Starship Troopers - The Saga

It all started with a novel, Starship Troopers (Etoiles Garde-à-Vous in French) written by Robert A. Heinlein in 1959. The writer is considered to be one of the great Masters of Science Fiction, together with Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick.

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Tony Gilroy (Duplicity, screenplay of Bourne 1-4)
	Actors: Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, The Avengers), Rachel Weisz (The Mummy, The Fountain), Edward Norton (Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 24.03.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Aaron Cross (Renner) is an agent belonging to another programme, but with similar objectives, as Jason Bourne. The actions of this latter will precipitate the closure of all such programmes.
Review: The action in this movie takes place at the same time as The Bourne Ultimatum and Jeremy Renner was cleverly chosen not to replace Matt Damon as Bourne but to play a different character. Then the movie follows the same rules as the three previous: conspiracy, a super agent that everybody wants dead, a woman involved, chases by foot on rooftops and by car in foreign cities (in this case motorbike in Manila). All of this filmed in a way to always have very dynamic action. The rythmic music during some tense scenes was very well chosen. I liked all those similarities to the previous films and the time taken to introduce the characters, but not the too long final chase and the abrupt way the movie ends, begging for a sequel. Also the role of Norton as "the boss of the nasty guys" turns out to be useless.
Rating: 7 /10

Balada triste de trompeta (2010)

	Also Known As: The Last Circus
	Year of first release: 2010
	Director: Alex de la Iglesia (800 Balas, El Crimen Ferpecto, The Oxford Crimes)
	Actors: Carlos Areces (Extraterrestrial, Lobos de Arga), Antonio de la Torre (Volver), Carolina Bang (Pluto B.R.B. Nero TV-series)
	Country: E
	Genre: Comedy, Drama, Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 25.03.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Issued of a clown family and having suffered during the civil war times, Javier (Areces) joins a circus as sad clown once in his thirties.
Review: I like the work from Alex de la Iglesia, from El Dia de la Bestia to The Oxford Murders via El Crimen Ferpecto and my favorite 800 Balas. In Balade Trista de Trompeta we can recognize his trademark again: a band of colorful characters, crude humour, fast-paced crazy action. But I found this movie actually closer to one of his first movies: Accion Mutante, rather that the work quoted above, because it looks cheaper, more experimental and the structure is more chaotic. Actually it starts wildly with the circus crew forced to fight and slay enemies in the civil war, then it quiets down and we understand the purpose of the story. Unfortunately in the last half hour it gets crazy again and we get detached from those characters that were otherwise touching. A strong reference for this movie is obviously Santa Sangre, another crazy circus movie by Alexandro Jodorowski. The best to remember from this Balada Triste de Trompeta is the psychological transformation that the main character undergoes, and that is very well played. Throughout the movie we see him unwillingly present at some major events of Spanish recent history, like the assassination of the prime minister Luis Carrero in 1973, a bit like in Forrest Gump. So a bit of dissapointement from this movie, but I am still eager to watch the most recent feature from Alex de la Iglesia Witching and Bitching, and am still trying to find his TV-series Pluto B.R.B. Nero also starring his wife and muse Carolina Bang, but it is currently only available in spanish without subtitles.
Rating: 5 /10

The Avengers (2012)

	Also Known As: Avengers Assemble
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Joss Whedon (Serenity)
	Actors: Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four 1-2), Scarlett Johansson (The Man who wasn't there), Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane), Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek), Jeremy Renner (The Bourne Legacy)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 24.03.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: When Earth is faced to a threat from another world, the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization and its leader (Jackson) have to gather the mightiest heroes to defend it.
Review: Over the past five years at least, the movies about the super-heroes present in this one (Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor) have paved the way for this gathering. It was planned all along, as it can be told by the hints of the small segments with Samuel Jackson after the credits of all those movies. The result could have been as bad as Thor, but it turns out to be as good or better as Captain America, my favorite of all. So in this sense, The Avengers filled its purpose. The two big action sequences were fully satisfying: one onboard a flying fortress (I liked this flying aircraft carrier!) and another in a city that tries to be original in a field where the Transformers franchise has already done everything. Sufficient time is taken to depict the conflicts of egos between the heroes, which is in the end what this movie is about. I only regret that the threat is not so original, and wish there come up with a better idea for the sequel.
Rating: 7 /10

