Superhero movies, I have to admit I am never really looking forward to any of them although I do watch almost all of them. When I grew up I didn´t read much comics (I stuck to Donald Duck and ´Suske en Wiske´) not having any connection with the characters probably is a good thing as you won´t notice that things are different from the comics. I didn´t think Thor would be a very interesting movie, but when a colleague of mine, who is a big comic book fan, told me how much he enjoyed watching it I had to give this one a chance as well. My review after the break.
At the end of Iron Man 2 we saw Thor´s hammer being found in the desert and in this movie we see how it got there and who Thor is. Thor is a god who lives in Asgard, he´s powerful and very arrogant. He ends up on earth where he no longer is as powerful as he used to be and where he has to get used to being a normal being. It takes a while before he understands this though, which results in some hilarious scens where he keeps talking in a very formal voice. He runs into (well technically the other way around) a group of scientists lead by Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) who is very interested in this strange man. Of course not everything goes as planned and they have to deal with some issues.
From the moment Asgard was introduced I was hooked as it looks amazing, there is this rainbow road which lights up while horses run over it. There are battles against ice giants and Thor uses his hammer in some very cool ways during some action scenes. The story on earth felt more pedestrian and comedic compared to that, but a action scene towards the end makes sure you aren’t bored (although I must say that the enemy they are facing somehow felt out of place and reminded me of Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still).
Thor was an enjoyable movie, but one I will probably forget pretty soon as it wasn’t that memorable. You will have a great time watching it though, which I have given it the score below.
Score: 8
I still haven’t seen this film, waiting for the Blu Ray to be released, but from your 8 I reckon I might like it.
I feel like I have been waiting for ever to see it ;-(
thanks scott. do my reviews telling you it’s really dull mean nothing to you?
as i’m sure you noticed nostra, i was probably at the complete opposite of the spectrum on this movie to you.
is there a third iron man before the avengers? or after?
I like your reviews me old buddy, but Nostra and I like the same type of movies….
🙂
Yeah, I watched it with a lot of family who were really enjoying it, which also adds to my own enjoyment since I suggested seeing it. No problem not liking it though 🙂
I don’t know about the order they will be released….
I’m sure you will, some nice spectacle
I really enjoyed Thor! I am glad that you were willing to give it a shot!
Your right. The Destroyer does resemble GORT somewhat!
Of course, eventually I will watch most superhero movies, but usually don’t run out my house to go and see them 😉
I also found Thor very enjoyable. I thought the way Kenneth Branagh imposed pseudo-Shakespearean dialogue on the characters worked well. You’re right, the Destroyer is very reminiscent of GORT, but as I’ve only seen the Keanu version of TDTESS, I want to forget that as soon as possible!
Yeah that dialogue was very funny.
You really should see the original version, I thought that was a very good movie…
Glad you enjoyed it, Nostra. I was really skeptical that it’d be super cheesy but I like Branagh’s work so I was intrigued. Well, it didn’t disappoint, in fact it was a lot of fun I actually saw it twice in the theater. I love Patrick Doyle’s score immensely.
Twice? Wow, then you are a big fan of it. I wish there would have been a bit more of Asgard, those sets looked amazing…
I really enjoyed Thor. He’s over taken Iron Man as my favourite avenger! 😀
I thought Hemsworth did a great job. I would haev liked a bit more explanation about Sif and the Warriors Three, though.
Yeah, they didn’t have very big roles, so agree on that, maybe in one of the future movies?
I probably would have a hard time picking my favorite…
Yes, light and entertaining. That pretty much sums it up. Nothing really consequential but overall, I had a good time and wouldn’t mind seeing it again.
I could watch this movie another time as well, wouldn’t mind at all.
While I think ‘X-Men:First Class’ will be remembered better because of its awesome time period and superior acting, I overall enjoyed myself in ‘Thor’ better. It was easily my favorite of the four superhero movies that came out over the summer.
I just think that even though I love Natalie Portman…she was miscast in this film. I never buy that the character is not just Portman with super intelligence. She didn’t have to act very hard.
You are right about Portman, she just didn’t stand out as she normally does. My favorite probably would be X-Men, just because I liked the action in that one a bit more 🙂
Part of what I wanted from the film was a guy in armor with a giant hammer smacking frost giants in the face…and so I got that. It was a good time at the theaters, and that’s all I asked for. Good review Nostra!
Yeah, sometimes it’s those simple things that can give lots of pleasure 😉 Thanks!
The first 10 minutes were pretty bad, not done well, but then it picked up some. There was some good action and special effects. The acting was average to poor even for Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman so you know the director was at fault there. The military handling was very cheesy and not done well. The ending was not so good and setup for a sequel obviously. At best this movie might rate a 5 out of 10, AT BEST, and certainly isn’t better than the X-Men series or even Iron Man for that matter. So it was watchable but I would toot anyone’s horn over it.
I loved the stuff that the movie opened with, which is what had me hooked and I enjoyed it a lot, probably also because the group of people I watched it with had so much fun with this movie. Sure it’s not a masterpiece but I had a great time watching it and would want to see it again.