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Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.
Spoilers Ahead!!! so if you don’t want the story ruined, beware!
Ok, first I have to say thanks to Cineworld for showing this as a Double Bill with Thor 1 (the Extended Cut) aswell, so a good catch up on the story and actually seeing Thor 1 on the big screen again actulaly made the first one STRONGER for me, is it was generally considered the weakest of the Avengers Phase 1 movie line up. The other big thing about Thor 1, was that it was considered the Star Wars style space opera of the Avengers film line up and Thor: The Dark World lives up to that comment immensely, and shows some of the Star Wars talent that has joined the Marvel/Disney line up now
The biggest thing you first notice (if you recognise the cast at all, which some didn’t), is that the cast list is majority bumped up in Thor: The Dark World with some big name actors and actresses returning from the first and getting a LOT more screen time aswell, but also some good cast changes
The setting is the strongest point here, it’s not set in America at all, but in our very own leafy London and also Asgard, but London has a solid half of the film time and Marvel, through some really clever and beautiful shots (and probably copious amounts of CGI) actually make the English capital City look pretty nice (I don’t like London to be honest, I actually don’t like cities at all, but London just makes me sad) and the main bad guy tearing up London is amusing on a geek level, considering Malekith is played by 9th (or is that 10th now?) Doctor Christopher Eccleston. He is genuinely creepy in his portrayal of Malekith, a Dark Elf that lost the war against Odins Father, Thor’s Grandfather, Bor (Tony Curran)
The biggest thing you notice between the two Thor movies is just how much Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has grown up and matured. The first film was about him changing from being a brat of a warrior, into a King and leader of men (and then becoming part of a team in Avengers), however in Thor: The Dark World, he is learning to love and be a symbol and a peace keeper in the 9 realms. Plus, for the ladies, more gratuitous naked chest shots (lots of gasps in the cinema last night).
On the other side of that character growth by Thor is his fathers, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is getting older, he wants to pass the mantle of king to Thor, but Thor won’t accept it, he has a job to do and peace to keep. But Odin is getting old, he’s getting weaker and there was a level of desperation to the character this time. Anthony Hopkins plays Odin amazingly, he looks fantastic in the costumes (I actually preferred his armour to Thor’s) and he gets to kick some ass in this film aswell, leading his army against the dark Elves, but looking like it takes him an effort. Anthony Hopkins has made this role his own, especially with his relationship on screen with wife Frigga (Rene Russo), which is nearly heart breaking, but Rene Russo is amazing, looks stunning and kicks ass aswell.
Now, the biggest, yet smallest cast change I noticed was in the Warriors Three, who play a much bigger part in the film this time, Ray Stevenson is back as Volstagg, kicking ass this time rather than lounging around mostly eating, Jaimie Alexander reprises the role of Sif, again pining after Thor, Tadanobu Asano is only in the film as Hogun for about 5 minutes, staying on his home realm to help rebuild after an attack, BUT Zachary Levi (Chuck) takes over the role of Fandral from Josh Dallas this time and it shows.
The Earth based support cast is unchanged (Actor wise) but are in very different places in life, Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) is rather unhinged after his possession by Loki in Avengers, and arrested by the police for streaking naked around Stone Henge, Stellan does an amazing job playing this role again, he brings incredibly humour, but also a level to the character that makes you believe he is a scientist that knows what he’s doing. Darcy (Kat Dennings) is still helping the group, but this time has her OWN intern/minion/lackey and makes the most of it. But of course Thor’s love interest, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), is the main billing here and after two years of searching for Thor and ways to connect to Asgard to find him, has finally started meeting other men and we first see her on a date with comedian Chris O’Dowd‘s character, Richard. SeaBass… SeaBass, SeaBass, SeaBass…
Yet again though, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) steals the show. From initially being placed in Asgardian jail (which looks pretty swanky to be fair), to helping Thor and Jane Foster later in the film, to his obvious double crossing (didn’t see that coming…)But I am worried about the over arching use of Loki in the Avengers movies. He is brilliant for fan service, but he stands the chance of over shadowing the storylines of other villains, as we know that the big baddie for Avengers 2 will be Ultron and Avengers 3 will be Thanos, I wonder how Loki will get involved with this and pull the strings of the storyline over Avengers Phase 2 and 3.I love Tom Hiddlestons Loki, I would actually happily go and see a Loki film, as he has made the character strong enough to not only hold his own on screen, but actually totally over shadow Thor, who’s film it actually is.
