Arakkis Redux

Paul Aetrides is no saint. Dune is amoral. There are no god people. The Harkonnen and the Bene Gesserit and the Aetrides are all related. The Fremen are the ones that are fair game for all colonizers. Dune Part Two is s much of realpolitik and unlike the first edition - where there is some cause for empathy with Paul and his mother as refugees - the cynicism of Frank Herbert is in full flow herein. Visceral and real. And great action sequences in IMax

15.5/20

Dune - Resurrected

 In a huge improvement from David Lynch's version, Denis Villeneuve brings the realpolitik of Dune back to the big screen. Uncluttered and far more nuanced than the likes of Star Wars, with none of the pedantic Star Trek genre nor the incessant intrigue of Game of Thrones, Dune is faithful to the storyline. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) flee from the aftermath of a Harkonnen plus Federation attack, to regroup and reclaim what is owed to him, through an alliance with the Fremen. After a long time, a movie thats definitely a must watch

16/20

Dark mediocrity

Thor (Chris Helmsworth) and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) re-unite to fight the forces of the dark world. The latter are the forces released on a once-in-a-millenium planetary alignment that opens up a portal somewhere in London. Thor: The Dark World Pure entertainment, largely mindless and unmemorable, reminiscent of Star Wars more than Norse fable, and set for much commercial success

11.5/20

Chris Helmsworth

Natalie Portman

Tom Hiddleston

Anthony Hopkins

Christopher Eccleston

Jaimie Alexander

Rene Russo

Stellan Skarsgard

Action Unlimited

Do we really need to get into the script here? The irrepressible Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) with his equally irrepressible one-liners. Captain America (Chris Evans) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) shoulder to shoulder in their fight against evil – well, at least till and when the Hulk is is one of his moods. The irrepressible Thor (Chris Helmsworth) and the gorgeous Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) round off the superhero set. The mission – to stop Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in his tracks as he hunts for the Tesseract – a source of great and dangerous power. Never a dull moment (would have been a travesty with this cast), and an all-out commercial entertainer, The Avengers, needless to say, was a resounding success of 2012

13/20

Norse Gods – An Approachable Bunch

Scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), assistant Darcy (Kat Dennings) and mentor Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) are confronted with a strange weather phenomenon – an unexpectedly intense storm - and crash their vehicle into a man in its midst. The man turns out to be the god Thor (Chris Hemsworth) – banished from Asgard by father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) on account of needlessly waging war upon the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. Thor needs to confront his scheming brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), get back to his ailing father and end his banishment, and deal with his growing fondness for Jane. While the movie begins with much promise, it concludes squarely as light entertainment. The casual banter of Thor and the gods with humans, and the easy transformation of Thor from arrogance to an empathetic self, are but a few pointers to the fact that this movie will be one of the really light interpretations of the Norse Gods and totally in line with the Marvel Comics character. Worth noting in passing that even the Gods seem to fall in love with Natalie Portman these days

11.5/20