Two superhero movies in need of some fewer characters, and one that got it right

I was going to just catch up on Thor (2011), which we saw weeks ago...


Around the time we were watching it, the Brads used Thor to make a point about Netflix, but what I want is to see the version of Thor where his three male drinking buddies die during the expedition to Jotunheim so that:

1. he starts off feeling more guilt, and maybe even believes he deserves to be banished, because right now, his "transformation" while on Earth doesn't really work and
2. we don't have to pretend they're real characters.  Maybe we could even develop Sif! or devote more time to Thor learning to act like someone worthy of Mjolnir

...but we also recently saw X-men: First Class, and amazingly enough, this movie had the same problem; they needed to get rid of all the mutants aside from Charles, Raven, Erik, Hank, Shaw, and Emma.  I didn't care one whit about the Banshee / fake stupid Angel with butterfly wings / whirlwind guy / can't remember who else was fighting.  I wouldn't bother with cerebro at this early stage (though the "recruiting missions" were very funny, highlighted by Hugh Jackman's cameo), and use the money saved on not hiring those extra actors and bothering with their sfx to get Hank a decent mask.  Seriously, the Beast mask sucked; it was as bad as the Green Goblin mask in the first Spiderman movie, which at the time I thought looked like they stole it from the Power Rangers set.  This is still a good movie that aspires to greatness on the strength of McAvoy and Fassbender -- especially Fassbender, who not only has great chemistry with McAvoy, but breezes like a native through his lines in several languages, generates some serious onscreen hate for his nemesis (Kevin Bacon himself was a revelation as Shaw) and, dare I say it, brought a *magnetic* physical presence to the role that was sadly lacking from McKellan -- with Jennifer Lawrence ably assisting both of them.  Get rid of the dead weight, and you can bring a sharper focus on the Moira-Charles-Raven-Erik-Hank love pentagon, with Shaw looming large in the background, and maybe the movie actually achieves greatness.

By contrast, Kick-Ass knew where to draw the line on the number of costumed heroes.  There are four (sort-of), plus one main bad guy.  Everyone else is window dressing, and as a result you get to know the characters a little better.  Though, to be honest, Chloë Grace Moretz is the only actor who really deserves extra screentime.  (we are not Nic Cage fans, though his imitation of Adam West's delivery as Batman is hilarious here)