jgregg42

First off, I do not consider myself a fan boy or a comic book guy. I grew up on Mad Magazine and their clever fold-ins. The only exposure I had to the comic book "Thor" was as a kid I received the free copies from my dentist office. I think it was "Thor vs. the Cavity Creeps" or some lame knock-off like that. When I heard that Thor the God of Thunder was making the transition from comic book to his own big screen movie I was cautious. Who wants to see some guy swing his hammer and speak in Old Norse for two hours? I am man enough to admit when I am wrong (I am also the same guy that doubted "Ironman" would be a huge success). I was wrong for questioning that stage and screen expert Kenneth Branagh ("Henry V," "Much Ado About Nothing"") would not deliver a stellar movie. Branagh has the ability to pull a strong performance from his cast without forcing them to over act. He also has the ability to create a supernatural world, Asgard, where Thor and his family of gods reign. Branagh and his art production team present Asgard as a tangible place for gods to live.

In the first few minutes we begin our story in Norway and discover how the Frost Giants come to earth to destroy humans. King Odin (played by Anthony Hopkins) and his army defeat the Frost Giants. We are soon attending a beautiful ceremony where Odin's son Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) is about to be crowned king of Asgard. Due to a breach in security the ceremony is cut short. Out of anger and vanity Thor gathers his friends to break a truce with the Frost Giants and launches an attack. After Odin discovers what has happened, he furiously banishes his son to Earth, along with Thor's famous hammer, Mjolnir.

Thor crash-lands on earth where he is no longer the once powerful god; he is just a regular guy (a regular guy who looks like he's been doing P90X since puberty). A scientist, Jane (played by Natalie Portman) and her team literally runs into Thor. Jane is trying to discover a wormhole between our world and others in the universe. The two soon realize that they each have what the other one wants and soon become allies.

This is the part where you should start paying close attention. Not because you get a history lesson on Norse mythology but because Marvel Studios is combining their super heroes to make an "Avengers" movie in 2012. Thor will be one of the Avengers and there are quite a few references of these heroes and characters from the Marvel Universe - Hawkeye, Ironman, Phil Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D., etc.

Thor, now without his powers, must be reunited with his mighty hammer, which as fate would have is only 50 miles from him. While Thor is fighting to win back his hammer and return to Asgard, his brother Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston), the God of Mischief, is stirring up trouble between the Frost Giants and Asgard. The entire story climaxes in a way that you would imagine with any comic book movie; good vs. evil, cocky hero learns a valuable lesson, several awesome fight scenes, that whole thing.

Should you see this movie? Yes. It's has action, humor and some outstanding art direction to develop the mythical worlds. Do you need to see it in 3D? Not necessarily. The 3D was too dark in some of the action scenes at night and didn't add much to the day time scenes. As a stand alone story "Thor" can hold the audience's attention even if they aren't avid fans of the comic book.

America loves the tough guy. The guy who faces the impossible odds and beats them to a bloody pulp. Examples - Rocky, Dirty Harry or Dalton ("Road House"). America also loves the bad guy. The guy that we really shouldn't support but we do anyhow. Examples - The Godfather, Scarface and Henry Hill ("Goodfellas"). In "Kill the Irishman" we are now given a new underdog, bad guy to cheer for, Danny Greene (played by Ray Stevenson). All-American tough guy.

In Jonathan Hensleigh's latest movie based on Danny Greene's life in the 1970s, we see the tough guy who works his way up from the docks in Cleveland, Ohio. Greene has it rough from the beginning, an orphan raised on Cleveland's mean streets. He takes a job on the docks shoveling grain and is soon given the opportunity to become a union leader because he is one of the only guys that reads books. So, he is also a tough guy with some intellect. He literally fights his way into his position of Union Boss. From there he leads a corrupt life assisting the local Italian mafia in robbing the docks where he works.

Does this sound like any kind of movie hero? Why are we intrigued to continue watching? Maybe it's because some of us (mainly us guys) secretly want to be Greene. The guy that doesn't take nonsense from anyone. If someone gets in your way, break his jaw, beat him down and don't worry about consequences.

Things are going well for Greene until his arrest; his bad deeds finally catch up to him. He cuts a deal with the FBI to become an informant and is back home with his wife and kids. He now needs to find work. He soon becomes a debt collector for Shondor Birns (played by Christopher Walken). Although Greene is Irish and Birns is Italian they don't let that stand in the way of their friendship, especially since there is money to be made.

Again things are going well for Greene, he patrols Cleveland with his crew collecting past due balances for the mafia. Being a tough guy he usually lets his fist or hand gun do the talking. Things soon go south for Greene and Birns due to a lost $70,000. Immediately there is a price on Greene's head.

In 1976 there were 36 explosions that rocked Cleveland therefore dubbing it as Bomb City, USA. This is all due in part to the Italian mob trying to kill the Irishman, Greene. He dodges bullets like Superman and survives explosions like John McClain ("Die Hard") then walks away with an indifferent attitude.

How does he survive all of these assassination attempts? He is an Irish Catholic with the grace of God. Greene doesn't show fear; he keeps himself believing his intent is to be a modern day Robin Hood for the community. Even after losing his children and wife, he sticks it out because tough guys never give up. Especially Irish Catholic tough guys.

Should you see this movie? Sure, if you like tough guys and if you like cheering for the bad guy. Greene's take-no-guff attitude kept his character interesting when the story seemed to lag or when there weren't any cars blowing up. He is supported by a cast of strong veterans, Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio and Paul Sorvino. The film also has an authentic documentary feel to it since Hensleigh incorporates actual footage from newscasts covering Greene's life as a local legend.