Molly's Game

Year of Release:  2017
Director:  Aaron Sorkin
Screenplay:  Aaron Sorkin, based on the book Molly's Game by Molly Bloom
Starring:  Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O'Dowd, Bill Camp
Running Time:  140 minutes
Genre:  Crime, drama

Molly Bloom (Chastain) is a world-class skier, who is severely injured while trying to qualify for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, ending her athletic career.  Molly moves to Los Angeles where, after several low-paid jobs, she ends up as a secretary for an obnoxious, unsuccessful real estate agent (Strong) who asks Molly to run his weekly high-stakes poker game.  The game regularly attracts very wealthy and very famous individuals, including movie stars and sports stars, and Molly is soon earning  a lot of money.  When she is unceremoniously sacked by her boss, Molly starts running her own game, but soon finds herself in serious trouble with both the Mob and the FBI.

Based on a true story, this is a hugely enjoyable thriller.  With a witty, complex and intelligent script, and slick, dynamic direction from Aaron Sorkin, Jessica Chastain gives a truly great performance as Molly, who owns the entire film.  This is Molly's story and the other characters don't really get fleshed out, with Kevin Costner in particular never really getting much to do as her overbearing father.  Idris Elba however, gives a typically suave performance as Molly's lawyer, and he and Chastain have brilliant chemistry together.  Personally, I have never had any real interest in poker, I've never played it and don't really know anything about it, but the film makes the gaming scenes not only understandable for a newcomer, but genuinely exciting.  Even though there were times where I could see where the story was going, and there aren't many surprises, with a running time of well over two hours, this is a fast-paced film with not a scene or a line wasted.

Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba play Molly's Game       

Thor: Ragnarok

Year of Release:  2017
Director:  Taika Waititi
Screenplay:  Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, based on the comic-book character Thor created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum. Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Hopkins
Running Time:  130 minutes
Genre:  Fantasy, science-fiction, action, adventure, superhero, comedy

Two years after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), the Asgardian Thunder God Thor (Hemsworth) is hunting, unsuccessfully, for the powerful Infinity Stones, but is tormented by dreams of Ragnarok, the end of Asgard.  Returning home to Asgard, he finds his trickster half-brother Loki (Hiddleston) in charge and his father, Odin (Hopkins), missing.  With Loki's aid, Thor manages to track Odin down to Earth, where he reveals that he is dying and that his death will allow his first-born child, the Death Goddess Hela (Blanchett), to escape her imprisonment and seize control of Asgard. 

This is the third Thor movie, and the seventeenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the shared universe centered on movies based on Marvel Comics characters.  This film is very light in tone, and often very funny, playing more as a comedy than a straightforward action adventure superhero film.  The cast all seem to be enjoying themselves, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are both very good comic actors and they bounce off each other very well, Cate Blanchett goes full on panto villain as the evil Hela, and Jeff Goldblum is hilarious as the intergalactic warlord, who rules a planet where Thor and Loki find themselves trapped on.  To add to the fun, Mark Ruffalo reprises his rule as the Hulk , and Benedict Cumberbatch has a brief appearance as Doctor Strange.  The film manages to balance the humour with enough drama to give scenes some emotional heft if needed, and sometimes comedy makes drama all the more affecting. The film is definitely too long,and the humour doesn't always land, but this is still a fun and funny comedy adventure.

Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Ragnarok   

Star Trek Beyond

Year of Release:  2016
Director:  Justin Lin
Screenplay:  Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, based on the television series Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
Starring:  Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella
Running Time:  122 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, action, adventure

This is the thirteenth film in the Star Trek franchise, and the third in the rebooted series that began with Star Trek (2009) and continued with Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).  In this film the Starship Enterprise is almost three years into it's five year mission and the crew are beginning increasingly fed up with life in deep space.  After docking at a space station, the Enterprise is sent off on a rescue mission into a uncharted nebula.  Unfortunately, it turns out to be a trap, when the ship is attacked by a vast horde of mysterious craft, led by the brutal Krall (Elba) who is looking for an ancient alien artifact on board the Enterprise.

This is a hugely entertaining slice of science-fiction action.  The special effects are spectacular, and the action moves along well, but still leaves room for character moments, and humour.  It's more of an ensemble film than some previous Star Trek efforts, rather than focusing on the Kirk (Pine) and Spock (Quinto) relationship, it broadens the canvas by dividing the main crew up for most of the film, thereby meaning that they all have their own subplots to play out.  Chris Pine is good as the square-jawed hero Kirk, while Zachary Quinto is impressive as Spock and has a nice moment which serves as a tribute to the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy, Karl Urban is fun as the wisecracking McCoy and his fraught relationship with Spock is one of the delights of the film.  Simon Pegg is good as Scotty and is given a much bigger role than Scott usually has (which isn't surprising as Pegg co-wrote the script).  Zoe Saldana and John Cho are underused as Uhura and Sulu, although they still have their moments, and there is a nice glimpse of Sulu's family life.  Anton Yelchin is good as Chekhov (of course Yelchin died tragically just a few weeks before the film opened and it is dedicated to his memory).  Idris Elba steals the show as  the evil Krall, and Sofia Boutella is impressive as kick-ass alien fighter Jaylah.

It manages the difficult task of paying homage and staying true to the spirit of the original series, while still being very much it's own thing, and with this film the new Star Trek series really comes into it's own, and the Enterprise crew really start to work together well.  A treat for Trekkers, but with enough humour and action to appeal to non fans as well.

