Movies

DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN (1972) has Vincent Price rise from his supposed death at the end of The Abominable Dr. Phibes and set out for an Egyptian immortality elixir that can resurrect his beloved wife—a drug also sought by Robert Quarry, an immortalist rapidly running out of his own drugs. This is not the sequel Phibes or we deserve, partly because Quarry’s role is so much weaker. (t was okay when the cops kept failing to stop Phibes in the first film, but here he badly needs an adversary (and murdering Quarry’s assistants feels much more ruthless than when Phibes was just avenging himself on those who’d supposedly wronged him. The deaths are much less imaginative too. Peter Cushing and John Thaw have bit parts. “You cannot threaten the dead with death, my friend.”
THOR: The Dark World (2013) has Thor return to Earth over Odin’s protests only to discover Jane has become the host for a Cosmic McGuffin that the dark elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) needs to restore the universe to primal darkness (I’m surprised they went with “Aethyr” rather than the countless McGuffins from the comics—though the ending credits clip implies it’s one of the Infinity Gems), forcing Thor and Loki to team up to save the universe. Well done, obviously owing as much to Walt Simonson’s run on the book as the Lee/Kirby era, though some viewers have valid complaints about the lack of a bigger role for Sif and the fact Jane becomes virtually a McGuffin herself. “Take this train, three stops.”