I figured I needed another superhero post to balance my last sports one, and what better movie to do that with than Thor? I recently saw it for the second time and I loved it just as much as the first time. This post will probably be rather short, as I don't have much to complain about.
Thor came out on May 6, 2011. It is directed by Kenneth Branagh, and stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as his girlfriend, Jane Foster, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Remember, I start with a score of 5 out of 10 then add or take away points throughout the movie.
The movie had a fairly standard starting, but things really didn't get cooking until Thor and his friends got into a fight with the frost giants. I loved Thor's exuberance in battle. It was also pretty awesome when Thor smashed through the back of the monster's mouth. For that, we go up to a 6.
Now, I really don't know much about Thor. I've mostly know him from a few random cartoons and a comic or two that I've happened to read. Maybe my lack of knowledge of Thor made this so enjoyable for me. That said, however, I do know that Volstagg is supposed to be really fat and constantly eating. He wasn't really fat in the movie, which is OK, but we never really see him eat. We see him pretend to eat, which really bugged me. We see Thor snarf down three pancakes, but Volstagg can't eat? I know this is a minor complaint, but it distracted me during the movie, and for that it loses a point.
But I'll give that point back for the wonderful humor in the movie. It was genuinely funny and never over-the-top. It's rare and refreshing to have an action film where the comedy doesn't take away from the action.
This movie jumped up to a 7 thanks to the performance of Loki. I never really believed anything he said, truly hated him, and yet felt just a little sympathetic for him. He was the perfect villain, and reminded me of all the great Batman villains that make you feel sorry for them, but still despise them.
I'm also adding a point for the Marvel continuity seamlessly interwoven. One of the movie's main goals was to set it up for the upcoming Avengers movie. It also had to introduce everything to a new audience, while keeping us geeky fanboys satisfied. It truly succeeded on all counts. The great thing about the continuity was none of it was in your face. Most of it was just small, quick comments about Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Those paying attention got to see Hawkeye, and those really familiar with Thor knew his fake name, Dr. Donald Blake, was Thor's secret identity in the comics. Plus Stan Lee cameos and end-of-credit teasers are always a positive.
The movie gets another point to push it up to a 9 for its powerful ending. Who knew swinging a hammer around would be so cool? They made it cool and I want more. Which, I suppose, is a good thing.
So, all in all, I really didn't have much to complain about. Yeah, I couldn't remember or understand half of everyone's names, but I got the important ones: Thor, Loki, Oden, and Jane Foster. I don't know anyone who's a huge Thor fan, so I'm not sure if they committed any comic book sins, but overall, I was very impressed with it.
Final score: 9 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment