I saw Thor last thursday but wasn't able to write this untill today.
Ok, too many good reviews so Ill throw this:
"THOR"
Superhero movies are like going to the casino. You know most of times youre not going to win but you always have the hope that you will. Or at least have a good time no matter what the result is.
For the better or the worse Marvel has found a specific style for his movies. No matter if the director is some unknown or, say, Kenneth Branagh, the movie will look and feel like a Marvel superhero movie. And as such you know what youll find and thus theres room for fun but not so much for unpredictability and the artistic identity of the filmmaker.
Thor starts great. Half an hour of battle, with Thor in full costume fighting with all his raging might the enemies of his realm. I was wondering what would come next that could keep that level of interest. And thats when everything turns out to be more of the same.
Using all his charisma, Chris Hemsworth gives a nice performance, but itss far from being convincing at the moment of showing why and how Thor comes from an arrogant God to a level-headed superhero. The script doesnt make much about it. One second hes throwing glasses to the ground and literally the next he gets that its not a polite behaviour and shouldnt be done and thus, somehow, he doesnt do it anymore. But more unconvincing than that is the reason why he learns so incredibly and uninterestingly fast.
The trio performed by Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings and Natalie Portman is the movie-killer here. Ok, Skarsgard character is fine by itself, at least nicely portrayed. But the girls are there for two purposes that are by far unfulfilled: comedic relief which, as usual in most superhero movies, is nothing but one cheap unfunny cringe-and-facepalm-worthy irrelevant joke after another, and to provide the love interest, which here is completely unconvincing and the weakest from most movies of the genre.
Theres really nothing about Natalie Portmans character except that most male teenagers want to have her. Her character is nothing but bad jokes and some adolescent gestures and behaviour. Theres no solid reason as to why the God of Thunder himself could feel attracted to this tiny skinny annoying girl. And this love is supposed to be such that sadness will overwhelm the fair-haired God. One would say that a wild warrior or a brave woman could do it, but Portman characters ephemeral personality doesnt cut it by a long long shot. And shes supposed to be the reason as to why Thor matures!
Apart from the annoying trio, the acting is okay. Loki being the most interesting character with the most complex internal conflict and the most developed external manifestation of that conflict. And well, its always nice to watch Anthony Hopkins, specially in such a badass armor, no matter how many times weve seen him doing the same thing as an actor.
Thor is like a reverse sandwich: the best parts are at the beginning and the end. In the middle theres a big loaf of irrelevant and void average thing. The final battle, even when not as surprising as the first one - and being more razzle dazzle than anything else brings you back to the goodies of this film.
What does the Branagh name mean when hes been forced into a pre-fabricated mold? Not much. Nevertheless Thor is most of the time better than the average superhero movie Marvel has been developing for the last 3 or 4 years. But as a whole it doesn't feel much different.
I had the good idea of walking out before watching the after credits scene which Im sure was, as usual, saying that the villiain is not actually defeated and that the Avengers movie is coming.
2.5 / 5
t:
