Tag Archives: About Time

by

About Time – Review

about_time_xlg

I had the choice between About Time or Thor: The Dark World. Some of us were going to see one and some of us were going to see the other. Walking out after Thor: The Dark World, I thought I made the right choice. Thor: The Dark World exceeded my expectations and now I’d be ready for the Agents of SHIELD episode that was advertised as tying into the movie. Besides, wasn’t Rachel McAdams in The Time Traveler’s Wife? That movie stunk (the book is so good!).

Well, now that I’ve finally seen About Time, I’m wondering if I made the wrong choice that weekend. Yes, I am a bit obsessed with Agents of SHIELD, which is part of the reason I needed to see Thor: The Dark World on opening weekend, but I would have understood that episode even if I hadn’t seen the movie. It didn’t tie in as much as Captain America: The Winter Soldier did. Now that was a game changer for Agents of SHIELD.

About Time

 

About Time is fantastic! It is a terrific romantic comedy about a time traveler who can only travel pack in time along his own life. Sure, that’s a limited form of time travel, but think of the possibilities if you had that power! All the things you could go back and not say, or go back and say! About Time uses the time travel power to its fullest, using it to comment on the relationships between lovers, friends, parents and children, and siblings. I defy you to watch this movie and not want to call your dad afterwards and tell him that you love him.

Bill Nighy steals this movie. He is amazingly charming as the father of main character and time traveler Tim. He wins at being a dad, but he does have the unfair advantage of countless do overs.

about-time3

The relationship between Tim (Domhall Gleeson) and Mary (Rachel McAdams) makes good use of Tim’s time travelling powers to tell the story. This movie is what I wanted the movie adaptation of  The Time Traveller’s Wife to be.

Seriously, go watch About Time. It is one of those movies that you can throw on at any time and just feel better about the day after watching it. It’s super cute without being saccharine.

Am I glad I saw Thor: The Dark World in the theater? Yes. Do I think the people who saw About Time that day saw the better movie? Also yes.

by

Thor: The Dark World – Review

thor the dark world poster

It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning when we headed to the movie theater. The boys were seeing Thor 2 and the girls were seeing About Time. I hated having to decide between the two, as Rachel McAdams looks adorable in the About Time poster, but there was no denying the siren song of seeing Thor: The Dark World before it crossed oven with Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (next week!).

Adorable

Adorable

I thoroughly enjoyed Thor: The Dark World. Like the previous Thor movie, the takes-themselves-so-seriously Asgard scenes were balanced out with slapstick comedy during the Earth-based scenes. Unlike the first Thor movie though, I never felt like we needed to get back to Earth right now whenever Asgard was on-scene.  Asgard is fleshed out more in this sequel, and while the individual members of the Asgard supporting cast are not on the screen very long, they are on just enough to make me want to see more of them in Thor 3.

There has been rumors circulating recently that Jaimie Alexander, who plays Sif, will be playing Wonder Woman in the upcoming Superman/Batman movie. After seeing her in Thor: The Dark World, this seems like the most perfect of perfect casting. Because her Sif armor isn’t that far removed from Wonder Woman’s current costume, it almost seemed like Wonder Woman was guest-starring in Thor: The Dark World.

 

Sif or Wonder Woman?

Sif or Wonder Woman?

Tom Hiddleston as Loki steals every scene he is in. It’s amazing what Hiddleston and the Marvel movies have done for the character of Loki. Before the first Thor movie, Loki was one of Marvel’s lamest villains. With the exception of when Walter Simonson was writing him, I can think of few comic book examples of Loki pre-Thor movie in which Loki didn’t come off as lame. But Hiddleston has helped to reinvent the character. But now, thanks to writer Kieren Gillen, Loki is one of my favorite comic book characters. I wonder if Marvel would have given Gillen his shot at reviventing Loki in the comics if Hiddleston didn’t create so many fans of the character in the movies.

hiddleston thor 2

We need to start the Tom Hiddleston for 13th Doctor campaign right now!
#Hiddleston13thDoctor

Often fantasy and science fiction are squarely separated from each other, but Thor: The Dark World does a good job of blending the two. The evil dark elves ride in starfighters that could have been in the latest Star Trek movie. Science and magic are weaved together, which I liked, because Thor exists in the same world as Tony Stark. Odin makes a point in this movie to state that Asgardians are not actual Gods. And the story plays that out. They’re more like mythological extra-dimensional aliens.

If you saw Thor: The Dark World already, hopefully you stayed until after the credits. Does anyone leave the theater any more before the credits are completely over in a Marvel movie? The scene with the Collector made me NERDGASM. No, not because of the Collector himself. Who cares about him? Because of what the Collector says, namely that THE TESSERACT AND AETHER ARE INFINITY GEMS!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Avengers 3: The Infinity Gauntlet? Yes, please! If you haven’t read the Infinity Gauntlet, I highly recommend buying it today and reading it. It’s one of my favorite comic book stories ever, it will fill you in on who that big purple guy at the end of Avengers is and why his appearance was the signal of something awesome coming.