Thor (2011)

The screenplay was far too cliche for my taste. Drab. Directing also presented nothing unique. I'd have liked if Zak Penn had penned the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. I'd have given this a 4, however the story it is involved with feels so great that it gets bumped up into a....

5.0/10 (based on the story, not necessarily the story structure of this film)

VERDICT: SKIP IT (UNLESS WATCHING THE ENTIRE MCU)

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

[MILD SPOILER!]

This movie was far better than anticipated. A truly beautiful story portraying the powers of purity and love. Edward Norton was a great choice for this zen like rendition of Bruce Banner, whom I felt had a reminiscent soul of his character in Fight Club. For this movie it's a lot of little things that make it great. Like when Bruce swallows the data. And his description of what it's like to perceive the world through the Hulk. Good direction and I loved Zak Penn's screenplay. Some aspects felt improvised by Edward Norton and Tim Roth, but not in a bad way. There were very logical approaches to most everything. It felt like not giving much of a background to the characters seemed to work in favor and add to the power of the emotion between them. (However, I did watch the 42 minutes of deleted scenes which did contain a lot of good dialogue. I felt a large chunk of it should have been left in the film.) These latest marvel movies tend to mock their cliches with the lightest glaze of subtlety. Brilliance, really. And Lou Ferrigno's cameo was hilarious.

8.3/10

VERDICT: DEFINITELY WATCH IT!