Saturday, June 2, 2012

Thor (2011)


Introduction:
Having grown up with a great love of mythology I was very familiar with Thor the Norse god of thunder and lightning. His adventures with his half brother Loki in the realms of the giants are the stuff of legend. But the only thing I knew about him as a comic book character was that he appeared in Adventures in Babysitting.

Summary:
On the inter-dimentional world of Asgard, Lord Odin (Anthony Hopkins) has been keeping the peace between his warlike people and the dreaded frost giants. His son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is next in line for the throne, but the young man is rash and aggressive. A few dead frost giants later, Thor has started a war and is banished from Asgard. This leaves the door open for his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to make a move on the throne.

But all is not lost, because Thor has been banished to a world known as Earth. There he meets the lovely scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) who is fascinated by dimensional travel, and also Thor’s muscular arms. Now Thor must come to grips with his exile, figure out what Loki is really up to and stop the frost giants from invading Asgard and destroying his home. Stallen Skarsgard, Ray Stevenson and Rene Russo round out the cast.

Good Points:
  • The world of Asgard is a visual wonder of high tech and Norse design
  • The dynamic between Thor and Loki has serious potential
  • Meets its popcorn movie targets 

Bad Points:
  • Most of the Norse myth is twisted beyond recognition
  • The plot is pretty flimsy and the love interest element is dull
  • The events on earth aren’t too interesting 

Overall:
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a film helmed by Kenneth Branagh, and he brings his operatic touch to the film. When the movie focuses on the intrigue and battles in the fantasy realm, the movie whips along with zeal. But once we hit earth, things get bogged down in set up for The Avengers. This same problem plagued Iron Man 2. And you end up with a similar grade here, an average summer fun flick that could have been a bit more interesting. But wow is Jaimie Alexander smoking hot as Sif the warrior valkyrie from Asgard. Make a movie about her!

Scores (out of 5)
Visuals: 5
Sound: 4
Acting: 3
Script: 3
Music: 3
Direction: 3
Entertainment: 3
Total:  3

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.   

2 comments:

  1. This is one of those films I've meant to see since it came out, but not enthusiastically enough actually to have made the effort to see. There are quite a few films on that list. This one may remain there a little longer.

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  2. Yeah, no real rush to see this one. It has some good moments and the Asgard scenes are fun.

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