Thor (in 3D) (2011)
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, and Anthony Hopkins
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
No one will ever mistake Thor for being a cinematic masterpiece, but in the realm of summer action movies (and in their subset "comic book movies"), it's a solid flick that is decently written, capably directed, and (for the most part) adequately paced.
Somewhere in the cosmos is the land of Asgard, ruled over by Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Long ago, Odin waged a successful war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim who desired to take over the Nine Realms (one of which is Earth). Cut to a thousand years later and Odin is ready to pass on his crown to his son Thor (Chris Hemsworth), but the ceremony is interrupted by an invasion of the Frost Giants which sends war-hungry Thor into a vengeful state. Odin, desiring to keep the long-standing peace between Asgard and Jotunheim banishes Thor to Earth where he meets scientist/astrologer Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and finds himself in the midst of a fish out of water storyline. Meanwhile, back in Asgard, Odin's other son, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who has always been jealous of Thor, is finding himself next in line for the throne now that his father has slipped into what is essentially a (magical) coma. Let's just say Loki may not be keen on allowing Thor to return to his homeland.
Believe me, the whole thing is as silly as can be -- sillier and lighter weight than the premises behind any Iron Man, Spiderman, or X-Men "origin" (read: first) movie. Still, somehow this thing works and I think a large part of that is due to the tone set by director Kenneth Branagh. He knows that what is unfolding is altogether ridiculous, but he never sets this movie up with a winking tone. This will sound kind of silly, but Branagh culls some Shakespearean undertones from the script -- brother vs. brother, son vs. father, etc. -- and successfully gives them gravitas when they really had no right to have any. He plays it for all its seriousness, while allowing a few moments of needed humor when necessary. Normally, I'm all for tongue in cheek flicks, but I don't know if that would've worked here especially because Thor is part of the overarching storyline setting up an Avengers movie sometime in the upcoming years (and contains cameos from some folks who will be part of that story as well).
Branagh also manages to get some above average performances from his actors. Not being familiar with the source material one bit, I'll be honest and say I expected Thor to be more of a "Me Tarzan, you Jane" kind of macho figure. However, Chris Hemsworth's Thor isn't like that a bit. In fact, Hemsworth is absolutely believable as both action figure and romantic love interest for Natalie Portman's equally likable Jane. Portman is eons better than moviegoers are used to seeing onscreen in a part like this that amounts to hardly anything but is standard in any kind of comic book movie. While she doesn't play a damsel in distress, she's pretty much there simply to gawk and stare with mouth agape at the wonders of the superhero she's feasting her eyes upon. Still, Portman manages to really hold her own here despite the irrelevant role and she manages to be completely enjoyable every time she is onscreen.
Kudos also to Tom Hiddleston as Thor's devious younger brother who Branagh allows to chew the scenery a bit...which I found altogether necessary for a role like his. It was also nice to allow Hiddleston to take on the "chewing the scenery" role as opposed to Anthony Hopkins who tries to do that in every single movie he's in anymore (heck, he won his Oscar for doing that same thing). Here, Hopkins is rather subdued and that's a good thing.
Overall, I was impressed by Thor. It's certainly not perfect and the middle felt a little draggy (although I do commend Branagh for keeping the flick under two hours which is altogether uncommon for movies like this nowadays), but it's a pleasant start to the summer season.
The RyMickey Rating: B
No comments:
Post a Comment