Thor

Thor

2011

Action

Rated: PG-13

Run Time: 115 minutes

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba

Directed By: Kenneth Branagh

Rating: 7 out of 10

Outline

The Mighty Thor (Hemsworth) is sent to earth as punishment and must find his true worth among mortals. The story is based on the comic of the same name.

Review

It seems they are producing the full movie gamut of every comic book character ever made, as it is big business for Hollywood. I was never a big fan of the comic Thor, so I was expecting very little from this movie. It also came out in a summer with two other comic book movies in Captain America, and Green Lantern, so unique it was not going to be. However, Thor was able to work while the other 2 movies failed considerably. I was always entertained with this movie, and I was able to forgive some obvious flaws for a free flowing script with plenty of humor. Thor portrayed by little known Helmsworth, was the perfect choice as Thor and was at his best on Earth trying to find his way through mortal, social etiquette. It is through these stumblings that he is introduced to a group of physicists, led by Jane Foster (Portman). Obvious flaw, and you must forgive me physicists, but Portman clearly does not look the part. However, I let it go because as a leading lady to Thor, nothing less than beautiful would have done for this movie. Foster’s coworkers Erik Selvig, (Skarsgard) and Darcy Lewis, (Dennings) provide solid supporting roles with much needed humor throughout this film. Where the film is lacking is in the action sequences themselves. It is a curse these days in movies to have the action sequences over edited. It produces fight scenes so quick they cannot be fully enjoyed. This is the case from the start to finish in this film. Instead of an opening scene that leaves you in awe, the dark cinematography and shaky editing, leaves you with a sense of not fulfilled and it was disappointing but not unexpected. The bad guys in the film are well designed, being red eyed Frost Giants. While they are clearly menacing, it would have added that little extra to see them fight with a steady hand. It may have been able to push this movies rating a little higher. Overall, Director Kenneth Branagh took a mediocre character in my mind, and produced a film worthy of this critics praise. He was able to match what Favreau was able to do with the weaker character in Ironman. This was a great origins story, prepping Thor for his place in the Avengers movie. While before I thought he would stand in the background and virtually unused in the Avengers. Thor will hopefully get a place, front and centre where he deserves. Like all of these movies, stick around after all the credits for a mini teaser. This is very well done and gets my recommendation.

T Factor + If you did not mind the shaky action sequences then this movie could score higher on the rating scale

T Factor – If you do not like lighthearted movies then this could score lower on the rating scale

If you liked this film reel recommendations: Iron Man, DareDevil