As I said before, the Star Wars influences are totally seeping through in Thor 2, and it benefits from it a lot. Thor 2 is a far stronger movie than Thor 1 and I would actually say that it is stronger than IronMan 3 (which I gave an 8/10 for back in April), which was a little weak in the story department, but was about character and story development, especially with the building of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and the Extremis storyline that is being pushed in the tv show.
Thor: The Dark World is a special effects tour de force, it looks and sounds great, although I wasn’t bothered by the 3D, which seemed underused, as it did in IronMan 3 aswell. I would actually happily go and watch it again at the cinema, but this time in 2D
The trailer for Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past is here, and it’s no teaser clocking in at 2 minutes 18 seconds.
There’s so much to process, without even mentioning Wolverine’s streak of grey hair. It seems alliances will be formed, and broken, and that this will be the biggest X-Men film to date.
Watch it now:
X-Men: Days of Future Past is out in theatres on May 22nd, 2014 in Europe and May 23rd in the US.
Activision has officially confirmed ‘Extinction’ mode for Call of Duty: Ghosts following leaks which revealed the mode over the weekend.
The publisher has released an official trailer showing the new four-player co-op mode in action
According to the brief official blurb, Extinction is “an all-new 1-4 player cooperative game mode featuring a unique blend of fast-paced survival action, FPS base defence, scavenging and class levelling”.
The game’s official Facebook page calls it “co-op survival madness, with aliens”.
The video appears to show players using drill-like devices to destroy alien hives. Players work together to protect the drilling devices from incoming hordes of four-legged aliens.
Extinction mode was first outed when screenshots and teaser footage was leaked over the weekend.
The Call of Duty: Ghosts release date is set for November 5 on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and PC. It will also arrive alongside the PS4 and Xbox One on their respective launches in November.
Combo Crew the latest Mobile game from The Game Bakers, has you punching goons in the face to string together massive Combos (Who’d have guessed) and work your way through the levels of Mr.Boss’ Tower.
You begin controlling two fighters Gina and Parker, with the opportunity to unlock two more Dolph and Sammo each with their own unique combos to smash their enemy’s teeth in. But just look at the app tile for a sec:
That … That’s Ryu from street fighter does that mean?
YES!
Yes you can play as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Blanka.
Hell, you can even Play as Viewtiful Joe, each with their own combos and original move sets (providing you pay 69p each) …
Wait what was that?
*cough* providing you pay 69p per character. To be honest the main reason I even picked up this game was to maul people to death with the Electrifying Orange Haired Brazilian, but to not even give me the option to work hard and grind points to unlock him is obscured. I understand that it’s a free game but a lot of Freemium titles at least give you the option to earn extras.
But that aside Combo Crew turned out to be incredibly fun, the adrenalin rush from frantically building up your combo meter just knowing that one slip will not only make your multiplier drop but also your super meter as well as potentially fail the level in the later stages will have you in a cold sweat rubbing your fingers raw just trying to keep it going.
Each character also showcases a variety of special moves be it a Juggle Combo for air attacks or a block breaking Heavy Combo, even a screen clearing HADOUKEN!!! All of which will help you build up your meter and unleash a Fruit ninja style Super Combo where you frantically try and chop as many enemies as possible to seriously beef up your combo multiplier.
The music compliments the gameplay perfectly using Double Dragon esc fast passed Chinese music that makes you really want to pound some face, this music only becomes more intense the higher you climb in the tower.
As for story it’s brief, but then as a mobile title it’s hardly going to be Deus Ex basically “In a world where a fist to the face is a perfectly viable solution, Mr. Boss has it all. Now he wants to break the greatest fighters ever! Trapped in his giant tower, you must fight your way to the top to take him down!” (Direct quote form the opening cut scene right there) and basically that’s just it you need to kick some arse and prove your skill to Mr.Boss.
Overall Combo crew is a fun and addictive mobile title, but it does loses its appeal quickly, I suggest playing it in small bursts (probably whilst Pooping) and play it on a Tablet rather than a phone because no human has figures small enough to accurately chain combos on a screen that small, you will accidentally throw your phone across the bathroom if you get to into it.
As a free game it’s definitely worth a download, I honestly wouldn’t suggest downloading the Capcom characters unless you really want to. They don’t alter gameplay in any major way, they just add to the coolness factor. One thing I forgot to mention is the option to literally buy your way to the final boss, why anyone would do this baffles me, if you want to finish the game that quickly don’t get it in the first place.
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