Maniac (1980)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1980
	Director: William Lustig (Maniac Cop 1-3)
	Actors: Joe Spinell (Starcrash, Stay Hungry), Caroline Munro (Starcrash, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad), Abigail Clayton, Tom Savini (From Dusk Till Dawn, Planet Terror)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 26.03.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: A deranged serial killer (Spinell) mutilates couples and single women.
Review: Another example of cheap 70's-80's horror movie that became cult, like The Last House on the Left, I Spit on your Grave. As for the other two, a remake has been recently made for this one, so I wanted to see the original before seeing the remake at the BIFFF2013. The Blu-ray edition I bought was the very first release from the american editor Blue Underground, owned by William Lustig, director of this Maniac. So you can imagine he did all he could to restore his baby, and the movie is accompanied with a second disk filled with bonuses, from making-of to heritage featurettes. However, I had to boost the image contrast of my projector to get good dark levels which were by default too bright. Once this done, I could better appreciate the colors of the movie in spite of the quite low definition, probably due to the quality of the film used in 1980. Note that the same editor released the beautiful version of The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, hard to find, and Inferno, both from Dario Argento. Unlike in some other serial killer (Summer of Sam) or slasher (Friday 13th) movies, in Maniac we constantly follow the killer, and try to undersand from his actions what goes on in his head. Often he is a deranged cold-blooded killer but sometimes he can converse with women like a perfect gentleman. This is maybe what is scary about him. This and the disturbing face of Joe Spinell, especially when he is enraged and sweating. His appartment (in which we spend a good part of the movie) is also disturbing as it is filled with dolls, masks, candles and torn posters of women. The killing scenes are varied (strangulation, shotgun, knife) and very brutal. It is funny to see the master of special effects Tom Savini in a small role. Another good idea it that we often hear the breathing of the killer when the camera is subjective, which helps increase the tension. But then the movie is clearly cheap, uneven and sometimes too slow, so I would recommend it only for fans of horror and cult movies. During the movie one can hear an unknown and I found very good disco song: Going to a Showdown by Don armando's second Avenue Rumba Band.
Rating: 6 /10

Fantasia (1940)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1940
	Director: Joe Grant, Dick Huemer
	Actors: Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Music
	Conditions of visioning: 18/26.03.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Walt Disney's team creates moving pictures to accompany pieces of classical music.
Review: I had seen the section with Mickey Mouse (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) on TV when I was a kid, and maybe also the one with the Hippos (Dance of the Hours), but never the entire film. The whole thing would actually be boring for children, but as adult I found it fascinating. As introduction, the virwer is explained that what he will see is the interpretation in moving images of classical music pieces by (drawing) artists which are not professional musicians. Then each piece is introduced and explained by the same Deems Taylor. The first segment (Toccata and Fugue in D Minor) tries to put some abstract images on what happens in our head when we listen to the music. Then some segments take you through a story that was created to fit the music, not the other way round like is usually the case in cinema. I learned that The Rite of Spring was originally written by Bach to describe the renewal of life at spring, and was extended by Disney's team to the description of the early days of Earth and the apparition of life on it, until the extinction of dinosaurs. This was an interesting piece, although sometimes scientifically innacurate but I guess it was 70 years ago, and the idea may have inspired Jens Harder for his beautiful comic book: Alpha... Directions. The Pastoral Symphony is also an interesting mythological story created to fit the music. But the piece that impressed me the most was Night on Bald Mountain (music by Modest Mussorgsky). It is filled with demons, skeletons and ghosts. It is pretty scary and the special effects are great. It reminded me of the1922 cult movie Häxan or Withcraft through the ages (reviewed here). It also made me think of the recent music video by director Phil Mucci for the band Opeth: The Devil's Orchard. On the negative side, I found that the movie abuses of pastel colors, maybe to give a more magical tone, I would have liked more pronounced colors. Then it could have been a good idea to provide on the Blu-ray a new recording of the Soundtrack, because the recording technique are today much better than 70 years ago, and you can hear that the music is weak during the whole movie. Actually Fantasia was played last December in Munich's Gasteig by a philarmonic orchester, and now I regret not going there. A very interesting bonus on the Blu-ray describes The Schultheis Notebook, a piece of collection that was filled by special effects designer Herman Schulteis at the time of filming Fantasia with many behind-the-scenes pictures and detailed technical description of how many special effects were achieved. Some of those techniques were unknown until the book was found some years ago in a storage. It has been restored, can be seen at the Walt Disney Museum, and hard-copies will be sold starting November 5th 2013. I have already pre-ordered one.
Rating: 8 /10

