NOAH / THOR: THE DARK WORLD

I had a great weekend when it comes to the number of films watched (five). The journey began Friday night with back-to-back viewings of Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Noah‘ and the latest chapter in Marvel’s Asgardian series, ‘Thor: the Dark World.”

‘Noah‘ had cool rock monsters and a scaly dog, two things I don’t remember reading in da Bible, as well as solid acting by Russell Crowe and Ray Winstone (who’s character’s attitude toward the God he knew existed but wasn’t happy with was very crusty and similar to mine in many ways), and an exceptional performance by ‘Breaking Bad‘ fanboy Anthony Hopkins. Representing the fairer sex, Aranofsky favorite and all-around bony person Jennifer Connelly delivers a credible turn as Noah’s wife and, although a little out of her depth and too prone to tears, Hermione Emma Watson does well as Noah’s daughter-in-law. And, even though the Kronos Quartet playing Clint Mansell’s score sounds like a subdued re-working of ‘the Fountain’, having a couple of songs by Patti Smith was truly inspired.

Of the two, I liked ‘Noah’ better and thought it a return to form for Aronofsky after the much over-rated ‘Black Swan‘ and the insufferable ‘the Wrestler‘. I also immediately felt alone in my opinion lol. The story seemed so much cooler and sci-fi/fantasy than I expected and, even though it lost momentum in the middle, had much richer characterizations than I had any reason to hope for. In fact, I felt the same way about this film as most folks do about the ‘Lord of the Rings‘ franchise. These are the Bible stories I wish I’d been told as a kid.

‘Thor: the Dark World‘ had a solid performance by Anthony Hopkins, and an exceptional performance by Tom Hiddleston. Stellan Skarsgård’s character is light and loopy, with most scenes performed sans pants, looking like he didn’t have time to get dressed after the final, climatic scene in Lars von Trier’s ‘Nymphomaniac‘. It was great to see Rene Russo kicking ass in her role, small as it might have been, and I enjoyed Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Thor’s mortal love, Jane Foster, more than her Oscar-winning portrayal of a slightly insane ballerina in ‘Black Swan‘. Even though the level of drama and performances fall short of the first film in the franchise, once again Marvel pull out all the stops and deliver a story richer in characterization than it’s source material, with special effects convincingly recreating the look of the original comics. Like any good film in a series, I am excited to see the third installment, especially as it promises an interesting performance by Benicio del Toro.

[originally published 8-11-14]