Monday, May 9, 2011

Movie Review: Thor

Took my 2 teenage daughters this weekend to our local comic book shop for "Free Comic Book Day"!  By the way, Free Comic Book Day happens the first weekend of May and is a great day to encourage reading.  You can find out more info here.  Afterwards we caught an early showing of Thor.....

I never like to read early reviews of films.  I always tend to hear one way or another if a film is very well liked or not.  If I do open a review it is for the first paragraph and the last just to get a taste of what the guy before me thought.  Thor had been playing at least a week all around the world before it opened in the USA and has been doing not too shabby.  It opened in first place here with around 66 million I believe which is big.  Not as big as Fast Five the week before.  Even internationally it is trailing Fast Five in the receipts.  The big question is how was it?  It was ok.  It was no Iron Man but better than Iron Man 2 and still trailing behind The Incredible Hulk.  Does it fit into the cannon of movies that lead up to The Avengers?  Yes it does just fine.


This film stars Chris Hemsworth as the Mighty Thor, Anthony Hopkins as his father Odin and Tom Hiddleston as his evil brother Loki.  On earth we have the female lead and Thor's love interest Natalie Portman along with Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings.  Returning as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson from all of the Avenger pre-films is Clark Gregg.  The acting was great.  Hemsworth was perfect as Thor.  You could not have better casting as Hopkins and Hiddleston almost stole the whole movie with his evil Loki.  Portman was excellent in her role as a local scientist and future Mrs. Thor.  I am actually surprised she would appear in a movie like this.  It just doesn't seem to me like a film she would be interested in.  What do I know though?  She was great and I hope they bring her back in later installments.  Jeremy Renner also makes a cameo as Nighthawk.  I am very interested in seeing where they go with that character.


The story of this film is not really complicated.  I don't really have any prior knowledge of Thor and his background and lore.  My daughters did and they thought the film stayed intact fairly well. Thor is banned from his heavenly home world of Asgard by his father and banished to Earth as a man due to his arrogance and pride.  His mighty hammer is also banished to Earth about 50 miles from him and is now in the hands of Agent Coulson with S.H.I.E.L.D.  It is on Earth Thor meets Natalie Portman's character Jane Foster and her colleagues Erik and Darcy.  The film weighs in on Jane and her friends helping Thor, even though they think he is crazy, get to his might hammer. As that is happening on Earth, in Odin falls ill and Loki takes over the kingdom.  It is in this he finds that he was actually a son of the enemy of Asgard.  The mighty Frost Giants.  During a great war he was taken from them as a baby and raised in Asgard.  When he learns of this he devises a plan to open Asgard to the Frost Giants rule and then destroy the Earth and rule the galaxies.


I liked this film.  I liked the acting and the special effects were amazing.  The city of Asgard is one of the most amazing computer designs I have ever seen.  I have no complaints in that department. The story for me was more of a letdown.  This is an origin story and I get that.  Overall it seemed weak and left some major holes through out that left my daughters and I asking each other all of the same questions.  Honestly, I never knew if Thor and company were Gods or higher beings or what?  That is just my lack of knowledge and I am sure those that are more tact in the mythology would get it but for the average joe like me it was kind of a hang up.  On another note.  I couldn't help but think of Masters of the Universe especially when Thor's friends "The Warriors 3" arrive from Asgard to help get Thor his powers back.  Here are these 2 guys and a chick walking down the middle of a street in backwoods america dressed like they just came from some elaborate s&m costume ball.  Completely out of the scene.  Now that I think of it also reminds me of Superman 2 when General Zod and his 2 comrades arrive in the south to a bunch of gun toting red necks.

We saw this in 3D.  It was cool but still $10.00 for an early screening.  I thought the 3D for the new Pirates of the Caribbean looked better.  It actually makes me want to see it in 3D and I wasn't planning to go at all.  Overall the 3D was fine and you will have a good time.  Go see it!  Don't expect much.  If you have a choice between this and Fast Five then see Five.  This film is worth seeing in the theater but don't feel like you missed out if you didn't.  Stay behind after the credits for a special scene like in all of the recent Marvel movies.

1 comments:

Jessica said...

i really liked that movie thanks for taking me to watch it dad.

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