Taken 2 (2012)

	Also Known As: 96 hours 2
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3)
	Actors: Liam Neeson (Schindler's List, Star Wars 1, Batman Begins), Famke Janssen (The Faculty, X-men 1-3), Maggie Grace (Faster, Taken)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 24.03.2013, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: The family of Bryans Mills (Neeson) is slowly recovering after the kidnapping of the daughter (in the first Taken movie). But the families of the now dead kidnappers don't forget so easily.
Review: The first Taken movie was a big success because revolving around such a simple plot: the father, ex-CIA, has only a few days to find his kidnapped daughter, and he will use all his skills to succeed. The sequel starts slowly, but after a while a similar story is put in place, so that fans of the first film can find again what they liked in it. There are also some surprises to keep the movie interesting. I would say that Taken 2 is maybe the best that could be done as sequel to the first movie. It is still pleasant to see the aging character of Neeson so cold and calculating in his work and also when it comes so save his family. I only found that the fights miss something ; we don't feel his anger like in the first movie, here it just kills anybody on his path.
Rating: 6 /10

Summer Wars (2009)

	Also Known As: Samâ uôzu (original)
	Year of first release: 2009
	Director: Mamoru Hosoda (The Girls who leapt through Time)
	Actors (voices): Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Nanami Sakuraba, Mitsuki Tanimura
	Country: J
	Genre: Animatiom, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 23.03.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: A young boy, math genius and at his spare time programmer on the world social network called Oz, accompanies a girl from his class to celebrate the 90th birthday of her grandmother.
Review: I read some good about this movie in my Mad Movies magazines, and it was said to be revolutionary, or at the very least the best Anime of 2009. So I was a bit dissapointed when I saw it. For me the best in this movie is the juxtaposition between the traditionnal family reunion and the chaos that is spreading throught the network. As usual in Japanese Anime, teenagers are going to save the day. Maybe the meaning of the movie is that it is still good to keep traditions in our modern world, because when technology fails we can still talk to each other... Anyway, I was not impressed by the story like I was with Ghost in the Shell, by the magic like I was in Princess Mononoke or by the graphics like I was in Steamboy.
Rating: 5 /10

