We finally saw it last night. My thoughts:
That was a nice, light, breezy summer entertainment piece. I have never read a Thor comic in my life and know him primarily as the Norse mythological character who pops up in the few Marvel events (like Civil War) that I read. So I came into into this movie cold. And I just wanted to say:
Thank God for Kenneth Branagh directing this picture. It is all a bit silly and very ridiculous. The culture clash of Asgard and New Mexico at times (as well as the Scooby-Doo vibe I got from Sif and the rest of the would-be warriors/Merry Men) could have resulted in this becoming something as tedious as Clash of the Titans or even (gulp) Percy Jackson. But Branagh was able to pull it together and give it an epic grandeur and regal nobility.
Marvel tossed in a lot of clichés and formula bits (namely the forced romance between Thor and Jane, as well as Kat Dennings's entire purpose being to spit trendy, hip one-liners), but Branagh brought some of that visionary magic he had for his 4-hour Hamlet opus adaptation and his even better Henry V. He even brought his manic, wacky sensibilities from Much Ado About Nothing. All the scenes between Thor, Odin and Loki were majestic and Freudian fun. All the big set pieces and action sequences had a sense of stake to them that Letterer and even Favreau couldn't handle. This is without a doubt the best looking film Marvel has produced in-house yet. And probably the one with the most thematic substance.
However, it still is about a NOrse god coming to earth and getting tazered by one girl who sounds like she should be working at E! and falling in love with an underused Oscar winner. But Portman is fine in the role and who really bring their A-games are Hemsworth, Hiddleton and a surprisingly robust Hopkins. Branagh did not let him phone this one in. And the look of Asgard....wow it was a fun movie. The subject matter makes it a lesser effort for me than Iron Man, but its deft wit, intelligence and vision make it surpass The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2 by leaps and bounds.
7/10
My thoughts.
