Alright, so last night I saw Thor. Today I felt like getting back into my movie reviews. I'm going to try to start making these different, write more freely and such. But I'll more than likely get back into the groove of previous movie reviews. Now, let us talk about Thor! Also, possible spoilers.
So in general it was a decent movie. The story structure seemed to work really well, Asgard looked absolutely amazing, and the acting as well as the directing worked well. Many parts of the film were absolutely stunning. However, I did have at least one negative note and that was the pacing of the film once Thor came to Earth. It paced like an awesome-mythical action movie while he was in Asgard... and it pretty much didn't stop. Once he hit Earth, were things are naturally going to be a bit more calm, some of the scenes began to feel a little rushed. My example for this is when he comes to the conclusion that S.H.I.E.L.D. are the good guys and offers his allegiance to them (for the Avengers film.). It literally happens in the amount of time it took you to read that last sentence. But all in all, it was a fun and funny movie and worked out well.
The writing for the film was pretty good too. It had plenty of humorous moments and the characters felt true to the comic. I just wanted to put this paragraph here to mention J. Michael Stracynski, one of the story writers for the film. This guy writes comics and if anyone read Earth One Superman, then they know the guy is very good with theatrical structuring and can handle comics really well. Unless we talk about Superman Grounded which was the shitstorm about Superman walking around the USA that led to the other shitstorm in which Superman renounces his US citizenship, which is written by the guy who helped come up with The Dark Knight oddly enough and is writing the next Superman film. So I guess the lesson here is, if you want to be a good writer, write a few good things, then something crappy, then come up with something brilliant. Man I'm looking forward to The Man of Steel. But that topic is for another time.
The acting in this movie was pretty darn good I must say. Chris Hemsworth was excellent as Thor. I was expecting something more cheesy and Almighty God like, as the trailer showed, but Hemsworth brought a certain humanity to the role that actually made me sympathize for the character. Natalie Portman is just a fine actress, can't really say more, she was wonderful in Black Swan and wonderful in this. Tom Hiddleston as Loki, holy shit, the guy just embodied the smooth tongue trickster god so well. Sir Anthony Hopkins as Odin, little overacted on a few parts, but it's Anthony Hopkins damn it! YOU WILL RESPECT HIM! Stellan Skarsgard, alright part, I guess he'll be in the Avengers, I'll have to judge him better then. Kat Dennings, she was cute, that's all I can say. Idris Elba as Heimdall, he had my favorite part in the film, this guy was an absolute boss. Everyone else was decent but nothing worth mentioning except Jaimie Alexander as Sif, she played a warrior goddess well. The warriors three were funny, the wife of Odin was a wife, and the frost giants and SHIELD agents were in the film too.
As far as directing goes, Kenneth Branagh did an excellent job. Like I mentioned, so many shots in this film were stunning and a lot of stuff worked well visually. I haven't seen much of what he has directed (a ton of Shakespeare stuff). But this guy did play Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, making him an okay guy in my book.
Let me take a moment now and talk about the audience. I was one of 3 people. I was 1/3 the audience! Granted it was 9:50 and people were waiting to see Pirates at 12, but come on people! Start watching movies! Find a way to get $11 and go see some movies! I don't care if you have to work the street corners, get the money!
I give this movie a good B+. If you remember my grading system, B is for see it if you get the chance, the plus is an added bonus of: make it this movie if you have to choose between it and something else. That is all, can't wait for some Avengers!
I agree!
ReplyDeleteThe Story development during Thor's time on earth was very limited. He didn't just learn in New Mexico. (which is STILL totally rad because new mexico is awesome.) It was a stretch of time, and that stretch was not displayed in the film. So rushed it was indeed. It seemed like he just fell to earth and learned his lesson. I also wanted more details when the Avengers was referenced with SHIELD. And for the record, I was surprised that I was the only one left in the theater after the credits had ended. I guess no one else is anticipating the same awesome extra at the end? Anyway. As far as superhero movies are concerned It was pretty sweet. But it also felt forced.