Sofia Boutella and Simon Pegg boldly go to Star Trek Beyond

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Year:  2012
Director:   Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Screenplay:  Scott Gimple, Seth Hoffman and David Goyer, from a story by David Goyer, based on the comic book character Ghost Rider created by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog
Starring:  Nicolas Cage, Fergus Riordan, Ciaran Hinds, Violante Placido, Johnny Whitworth, Idris Elba, Christopher Lambert
Running Time:  95 minutes
Genre:  Horror, fantasy, action, supernatural, superhero

Here we go with the not so eagerly awaited sequel to the superhero clunker Ghost Rider (2007), based on the Marvel Comics character.  The film tells the story of Johnny Blaze (Cage) a motorcycle stunt rider who makes a deal with the Devil (Hinds) in order to save the life of his father.  However, the deal means that whenever Blaze is in the presence of any kind of wrongdoer he transforms into the "Ghost Rider", a demonic creature with a flaming skull for a head riding a tricked out motorcycle (anything that he happens to be riding on when he transforms is transformed as well).  In order to escape the curse, Blaze moves to a remote area somewhere in Eastern Europe, where he is found by alcoholic monk Moreau (Elba).  Apparently, the Devil has sent his minons out after a mother, Nadya (Placido), and her thirteen year old son, Danny (Riordan).  The Devil, it soon turns out, is the boy's father.  If Blaze can foil the Devil and keep Nadya and Danny safe, Moreau promises to lift the Ghost Rider curse.  Blaze reluctantly agrees and they soon set off on a run around through Eastern Europe, pursued by the Devil's henchman Carrigan (Whitworth).

This film, which is released in 3D, is a mess.  It never seems to know how seriously to take itself and the cast seem to come from different movies.  Placido and Riordan play it as a drama, Elba plays it as a alight-hearted action movie, Hinds plays the Devil like a gangster, and Nicolas Cage is so over the top he appears to have gone off over the Moon somewhere.  This provides for some hysterical scenes.  In one scene Cage is interrogating a bad guy while trying to keep his Ghost Rider side repressed bellowing that the demon is "ScratchIINNNGG... at... the... DOOORRRR!!!"  There are also irritating comic interludes which distract  from the story (the scene with the Ghost Rider peeing fire while nodding at the camera and chuckling does a lot to rob the character of any mystique or tension he might have once had).  The 3D is serviceable and does provide some entertainment when they are barrelling along the roads.  The computer effects are serviceable but little more, which isn't really good enough for a movie with such a heavy reliance on visual effects.  There are also bizarre animated interludes in order to explain the plot and provide some exposition.  The story itself, with it's liberal borrowings from other religious themed movies, is nothing that has not been done before and done better.

Fans of the original, if any, might enjoy the film, but otherwise it just provides still more proof that Nicolas Cage's career is on a sad downward trajectory, which is a real pity because he has done such great work in the past. 

The dangers of smoking in Ghost Rider:  Spirit of Vengeance


            

Thor

Year: 2011
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenplay: Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne, based on the comic-book series Thor created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgard, Colm Feore, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins
Running Time: 114 minutes
Genre: Superhero, action, fantasy

Summary: Thor (Hemsworth), God of Thunder, is banished from Asgard to Earth by his father Odin (Hopkins), King of the Gods, for attacking the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, long standing enemies of the Gods.
Arriving in present-day New Mexico, Thor is discovered by scientist Jane Foster (Portman), her assistant Darcy Lewis (Dennings) and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig (Skarsgard). Stripped of his powers and ability to use his magical hammer Mjolnir, Thor has to come to terms with his new mortal existence, as well as a sinister agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. who are taking a strong interest in him.
Meanwhile, in Asgard, the plotting of Thor's treacherous brother Loki (Hiddelston) threatens more than one world with complete destruction.

Opinions: This movie is based on the popular Marvel comic-book series and differs from a lot of the more recent superhero movies by throwing in some sword-and-sorcery action into the mix.
Thor was the God of Thunder in Norse mythology, whose name is referenced in, among other things, the day of the week Thursday ("Thor's Day"). Needless to say, the film has very little connection to Norse legend.
Kenneth Branagh is best known as a director for his Shakesperean adaptations, and is certainly not a name that springs to mind in connection with a massive multi million dollar special effects 3-D superhero movie, but he does very well. A fan of the comic, Branagh obviously has a lot of understanding of the material. He balances the drama and humour very well and also handles the special effects and action scenes brilliantly, making the action scenes tight and effective so that they are exciting and comprehensible rather than being an explosion of confusing pyrotechnics that just ends up being dull. The film is released in 3-D, and I personally am not a fan of 3-D in general (although there are exceptions), but it is done well here and it helps to invest both the golden city of Asgard and the frozen wastes of Jotunheim with a genuine sense of wonder. The special effects are really spectacular throughout.
The cast do well with their roles. In the lead Chris Hemsworth is charismatic, if too clean-cut to be a Norse warrior-god. Natalie Portman provides the film with it's emotional heart. Stellan Skarsgard is also very impressive as the skeptical scientist. The comic's co-creator Stan Lee has his customary cameo as a truck driver.
Blending culture-clash comedy, family drama and intrigue and comic-book superheroics this is a pretty packed film. In contrast with many recent superhero movies, such as The Dark Knight (2008), this doesn't try to make the material dark or gritty, it is unashamedly action-packed, fantasy adventure, and none the worse for that.
By the way, keep watching until the end of the closing credits for an additional scene.



Chris Hemsworth and Anthony Hopkins in Thor