Movie Review - Thor: Love & Thunder

Director: Taika Waititi
Genre: Science Fiction/ Action/ Adventure
Runtime: 119 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Crowe, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff
 
Description: Thor (Chris Hemsworth) enlists the help of Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) to fight Gorr (Christian Bale) the God Butcher, who intends to make the gods extinct.

Review: A viking from space who uses his magic hammer to cross the universe on a rainbow road. An absurd fact that director Taika Waititi fortunately knows how to deal with. He continues the direction he took with “Thor: Ragnarok” and proves that Thor is justifiably the first Marvel original Avengers character to add a fourth film to his resume. “Thor”Love & Thunder” is a comic film of cosmic proportions.

The last time we saw Thor was in “Avengers: Endgame”, in which his body suffered a lot from eating too much. He is back in shape and ready for a new adventure. He is fights together with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but Thor feels he is lacking a piece of meaning. We follow the story of his journey to self-development, in which, in addition to thunder, love is central.

Which brings us to Jane, whom we last saw in “Thor: The Dark World”. And she herself gets to experience what it’s like to be a superhero. I was skeptic about this part at first, but I thought they handled this well and the reasoning behind her being worthy enough to pick up Mjolnir.

The way Chris Hemsworth gives color to his character certainly deserves praise. And with Taika Waititi’s great direction and the humorous and action-packed story make for an entertaining movie.

I do still think “Thor: Ragnarok” was better, but nonetheless Waititi did a great job with the fourth Thor movie, which I will definitely be rewatching.

Rating: 4/ 5

00s Movie Review - A Beautiful Mind

Director: Ron Howard
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2001
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Paul Bettany, Christopher Plummer, Judd Hirsch, Josh Lucas, Adam Goldberg

Description: After a brilliant but asocial mathematician, John Nash (Russell Crowe), accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish.

Review: It’s not easy being a genius mathematician, when even the most simple decision become the most complicated formulas. John Nash is someone like that. Nobel Prize winner John Nash allowed Ron Howard to make a film about his life. Lead actor Russell Crowe met John Nash. “A Beautiful Mind” was very successful at the Academy Awards that year, it won for best movie, director and script, but just missed out on best actor. In my opinion it’s Russell Crowe’s best performance so far and he should have definitely won the award.

“A Beautiful Mind” doesn’t only focus on him as a genius, but also his schizophrenia. We meet Nash in his college years at Princeton, where he is seen as a weird guy. He doesn’t attend classes, because he can’t learn anything there and he has other things on his mind. His days are spend trying to solve formulas, which results in a controversial thesis. But while he lives his life in the world of numbers and formulas, his paranoia grows. Nash gets delusions and is convinced the government has hired him to solve codes to find the location of an atomic bomb. His wife Alicia has no idea how to deal with it.

 
“A Beautiful Mind” is Russell Crowe at his best. He portrays John Nash so convincingly and realistic. As a mathematician testing theories and as a man fighting his inner demons. But the woman on his side, Jennifer Connelly, also shines. As Alicia Nash she portrays her sublimely, as a woman who both loves and fears her husband. Connelly won for best supporting actress, which was well deserved. Crowe and Connelly are supported by great actors Ed Harris, Paul Bettany and Christopher Plummer. But it’s the script by Akiva Goldsmith that makes this movie truly memorable. Goldsmith takes the viewers into the mind of Nash, while the truth is still hidden until a certain point, to show us how Nash sees the world.

Strong acting and a great script. “A Beautiful Mind” is a perfect film, with both Crowe and Connelly at their best. Well directed by Ron Howard and his best movie so far.

Rating: 5/ 5

10s Movie Review - The Mummy

Director: Alex Kurtzman
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy/ Thriller
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Russel Crowe, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance

Description: An ancient Egyptian princess (Sofia Boutella) is awakened from her crypt beneath the desert, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia, and terrors that defy human comprehension

Review: Hollywood is trying to create as many film universes, but the oldest one has been untouched for a while. Universal Monsters was around in the 20s, a cinematic world shared by monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy and the Invisible Man. Director Alex Kurtzman are trying to bring this universe back to life, under the name Dark Universe. And “The Mummy” is the first film. But it’s not really a noteworthy film.
We are introduced to the legend of Egyptian princess Ahmanet. Later we meet Nick Morton, who discovers a tomb by accident. The introduction of the film is fast paced, but it all happens too quick and there is no room for actual build-up or focus.
The story of “The Mummy” is thin and has no real substance. The introduction of Dr. Jekyll feels forced and a set up to the next Dark Universe film. This gives the film even less focus.
Overall, all these elements make “The Mummy” a very mediocre and forgettable blockbuster. Even a star like Tom Cruise couldn’t safe this film.

Rating: 2/ 5