to each other.  The chemistry between Hemsworth and Portman is palpable, and one can easily grasp how both Portman and Dennings can swoon over their Men's Health coverboy new friend, even when he's smashing coffee cups and demanding more breakfast. (Another fun joke for fans of the comic is Thor being named Dr. Donald Blake, after Portman's ex. Donald Blake is the human alter-ego of Thor in the original comics. This also means that Portman can't seem to escape falling for guys named "Donald Blake".)

Portman is adorable; any quibbles about her character being a brilliant physicist attempting to prove her theory of wormholes to other dimensions (which turns out to be the fabled Rainbow Bridge to Asgard) are drowned out by said adorableness. For her part, Dennings provides the most cheerful comic relief of any Marvel movie. Portman and Dennings completely grasp the fun, jokey tone of their half of Thor, making their scenes of helping Thor break into the SHIELD facility (which looks suspiciously like an Apple Store) built around Thor's fallen hammer in New Mexico and run by the stalwart Agent Coulson (or "Son of Coul" according to Thor) more fun than all the cosmic derring-do in Asgard. Director Branagh goes all out invoking Excalibur in Arthurian myths by having everyone and anyone, including a town of rednecks, Loki, and a then-unworthy Thor himself, try and fail to lift the hammer Mjolner from the ground.

The home of the gods, Asgard, is magnificently realized as a shining, sweeping golden megalopolis, though it's so golden one almost expects to see the word TRUMP emblazoned on the side of Odin's royal palace. The gods themselves are an amusing, ribald bunch, played by Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Tadanobu Asano, and Josh Dallas. Radiant Jaimie Alexander is Sif, the warrior goddess who can out fight the Warriors Three. Sif is the logical love match for Thor, and we get the sense Sif thinks so as well, but Thor only has eyes and a swinging hammer for Portman. Thor is the acknowledged alpha male of the group but for hale and hardy immortal space gladiators, the rest of Warriors Three seem kind of harmless. The gods' battle with the Frost Giants is sufficiently bad ass, mainly because Thor showcases all his classic comic book fighting tricks like summoning storms of lightning, making the earth quake, and throwing his hammer to smash into anything and everything.  

And yet, when no battle is being fought, the lengthy Asgard half of Thor feels underwritten and surprisingly lifeless, as if rendered inert by its own designs of grandeur and pomposity. We are shown at the start that thousands of Asgardians inhabit their golden city, but they all disappear for the rest of the picture. The immense halls and chambers of Odin's royal palace seem uninhabited except for the occasional guards standing in the background of scenes. The Asgard half of Thor lacked a robustness, a sense that Asgard was a real, bustling place full of activity. What's more, Asgardians tend to speak to each other in stilted Shakespearean dialogue comprised of basic plot points, saying mainly what exposition is necessary to move the story forward. Again, in stark (pun unintended) contrast, the more entertaining half of Thor set in New Mexico only served to highlight how dull life seems on Asgard. No wonder Odin likes to sleep through centuries of it.

Tom Hiddleston makes for a striking Loki, the mischievous brother of Thor, but damned if I could figure out exactly what his deal was during the movie. Loki is a cypher: He begins jealous of Thor's ascent as future king of Asgard and by his own admittance, he allowed the Frost Giants into the city to disrupt Thor's coronation. Loki eggs his rash, impulsive brother on to provoking a fight with the Frost Giants but secretly notified Odin that Thor was doing so. He claimed he had no idea Odin would de-power and banish Thor, but he must have since getting rid of Thor was one of the things he wanted. While fighting the Frost Giants, Loki discovers he can't be harmed by their cold; when he confronts Odin, he learns he was born of the Frost Giants before Odin has a stroke and falls into Odinsleep.  

From there, Loki becomes King of Asgard and lies to Thor that Odin is dead and Thor's banishment is permanent, but Loki's motivations get murkier. He banishes Sif and the Warriors Three to Earth and sends the Destroyer robot to kill them all, but why doesn't he just kill Odin as well? Loki invites the Frost Giants to invade Asgard but then kills the Frost Giant king before it can kill Odin? Loki then decides he wants to destroy the entire Frost Giant land and almost does so until Thor stops him (I did like how Thor placed the hammer on Loki's chest to pin him down.) Loki is supposed to be a mastermind but he didn't exhibit real forward-thinking scheming; he was mostly making things up as he went along. Loki lacked a clear through line for his villainy, and the tag at the end of Loki pining for the Cosmic Cube in Nick Fury's possession only raises further questions about what the hell Loki is up to.

At its best, Thor is thunderous entertainment; an ambitious and generally successful foray by Marvel to bring the magical elements of their universe to cinematic life. To its credit, Thor is much more seamless than Iron Man 2 in incorporating the larger Marvel universe, dropping hints of Bruce Banner, a cameo by Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and a post-credits tag alluding to the forthcoming Captain America, setting up next year's Marvel Team Up movie The Avengers. Thor himself is a worthy and noble new addition to movie superheroes. When the Mighty Thor, at the fullness of his powers, soars into the sky and calls forth the lightning, yea, verily, Thor is a movie god worth believing in.