Thor (2011) - 3/5

This is Marvel’s first attempt at mashing up two different genres, and all things considered it works really well. The action is quite good, the story is solid, and the CGI is fine, kept in dark environments as needed. The Shakespearean dialogue is essential to the core of the Asgardian characters, evoking the sense of royalty with ease and meshing perfectly with the ‘royal drama’ nature of the plot. And no review would be complete without mentioning the Dutch Angles that are just everywhere in this movie, but only work well about half of the time.

Closest comparison: It’s the bisection of the line between He-Man and K-Pax, but with much better production values.

Setting: Fantasy
Plot: Super hero
Tone: Action Comedy

Annihilation - 4/5

It starts out like Arrival, so I wasn’t expecting it to turn into a straight-up horror movie about half way through. That being said, I really enjoyed the ride. It’s beautiful to watch and riveting to think about, keeping its slow pace rich with engagement. It’s great an it’s clever, ambiguous in places but becoming more clear the more you think about it. Even the way the story jumps around is part of the narative iteself. The ending is pretty trippy and psychodelic, putting it squarely in the high concept sci-fi category, but if that’s your jam and you’re ok with the horror elements then definitely give it a watch.

Closest comparison: Arrival, then a Quite Place, then The Fountain

V for Vendetta (2005) - 4/5

This is a very politcal and thought-provoking film, but manages to refrain from being preachy by two virtues. Firstly, it is set in a distopian alternate present the is so significantly different from anything existing in the world today that it is remanded to the realm of alegory. And secondly, there is bound to be something in this film with which the viewer will disagree, or at the very least be challenged to think about, no matter what his political leanings. While the Brittish take the view that Guy Faulks was wrong for trying to overthrow the parliament, the film takes the much more American view that “Governments should be afaid of their people”, thought the cast is largely Brittish. It takes much more time to delve into the philosophy than the writers’ previous film, The Matrix, but still contains an excellent action scene near the end. Outstanding performances from Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman, and absolute one time must-see.