Fight club (1999)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1999
	Director: David Fincher
	Actors: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helen Bonham Carter
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 05.02.2013, DVD
Synopsis: An insomniac office worker looking for a way to change his life crosses paths with a devil-may-care soap maker and they form an underground fight club that evolves into something much, much more...
Review: The first time I saw this movie, it was in a period when I was insomniac and strange things happened during my sleep, like I wokeup and light and music was on, I woke up and pages were filled on my desk. That is why friends recommended me Fight Club. Aaahhh, nice time in Nancy. I do not feel insomniac anymore, but apparently, I still make strange things while I am asleep... The movie is one of my favorite ones, because of its sogiological aspect, because of its revolutionary aspect, because of its psychological aspect, in which I somehow identified myself. It is a good picture of the society of that time, and actually of today too, where people (here men) are used by the society, have to work for a company, do not get much recognition (or gratitude?), and do not and cannot make something, for which they are proud of themselves. It shows also how the revolution looks like, as the French revolution started because the bread was too expensive, as in 1999 people having credits had to work a lot to pay it back and as today we all are paying the debts of our banks. From the psychological point of view, we all have the picture of ourself as we are and as we wish to be. For some of us, these pictures can be dramatically different. Some points of the movie are also scary, because this could also look like a league of faschists, machist rules for a corporation following blind their leader... From a cinematographic point of view, the story-telling, really the telling of the story, is well balanced with the more action episodes. The increasing suspense created by the mysterious relationships, by the slow creation of an army without clear goal are also fascinating! The camera is well thought, showing the point of view of the guy who does not know what happens: in the boss office or in the parking lot. Even the use of subliminal pictures made the upcoming Tyler Durden familiar from the right beginning. Plenty of cinematographic tools used for these goals: confuse the viewer and surprise him.
Rating: 9 /10

The master (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
	Actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 04.02.2013, Schauburg, OV
Synopsis: A war veteran comes back from WWII and follows a charismatic leader in a pseudo-philosophical movement.
Review: Anderson got inspired by the Scientology for this movie. Well, he shows a white-collar criminal and the power-based relationship he has with his followers. But actually, all along the movie, I wondered: What the hell does Anderson want to show us? Not a movie for nor against sects. Not a criminal movie. Not a psychological movie on the evolution of characters. And I still do not know, I still do not see any idea. I expected something with an idea from the director of the magnificent Magnolia, and of the strong There will be blood.
Rating: 2 /10

Ai Weiwei - never sorry (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Alison Klayman
	Actors: Ai Weiwei
	Country: USA
	Genre: Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 03.02.2013, DVD
Synopsis: A documentary that chronicles artist and activist Ai Weiwei as he prepares for a series of exhibitions and gets into an increasing number of clashes with the Chinese government.
Review: The documentary shows the engagement of Ai Weiwei for transparency in the modern history of China and in particular in the handling of earthquake missed children. We learn about the importance of Internet and its use and in particular of Twitter for his work. Then because Ai Weiwei art work is conceptual and done for specific events, we do not see much of his art work. This is quite deceiving. Such an activist life starting actually when he came back to China from his extremely long studies in the USA is anyway interesting and actually this increased my interest for this atypical artist. Let's see when he shows up in Europe in the coming years... Hopefully, this movie could inspire more artists for activism and more activists for art.
Rating: 6 /10

(500) days of Summer (2009)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2009
	Director: Marc Webb
	Actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 02.02.2013, DVD
Synopsis: Although Summer does not believe in boyfriends - in her assertion, real life will always ultimately get in the way - Tom and Summer become more than colleagues and more than just friends. Through the trials and tribulations of Tom and Summer's so-called relationship, Tom can  always count on the advice of his two best friends and of the good advice of his teenie sister.
Review: Summer is a great period of time, where life is blossoming from everywhere but one day turning to Autumn. Strangely, it sounds like my recent life! Well, the story does good in calming the expectations on love and in destroying the romantic vision of life. Even if this can happen, and then it might be great, it is based on luck. The happiness is pending on the expectations we have of life. This time and this is the modernity of the movie, the romantic is the guy! The story telling is great by having several starting points and reminds a bit Memento by going here and there in time. Well done also the work on the slight colour temperature variations, enhancing the atmosphere and feelings of Tom. The music is great and perfectly selected for the story. I give only an 8 because I think, my view is biased by my current life, but this movie could easily deserve a 9.
Rating: 8 /10

Comme un chef (2012)

	Also Known As: Kochen ist Chefsache
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Daniel Cohen
	Actors: Jean Reno, Mickael Youn
	Country: F, E
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 01.02.2013, DVD
Synopsis: An established chef faces off against his restaurant group's new CEO, who is looking for modernity in the French cuisine by derating the star in order to bring in a younger chef who specializes in molecular gastronomy.
Review: As a French guy in Germany, I felt quite often like Jacky Bonnot in the couple life. This comes as soon as you like more cooking than your girlfriend. The actors are well directed, also by the story, which makes the characters evolve in an interesting way. Both modern and traditional gastronomy are shown as ridiculous in their hype and narrow-mindness. The actor performances are quite simple and basic, but the directing keeps a good rythm and balance between comedy and drama. I got interested into molecular gastronomy. Let's see where there is such a restaurant...
Rating: 5 /10

Small time Crooks (2000)

	Also Known As: Schmalspurganoven
	Year of first release: 2000
	Director: Woody Allen
	Actors: Woody Allen, Trcey Ullman, Hugh Grant
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 25.01.2013, DVD
Synopsis: Dishwasher and small-fry criminal Ray hits on a plan with his partners in crime to re-open a local pizza place and dig through to the bank down the street. As his wife can't cook pizza but does great cookies, that's what they sell. While the no-hope tunnellers get lost underground, the cookie operation really takes off and the team find themselves rich people. It is not easy to be accepted in the rich society nor to loose its habits.
Review: The movie is a pleasant comedy, in which as often Woody Allen is an hysteric serial loose. His wife is actually the success person because of her cooking talent and behaviour toward people. Nothing special to comment, except that some parts are quite long since they get rich. This already short comedy could have been cut by good 20 minutes to avoid these flaws.
Rating: 4 /10

We need to talk about Kevin (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Lynne Ramsay
	Actors: Tilda Twinton, John Reilly
	Country: UK, USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 20.01.2013, DVD
Synopsis: From the very beginning, Kevin does not like his mother. She struggles to love her strange child, despite the increasingly aggressive and vicious things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined.
Review: The theory of the movie on the Amok kid Kevin is that the bad in him came from birth. The parents are quite powerless in front of this fate. The way the parents play their role, how she is shoked by her son and how he is continuously confident and reducing the drama shows parents that are not only powerless but who not even try to make something to help the son. And this is indeed a common situation today, that does not necessarily leads to Amok, but only to get asocial grown-ups. Well parents should talk more than these about the education of their kids, that is very true! Even if the movie is directed quite good and played also good by the parents, I cannot share this view that the genes decide for us what we are. This is a thesis quite spread in the USA, but I still believe that education by parents and by the society build a big part of a human being.So the movie is well done, but its essence is wrong.
Rating: 6 /10

Django unchained (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Quentin Tarantino
	Actors: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio
	Country: USA
	Genre: Western
	Conditions of visioning: 16.01.2013, Schauburg
Synopsis: With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.
Review: A bit as in Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino torns the history on a crazy, funny and politically positive way. Christoph Waltz takes a role, where his dialogues will become legendary because of the text and his huge theatrical competence. Leonardo DiCaprio surprises in his brutal role. As often with Tarantino, the music and some scenes enhances greatly the story. The way Americans handle slaves is shown extremely brutally, but truely too.
Rating: 8 /10

Lo imposible (2012)

	Also Known As: The impossible
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
	Actors: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor
	Country: E
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 14.01.2013, Schauburg
Synopsis: An account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time.
Review: The movie is based on a true story of a Spanish family. It is also good to be focused on this family, through which we see all the disaster and the director builds an strong emotional link. After a while, the words of the family member get more weight, even if these are still simple. The kindness of local people is enhanced, as well as the ambivalent behaviour of occidental tourists (egoist or altruist), as in real life. The camera and sound tracks are working good in this emotional direction, as well as the actors. Actually, I could have awarded an 8/10 if the end of movie would not show the family suddenly extremely privileged, as this does not fit at all to the rest of the movie. If the director missed some 100EUR to hire a couple of walk-on actors, this is really really a pity.
Rating: 6 /10

