summer movies so far...

my wife has graciously agreed to hit up some of the movies coming out this summer... and when i say some, i mean 8 films.

this may be my last summer for the next couple decades that i can easily get to every film i want to see... soon i will be bringing my child with me. and, if it's a girl, my movie-going habits may shift a little. we'll see.

just as a reminder for any readers: a summer movie, for me, must have explosions and ridiculous visual/audio stimulation.

Thor - there are half a dozen comic-based movies coming out this summer, and i have to admit that the summer comic movies started well with Thor. now, when i say well, i guess i mean 'satisfactory.' Thor wasn't amazing, and it wasn't even great, but it was good. it served its purpose (to introduce us to the character for the Avengers movie next summer) and was very well-cast. the best thing about this film is the cast, in my opinion. If you're a comic reader, you will understand this: the plot of the film is like a 3-issue arc. Just enough to show us that Loki = bad, Thor = good; not enough for any character development or progression via dialogue. the 3 set pieces in the film are like each issue's two-page spread.
if you're planning on seeing Avengers next summer (which you SHOULD, because Joss Whedon will make this movie amazing even if the script is crap), then you should probably see Thor. if you can't see 8 movies this summer, though, i don't know if i'd say you 'have' to see it in the theatre... and, it's almost out of theaters anyway, so if you haven't seen it yet then red box or netflix this one, for sure.

X-men First Class - one of the best-reviewed comics films to be released, and the best-reviewed x-men film by far, and for good reason. whereas Thor feels like a 3-issue arc, X-men FC feels like a properly balanced 6-issue collection, sacrificing maybe 1 giant set piece action scene for proper dialogue and great interaction between Magneto and Professor X. in fact, Fassbender's Magneto is probably the best reason to see this film. If you're familiar with the comics origins of the X-men, then this film will be a bit confusing - the source material is used loosely, and in a couple cases not at all, but somehow it still feels ok! although a part of me would still have preferred to see the 'original' lineup in this reboot of sorts, i'm ok with the group that is put together in this film. i take exception with Darwin's short part, and the 'Angel' character, but the strength of the other roles definitely balance things out. Even Kevin Bacon's Shaw is great! if you have time, see this in the theater - but it'll be pushed out in the next month by all the OTHER movies coming out!

this weekend, i'll be seeing Super8 and Green Lantern... one has great reviews, one has awful reviews... but of course i'll let you know what i think in the next couple weeks :-)