Saturday, May 7, 2011

Thor - Movie Review

Thor - Movie Review

This review is coming from a person that while I'm a geek-type, I've never been someone that's read a Thor comic or ever really followed The Avengers for the most part. Hell, I was one of the people that wondered how Thor would translate to the big screen.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite superhero movies, period! This is a totally fun and entertaining movie! Seriously, detach yourself from the whole 'Thor' thing and just watch this movie and enjoy it.

I'm not going to spoil the plot, but I will say that the trailer does not give this movie justice. This is not an origin story. This is a redemption story. The movie starts with him being Thor. It's not about him becoming Thor. Understand that going in.

The performances were fantastic. Granted, there are some fantastic actors in this movie, but it seems that everyone is taking the subject matter seriously. There's no phoning it in here. You have to credit this to the direction of Kenneth Branagh. He really brought out the performances of everyone! This just goes to show you that anything can be made into a good movie if you have good director and you don't have a ridiculous script.

Plus, this movie is very well paced! The runtime of the movie is two hours and at no point does it feel slow paced or like you're bored. I credit this to the direction and the editing.

This movie is very good humored. Kat Dennings provides most of the comedy relief here. Stellen Skarsgard gives a very understated performance. Natalie Portman is good as always. Keep in mind this isn't another Black Swan. Tell me if you weren't her that you would swoon over Thor yourself. Hell, I'm straight, and I'm like Thor's pretty hot.

This is the time to credit Chris Hemsworth with a great performance of Thor. He was funny and heroic. There was never at any point where I felt like he was miscast or they made a mistake getting him. I'd like to see more of him as Thor. Stay in the gym though. Don't get lazy there.

Jaimie Alexander as Sif: HOT! Seems like they understood this, as it felt like the movie really focused on her when it wasn't about Thor. Granted if you're a guy, it's hard not to focus your attention on her when she's on screen. She's going to be a cosplay and convention favorite for years to come. From what I understand, she's a comic book reader, so she would understand this and that just makes her all the more cool!

While Idris Elba and Ray Stevenson are bad-ass, it seemed like their characters needed to be fleshed out more. Maybe in the sequel. This isn't to say that they were bad. Not at all! In fact, they were both cool, Idris Elba especially. Elba has some scenes that let him be awesome, but considering how great he his, I would have liked to see more from him. I can't really blame this on the actors though. They need to bring more to these guys in the next film.

Anthony Hopkins was great, as always. but the standout here was Tom Hiddleston as Loki. He gave a good performance that wasn't a total caricature of a scheming, meddlesome-type. It seems like they did a good job of making him not a total joke and giving him a believable reason to be like he is.

On a final note, the 3D is pretty terrible! It's clear it was done in post. It's a shame cause this is a movie that lends itself to being in 3D. There's lots of characters flying around and throwing things. Totally missed opportunity here. The 3D is blurry, dark and out of focus. Skip the 3D and see it normal 3D.

Honestly, I can totally see this again and I loved this enough to put this in my top five superhero-based movie list. It's up there with the first Iron Man and The Dark Knight.

Totally worth seeing in the theater. Unless, you don't like fun...

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