Zero dark thirty (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Kathrin Bigelow
	Actors: Jessica Chastain, Kyle Chandler
	Country: USA
	Genre: War
	Conditions of visioning: 07.01.2013, Schauburg
Synopsis: A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osana Bin-Laden after the 11.09.2001 attack on the USA, and how this ends in May 2011.
Review: After the Hurt locker in 2008, Kathrin Bigelow continues to depict American war heroes. This might be good for the Americans, so that they can work on their trauma. But as the Hurt locker, the movie does not build any character, who would have an emotional link to the viewer. It is the raw description of the new type of warriors, who collects and analyses information and has to defend an opinion in offices. Interesting point is to see how Bigelow shows a woman confronted to the torture. Strangely, very cold. A long part of the movie is a remake of CNN videos.
Rating: 2 /10

King Kong (2005)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2005
	Director: Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, The Lord of the Rings 1-3)
	Actors: Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive), Jack Black (Tropic Thunder), Adrien Brody (The Pianist), Andy Serkis (The Adventures of Tintin), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot)
	Country: USA, NZ, D
	Genre: Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 12.03.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: In the 1930's, an ambitious movie director (Black) hires a young actress (Watts) and escapes from the American depression in the search for Skull Island.
Review: Peter Jackson's modern version of the 1933 classic, forgetting about the cheap 1978 version. The storyline is very close to the one that was already a success 80 years ago, in particular the whole second act on the island, meeting dinosaurs, giant insects... After seeing this movie in 2005 I watched the original and found it very good (straight forward story, great special effects for the time), then I watched The most Dangerous Game (Les chasses du Comte Zaroff in french) shot in 1932 by the same crew and on the same sets as King Kong, and it was also pretty good. Another recommended video: The lost spider pit sequence, a recreation by Peter Jackson of a scene of the original King Kong movie that was shot but from which the film was lost. This scene is back in the screenplay of the 2005 version. Now about this movie itself. It is visualy impressive, and came right at a time when digital special effects were mature enough to create a believable giant gorilla. The story is still as strong as in the original movie, and I like a lot the restless chase during the second third of the movie: as soon as Ann is kidnapped, it is a race against time and many ferocious creatures to get her back. The third part of the movie, sensational as it takes place in Manhattan but also the most touching, is not neglected. Actors are also good, in particular Jack Black in the best role I have seen him in, playing very well the director ready to do anything to succeed. I was impressed by how good, funny and subtle he can be when properly directed.
Rating: 8 /10

Thor (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Kenneth Branagh (Frankenstein, Hamlet)
	Actors: Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek, The Cabin in the Woods, The Avengers), Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs, Legends of the Fall), Natalie Portman (Black Swan, Star Wars 1-3)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 16.03.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: On the crowning day of the new king of Asgard Thor (Hemsworth) by his father Odin (Hopkins) the Frost Giant, ages-old ennemies, reappear. This event will be the beginning for Thor of a test to prove he is worthy to be king.
Review: This was the last individual movie made as part of the preparation for The Avengers, after Iron Man 1-2, The Incredible Hulk and Captain America. The universe is different as half of the movie doesn't take place on Earth. But I found the depiction of those ancien Gods (and their technology) to be too shiny and completely unbelievable. The hammer (Thor's weapon) itself is ridiculous. The character played by Nathalie Portamn is pretty useless and the location for the action on Earth (a small town in New Mexico) is also not very exciting. Each time I hear about Thor, it reminds me of the way this mythology was introduced in the TV-series Stargate SG-1: the Asgardians were actually little grey aliens and the hammer was a spaceship of incredible power: that was a story!
Rating: 3 /10