Sweet Child of Love and Thunder: A Thor Trailer

I enjoy Taika Waititi as a film maker.  I really like JoJo Rabbit and What We Do In The Shadows.  He brought that same style to Thor: Ragnorak.  And as a Thor movie, I didn't enjoy it much.  I thought it wasn't what Thor should be.  As a film I found it fun, but as a Thor film I thought it lacked gravitas.  Sure Thor's father, friends, and planet was destroyed.  But you never felt the weight of it because their were too many dumb jokes.  Please don't get me started on how fast the Warriors Three went down.   I was torn when Taika was going to be directing another Thor film. I was excited though when they said they were adapting The Mighty Thor.

I had never been a Thor reader, but when "Lady Thor" was released, I wanted to give it a fair shot before truly criticizing it.  What I discovered was a great title being written by Jason Aaron and I've kept up with Thor comics ever since.  The first trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder has arrived and it's everything I thought it would be.  Thor cracks jokes because Taika turned him pretty much into a stereotypical jock, he has a funny moment with Star-Lord, and a popular song was playing in the background. But we also got more than that.

When we left Thor in Avengers: Endgame he was having a crisis of faith, riding off with the Guardians of the Galaxy to try and find his true path.  From this trailer it looks like he's still on that journey.  He's getting back into shape using chains from something big and dead, and it looks like he refuses to follow the Guardians into battle. "My superheroing days are over," he says.  But who will be the God of Thunder?  Bring back Natalie Portman as Mighty Thor!  For those who don't know the comics, I kind of don't want to spoil it, but let's just say Jane Foster wielding Mjolnir is epic storytelling, and if Waititi can tap just a little of that into this film we could get some great drama.  

I was surprised Natalie Portman came back.  I thought she was done with franchise films after her experiences on Star Wars and Thor films.  The whole trailer I was watching with curiosity if they were going to show her, but of course they waited till the end.  I also can't wait to see her behind-the-scenes training videos.  She looks jacked!

The rest if the trailer brought up some questions with cameos.  Who is the blue haired lady Thor was kissing?  Is that Russell Crowe as Zeus?  And Valkryie looks so board in what appears to be some kind of diplomatic meeting.  Christian Bale does play the villain of this film as Gorr the God Butcher. My guess is Thor will find some kind of peace with Zeus, but it will be short lived when Gorr comes to butcher some Gods. As for Valkryie, I was watching Spider-Man: No Way Home the other day and noticed a news headline on a TV that said, "Political Turmoil Continues In New Asgard."  Maybe Valkryie isn't liking being the king?

From the trailer it feels like Star-Lord and the Guardians are going to be in more of this film that I thought, which is fine by me because Star-Lord is my favorite MCU character next to Steve Rogers.  It also appears Thor will be hanging out with Korg (voiced by Taika Waititi) a lot.  I just want another quotable line like "piss of ghosts!"  I'm going into this film with hope and optimism.  I like Waititi, I like Mighty Thor, and like Guardians of the Galaxy.  This trailer rocked, now let's see if the film rolls. 

 

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Races To Franchise Potential (WARNING: SPOILERS)

Growing up, I was more of a Sonic the Hedgehog guy than Super Mario.  Mainly because in my house we had a SEGA Genesis instead of a Super Nintendo.  Plus, a fast-moving hedgehog was cooler than a mustached plumber.  I remember playing many levels as Sonic racing through check points and bouncing off Dr Robotnik's machines.  The first Sonic the Hedgehog film was a real surprise treat that I didn't expect.  When I saw they were going to bring a CGI Sonic into the real world I thought it was going to be another lame strategy of trying to put a fantasy character, from a fantasy world, into the real world to save some money. Examples include Smurfs, Spongebob Squarepants, Garfield.  But that film I think worked.  Sonic was fun to watch, my man Cyclops (James Marsden) teamed up for a buddy story, and Jim Carrey played the eccentric villain.

Before the second film was released SEGA announced that a third Sonic film was on the way, along with a Knuckles spin-off, and more. Sure, the first film had broken out of the mold of movies based on video games aren't great, but was SEGA counting their golden rings too soon?  In this sequel, Sonic teams up with Tails to find the Emerald Gem before Robotnik and his new ally, Knuckles.  As the film continues Knuckles turns against Robotnik and the end of the film sees Sonic with his new entourage.  This part of the film was great!  The trio of these characters works.  Once Knuckles flipped in the film, he had a real Drax the Destroyer vibe.   And the last scene with all of them playing baseball and interacting made me look forward to their chemistry as a team in future films.

We also saw more things in the Sonic lore this time around. Super Sonic (or Captain Marvel Sonic as I call him) appeared to destroy Robotnik's robot (much like how Carol Danvers destroyed Thanos's ship) and we get a tease for the character Shadow.  These two things I am less familiar with as the last Sonic the Hedgehog game I actually played was Sonic & Knuckles or maybe Sonic Pinball on Genesis.   Although I have played some Sonic Racing with my daughter on Playstation.  However, I know the Sonic mythology has just scratched the surface with many characters left to be added.   I just hope a few of them are included from the Saturday morning ABC cartoon with that bitchin theme song!

Now, I will say, the thing I hate about some sequels is they take something that was funny in the first film and ramp it up for the second film and end up ruining the joke. Tom's sister-in-law had a small, but funny part in the first film. Now in this second installment she has a fiancée who turns out to be a government spy just waiting for Sonic to turn up.  This adds a subplot that really wasn't necessary.  All it did was add twenty minutes to a film that kids with short attention spans will be watching.  Sonic and Tails were captured and freed almost immediately.  No point at all.

Jim Carrey had a few moments also in this film where I thought his delivery was a little too much, but it's Jim Carrey in a Sonic the Hedgehog film so what else should I expect.  But for me, this film comes down to Sonic.  He's a character I've enjoyed for decades in video games, cartoons, and now films.  He's a fast moving, fun-loving, character that is a pleasure to see with his quips and Parks and Recreation references.   

I will say I didn't like this film as much as the first Sonic the Hedgehog film.  I think it's because the first film was simpler, more of a buddy film, and this one tried to be that with Sonic and Tails, but just had too much in it to be simple.  I was worried when Sonic and Tails entered the lodge that we were going to get another bar scene like the first film, but instead we got a dance off to keep it fresh.  Nicely done Mr. Fowler and team!  I do have a question about the Emerald Gem.  It was made up of all the tiny gems, and when Super Sonic destroyed it all the smaller gems vanished into the sky.  But then Knuckles puts the Emerald Gem back together and they still plan on protecting it? Did I miss the part where it's nothing now?

This film isn't going to win any Oscars, but I appreciate a franchise my daughter and I can enjoy together, and I'm always down to support Cyclops in a film!  It looks like this is just the beginning for Sonic and his team, and I hope they stay on this track.  I'll just be munching on my chili dogs and enjoying the run.