Thor
| Directed by: | Kenneth Branagh |
|---|---|
| Written by: | Kenneth Branagh |
| Cast: | Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Colm Feore, Jaimie Alexander |
| Studio: | Paramount Pictures |
| Genre: | Action, Comic Book |
| Official Site: | thor.marvel.com |
I had next to no interest in Thor, but it turned out to be a little better than I imagined. It's still got some cutesy "fish out of water" moments with Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings and the plot is pretty predictable, but its got enough character to be forgivable.
And action. Basically the best parts of Thor happen when the setting is not Earth. All that shit we've seen a million times by now. But the Asgard stuff looked incredible. It was kind of a bummer to be hanging out with Natalie Portman in the desert for the majority of the movie. But nonetheless, it was decent little romp.
I'll be honest, up until about a week ago I though Kenneth Branagh was playing Thor. Turns out he's just directing, but Chris Hemsworth is pretty good instead. Plus, unlike Branagh, he's not 50. As mentioned before, I really couldn't have cared less about Natalie Portman and her sidekick. They brought this annoyingly forced comic relief to the picture that really wasn't needed. Did I mention Idris Elba is the fucking dude? He was a scene stealer every second he had on film. Speaking of seconds on film, why did they even bother with Jeremy Renner? His involvement in this seemed pretty unnecessary, but whatever gets the fanboys stoked on this Avengers movie I guess...
As for the direction, I feel like Marvel is standardizing these things. Both Iron Mans , Incredible Hulk, and now Thor all feel like they were made by the same director. Same visual appeal, similar camera-work, consistent pacing...which I'm not sure is such a good thing. I get that these films are all leading to the Avengers, but as stand alone films, they feel pretty flat. But I guess Marvel's gotta lay down some kind of standards with shit like Fantastic Four and Daredevil being produced. I don't know, I just wish there was a little more individuality to these things.
Anyways, Thor was a decent superhero romp. Wicked visuals, cool battles, and another notch on Marvel's belt over DC. Still, Batman's got four movies head and shoulders above Marvel's best offerings.
