Thor! And Other Marvel Films

If you've read my blog even once, or ever met me for that matter, you know I am a huge nerd. And most should probably know that I have a lot of nerd-love for Marvel comics. So it should be no surprise that I was looking forward to Thor! Right from the original announcement I've been waiting to see this one. And see it I did. Twice even. Double the Chris Hemsworth. Yum.

I have been really impressed with the quality of movies Marvel has been putting out lately.
Iron Man: Top notch! The first of the new Avengers themed/lead-up movies that really raised the bar!
Incredible Hulk: Great! Huuuuuuuuge improvement over the previous iteration (which I consider unwatchable, so anything would have been an improvement).
Iron Man 2: Almost as good as the first one, and still fantastic! And then...
Thor: Just all kinds of awesome! I have literally no complaints at all! (except that it was in 3D...)

I love these movies 'cause they all tie in together. Each one has little nods to the others and they build off of each other. Thor had it's fair share of that. They mention Tony Stark and refer to Bruce Banner, and the inclusion of Agent Coulson in a more prominent role, along with SHIELD making more of a presence made this movie a lot of fun. Also, Clint Barton (AKA Hawkeye!)!! And that is all just the extras!

I am really not much of a Thor fan, so I was going into this movie knowing very little about the character and his history, not to mention the cast of supporting characters. I really enjoyed my introduction to Thor and the other gods of Asgard, as well as Jane Foster (and the clever way they mentioned Dr. Donald Blake). So much so that I had to go online afterwards and spend hours researching.

It's interesting that these Marvel Studios movies are so fantastic, while all of their co-produced films are just kinda crap in comparison. I am really excited for X-Men: First Class this summer, but I know it won't be the same calibre of film. It's gotta be better than X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but really, I could make a better movie in my backyard (if I had a backyard) than that Wolverine film. Marvel needs to rope in the rights on all of it's different franchises and take creative control back 'cause all of these different co-productions are killing Marvel movies. I think it would be awesome if we could see little cameos and mentions in all of Marvel's movies. Have Spider-Man swing by in the background of an X-Men film. Have the Avengers consult with Beast. Mister Fantastic video conference with the leaders of the other major Marvel teams. Or just the casual mentions of other Marvel characters in the films. No more of these completely separate universes.

Anyway... The next major Marvel film will be Captain America: The First Avenger this summer (while Andrea and I are at Comic-Con!) and I really can't wait! It looks like another great one (even if it is gonna be in 3D...). What do you think of Marvel movies? Fan? Not-so-much? Lemme know!

If you'd like a proper review of this movie, visit my good pal Andrea's blog. I agree with her on most parts. Except Natalie Portman. I loved her in this movie.