Thor (2011)

Rating: 3/4

As per mythology, Thor is the hammer-wielding God of thunder and lightning after whom Thursday ("Thor's day") gets its name. However in Marvel's comic book universe, he is one arrogant son-of-a-God who, much against his father's wishes jeopardizes the feeble truce that exists between his kingdom of Asgard and the Frost Giants. Angered by Thor's arrogance, his father-and-king Odin(Anthony Hopkins) strips him of his powers and banishes him from Asgard to live on Earth as a mortal.

Much of the movie's creative efforts have gone into the visual-effects and writing departments which partly make up for the pretty simple plot. Jotunheim, the cold, crumbling and dark home of the Frost Giants oozes with artistically-rendered menace and also adds to the creepiness of its inhabitants. In comparision, Asgard is not so imaginatively depicted. The clash between Thor and the Frost Giants on Jotunheim in the first half of the movie is unarguably the highlight of the movie and is on-par with what we have seen in Lord of the Rings. However on the downside, this rises the bar a few notches too high for the rest of the movie to attain. Kenneth Branagh's script infuses humor into the proceedings, just as Jon Favreau's did to Iron Man, which is a good thing because it allows us to forgive some of the weaknesses of the movie.

Talking about weaknesses, Thor's nemesis is not intimidating enough. He is quite a manipulative guy, I 'll give him that, but I expected him to be at least as menacing as his minions. This is primarily why the climactic clash is a letdown. The four warrior friends of Thor who would have been interesting had some time been spent on characterizing them, come across as excess baggage. I am not sure if Branagh has to be blamed for it, its probable that the producers have decided against spending any more time and money on a bunch of disposables - Thor will return to Hollywood in The Avengers (2012), his four friends wouldn't be so lucky.

The acting is uniformly adequate though Stellan Skarsgaard surprised me with his funny turn. Natalie Portman is funny and cute and so very un-Black Swan-like in a good way. There is no motion blur with the 3D, although it could have done with slightly more lighting during the first half-hour. All in all, its fun spending an afternoon with Thor.

Rango (2011)

Rating: 3.5/4

Rango is a chameleon who cannot blend in. There is a hilarious chase scene early in the movie demonstrating this, which actually serves as an indication of things to come. But then, who wants their heroes blended or stirred?We want them shaken and thats literally how Rango starts the story of his life.

Capn. Jack Sparrow meets The Good The Bad &The Ugly in Chinatown - thats Rango in short. Rango gets accidentally deserted in a desert. Heeding the advice of an armadillo, a parched Rango heads off towards the nearest town, the aptly-named Dirt. Dirt at that time is facing its worst water-crisis and its inhabitants are convinced that only a miracle can save them. When Rango, who is most obviously a stranger in the town, accidentally kills the predatory Hawk, the entire town is convinced that he is the miracle worker. He is promptly elected the town's sheriff charged with the task of bringing water to Dirt and protecting the town from the Rattlesnake, who can roam free now that the Hawk is dead. But when the town's last reserve of water is stolen from the bank (yes, people save their hard earned water in the bank), and the town's wise old Mayor turns out to be a little too wise, there isn't much room for Rango's ineptness. He is forced rise to the occassion all while trying not to end up like his predecessor - the sheriff whose headstone reads 'Mon-Thu'

The same smile-inducing quirkiness and dodginess that made Jack Sparrow so adorable is much in evidence here, which isn't very surprising considering that Johnny Depp(Rango's voice) and Gore Verbinski(direction) are behind the scenes.With its dirt-beaten houses, unwashed inhabitants and their apparels which have long lost their original colours, the town of Dirt revels in its dirtiness. What with all the nefarious characters waiting to pick on the weak, gun-slinging being the the most rewarded skill, cacti dying of thirst and the dominant colour being brown, I half-expected Clint Eastwood to pop on the screen any moment. The Man With No Name should at least have an address in Dirt.. which he sort of does.

The animation is top-notch but that seems true for most of the recent animated outings. What really sets Rango apart from the rest is the maturity of the content. It does not take the a-joke-every-minute way but whatever it does isn't repetitive or predictable; sure there is humour throughout but it is low-key because the movie is more interested in telling us the story. Most of the humor comes from Rango's attempts to blend in the crowd and stay out of trouble, both of which he utterly fails in. My favourite however is a quartet of owls who follow Rango everywhere singing out his exploits and expecting him to die a hero's death just because it makes a good story to sing about. The action/chase scenes are well choreographed. Theres one particularly innovative shot early in the movie which shows Rango getting involved in an accident from Rango's perspective.

Rango isnt something you want to wait for on HBO.. go see it now! Leave your brats at home, this one is for you ;)