Movie Review - Thor

[amberdark]

Well-- for something to do on a boring afternoon it wasn't bad.  It was a completely mediocre movie, rentable enough. 

Negatives

The beginning tone struck me as insufferably arrogant and superior.  The 18 year old who saw it as well didn't agree, but then 18-year-olds are prone to insufferable arrogance themselves, as a general rule.

Norse mythology wasn't as much borrowed from as name-checked.

Much of the dialog and action was telegraphed far in advance, or was clichéd to the point of obviousness.

Some of the battle scenes were cut too quick and hard to follow.  The Frost Giants were pretty cool effects, though.

Thor's friends were nothing more than broad archetypes and woefully under-developed, used only as plot devices rather than even a group of sidekicks.  Without more screen time but better writing, they could (and should have) been so much more.

On a personal note- Natalie Portman, despite being an amazing actress, was a poor casting choice.  Her eyes, her lips, her voice, all too recognizable, it was distracting.  I kept waiting for her to call Thor 'Anakin' or say she was dreaming of dancing the White Swan.  But maybe that's just me. 

Positives

They did a credible job of making Loki a complicated character, cliché motivations but classic and *there* and consistent.  Although on the negative side, they gave him so MANY complications they never really went into any of them with the depth they deserved.

Lots of eye candy.  Admittedly, although Thor was pretty buff, Loki was pretty hot as my taste runs, and Thor's lady friend (his posse was so badly developed I can't remember any of their names) wasn't hard on the eyes either.  Also see the aforementioned Natalie Portman.

I was honestly surprised at one plot development.  Refreshing.

A good explanation for taking Thor's power away, even if he didn't have as many motivations and dimensions as Loki, I give them credit for making us understand that he wasn't perfect, and some character development.

The after-the-credit ending scene.  (by now, everyone should know not to leave a Marvel movie until after that final credit roll)  It opened up the ability to speculate on possible future developments MUCH better than any prior 'final teaser' scenes.

Spotting a grip in the credits with the first name "Jor-el".  Really?  What a name to live up to, but how could any DP resist hiring him for a superhero movie? 


It reminded me, to be honest, of a middling-quality fanfic.  Some overblown prose, some trite dialog, a readable, if predictable plot, some handy motivations for the antagonist.