Top 10 Surprises in Thor

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, Marvel Comics,

Have you seen the new Thor movie yet? And if not, why not?

Of the summer's four big comic book movies - Thor, Green Lantern, Captain America and X-Men: First Class – it's the one with the distinguished pedigree (Kenneth Branagh! Sir Anthony Hopkins! Natalie Portman!) and one of the least likely super-hero movies besides Ant-Man or Metamorpho.

Curiosity alone makes it worth $10.

Having said all that, there were still a number of things about Thor that surprised me. Here's my Top 10.

10. It's not just his hammer that's called Mjolnir

9. Cameo by Stan Lee Media

8. His real name is "Sore"; he has a speech impediment

7. Shout out to Kirby; that's Kirby Carruthers, the assistant lighting director

6. Natalie Portman should be in every movie. Just sayin'.

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The Mighty Thor Scores!

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,

So, is there some kind of comic book movie out this weekend or what?

Yes, that’s right. Mighty Marvel Comics has unleashed one of its least-likely-to-star-in-a-hit-movie characters into his own hit movie: Thor. Word of mouth seems strong, box office seems stronger than Vin Diesel and by Odin’s beard we’ll probably be looking at Thor II and Son Of Thor before too long.

(In Son Of Thor, Thor’s misunderstood teenaged son swings his mighty, but lesser, hammer in Manhattan around a cast of 90210/Gossip Girl lookalikes while trying to find love with that year’s Kristen Stewart.)

Can Edgar Wright’s long-awaited Ant-Man movie be far behind?

Marvel does a great job with their movies - they have a similar look and style, they churn them out with the punctuality of a European train, and they’re either profitable or wildly profitable.

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Comic Book Movie: Gene-Fusion

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: DVD, Editorials, Movies,

Thor, Green Lantern, Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens.

Yeah, I got all that. But did you know there's another comic book movie coming out this year that should be worth checking out?

This one's an animated feature called Gene-Fusion.

It's based on the comic book by Jeff Amano (Red Warrior) that was written by Ivan Brandon (Doc Savage), and illustrated by Neil Vokes (Dr. Strange) and Jay Geldhof (Grendel).

Here's the pitch from the press release: "In the year 2310, a new sport, Gene-Fusion, is all the rage… specially-trained athletes, called Fusers, design their own super-creature by combining three forms of animal DNA..."

Against that backdrop, four teens become Fusers only to find themselves part of a greater conspiracy that threatens the Earth.

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