Monday, September 12, 2011

Thor 2011: Review

Of all the films that were designed to introduce one of the major characters from The Avengers, this seems like the biggest cash in/advertisement for the 2012 mega-picture.  This movie felt like a 3 hour epic that was cut down to 2 hours, and in the process, all the heart of the film was taken out, and all that was left was uninteresting action.

The character Thor, the God of thunder on the alien planet Asgard, (played well enough by relative newcomer Hemsworth) is sent to Earth by his father so he can prove he can be an all powerful god, and worthy of ruling an entire planet.  Thor lacks any subtlety and has a laughable character arc: he must discover that there is more to life than just what he wants when he wants it!  WOW, what a transformation he must have to go through.  His brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston, who is not given much to worth with and might as well have "I WILL BETRAY YOU" stamped on his forehead) is jealous because he is not as loved by their father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins in a nice paycheck role).  Not enough time is devoted to the family dynamic before Thor is sent to Earth for the audience to become invested in Thor's need to change.

Once he gets to Earth, Thor meets some humans, Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, and Stellan Skarsgard.  Shenanigans briefly ensue.  Obviously, Thor and Portman kiss by the time Thor inevitably returns to his home planet.  Nothing that happens on Earth suggests that Thor adn Portman are soul mates, but naturally comic book formula #1 dictates that Thor must have some love that he is separated by somehow (as the bridge that connects Earth and Asgard is destroyed in the finale battle between Thor and Loki).  Everything about the romantic relationship between Thor and Portman is forced and rings false.

Writing this review has made me like this film less and less.  I generally enjoyed myself watching this film, but it is nothing to write home about, and what I wrote were just some of the major problems.  It as at least better than Green Lantern though.

Rating: 4.5/10



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