Thor Ragnarok (2017)

As a standalone superhero movie, this third Thor outing, a distinct departure from the previous two, doesn't really hold together - it is a messy, sprawling space adventure a bit like Flash Gordon with lots of 80s synthesizer but at times goes a bit The Fifth Element with Jeff Goldblum playing a flamboyant leader of a colourful planet of haves and havenots but at other times again transforms into Spaceballs with a new (to the Thor series) 'anything goes' hammy comedy that grows steadily more tired as the movie goes on and on - but as a series segue between Marvel's Avenger blockbusters and the space adventure Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor Ragnarok is a clever exercise that serves to bridge disparate Marvel franchises ahead of the Infinity War movie that brings them all together.

★★☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Every scene involves an orchestral fanfare as another superhero steps forth from behind something and is introduced to a troupe of other superheroes with whom he or she has an interrelationship that you, the viewer, may know something about if you've pledged allegiance to the Marvel Universe and have studied the myriad releases in the series - if you get off on discovering the minutae of these relationships (like the fact Thor's new eyeball came from Guardians of the Galaxy or that Steve Roger's new uniform makes him more 'Nomad'-like, etc., etc.) then this mega event ten years in the making is just for you, but if Avengers: Infinity War feels to you like a dizzying three-hour fight scene and scene to scene you can't remember who is where or why, then like me you probably want to snap your fingers and have the whole marketing exercise simply stop for a while.

★★★☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Marvel generally cannot sustain the fun and energy of its blockbuster 'firsts' and so it is again with this lifeless number two, a superhero action movie that never gets out of first gear - the humour falls flat, the action fails to interest, the cgi backdrops look cheap, and the Thor mythology is an incessant hammering for two hours ("convergence blah blah blah convergence blah blah blah)" that only the most dedicated of Marvel enthusiasts will care to really listen to.

★☆☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS

Ghostbusters (2016)

It is serviceable and on a few occasions nostalgically recalls the classic by way of cameos and great ghost effects, and it doesn't matter that the men have been replaced by women and vice versa - what matters is this is a too cartoony, childish exercise constructed without the original's connection to time and place, and has more product placement than ghosts lurking in a story about as complex as a themepark ride.

★★☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS