Forum > Blogs > Thor Movie Review - It aint' good kids
Thor Movie Review - It aint' good kids
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Wed, 04 May 2011 13:17:58
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Okay when reading this keep in mind I'm a comic book geek. All my impressions are based on a LOT of previous knowledge of Thor. So this is the fanboy review, and the fanboy did not like it.

The movie actually started out pretty good, but about 30 minutes in it starts to get really really slow and a little over dramatic. After that it never really picks up speed again, even at the end. It just never quite finds its groove. I blame that partially on the director Kenneth Brannaugh whose talents are better suited for slower paced dramas and Shakespearean fare. The other part was the script itself. It takes elements from too many areas and tries to merge it all together - there's plot elements from classic silver age Thor, modern day/post-Ragnarok Thor, Ultimate Thor. . . and the end result feels a little disjointed.

The cast is a mixed bag too. Anthony Hopkins was flat out too old for the role. He feels like Thor's grand father, not father. Thor himeself was actually okay. He's a little too pretty boy, but he does justice to the roll over all. Loki was great. Best character and actor in the movie, though the rest of the villians -aka the Frost Giants were good too. Everyone else.... utterly forgettable.


Overall it's not worth a theater ticket. Wait for rental. It's not Punisher War Zone bad, but it's right around par with the Ang Lee Hulk or maybe X-3 or the second Fantastic Four. If you're interested in a more spoiler filled review (though I still won't really spoil the big stuff) read on:

SPOILERS.... SORTA


Okay so the movie starts out with a some history of Asgard, Odin, frost-giants, the 9 realms etc. Asgard looks like a strange mix of every bad sci-fi movie from the 70's and 80's. Not very Vikingish, but it more or less works. Then it goes into a battle that sort of introduces all the main and supporting characters. Good fight scenes and just the right amount of humor. Up until this point (the first 30 minutes) it's actually very good. Then Thor gets banished for being a hot head and it all goes to hell.


Once Thor is sent to Earth the movie just starts to crawl. Natalie Portman's character is just awful. There's no chemistry between her and Thor and since she is the love interest it makes all of their scenes pretty hard to swallow. Frankly her character is barely necessary. Plotwise her main purpose to drive Thor from point A to point B.


From there SHIELD gets involved and there's some drama surrounding Thor's hammer. There's a little action there as he goes to retrieve it, but it was a really dull action scene. This is sort of a reoccuring problem with the fights that hampers every other action scene. When there's an epic battle scene going on (like the earlier ones), Kenneth Branaugh nails it. But when it's just these smaller fights it just fails. He doesn't know how to do it and the scenes drag.


So after this, there's some crap and Thor matures as a person and more forced romance with Natalie Portman and blah blah blah. Eventually Sif and the Warriors 3 come down and we get another big fight that sucks. This time with that killer robot from the previews (don't ask). And eventually after that it's back to Asgard for one more big fight (that sucks) and some bad dialogue with Loki... the end.


That's also another problem with the movie. Thor never ends up as a real likeable character. In fact, the one truly sympathetic character is Loki! They made the villian the only character that you can really get emotionally invested in. Hell, during the final battle I was hoping Loki would win (I hope that wasn't too much of a spoiler for you).


So overall it's really a rental at best. Maybe non-Thor fans will enjoy it because they're not as familiar with the mythos, but for me this was just painful. First half hour gets an 8. The rest of the movie.... 4.

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Wed, 04 May 2011 13:30:33
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It's not Punisher War Zone bad, but it's right around par with the Ang Lee Hulk or maybe X-3 or the second Fantastic Four.

I hate Ang Lees hulk but quite liked X3 and the second fantastic 4 (as a silver surfer fan)

BTW has anyone seen the 80s Dolph Lungren Punisher? It's better than the travolta one. Nyaa

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Wed, 04 May 2011 13:52:44
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What could you possibly liked about X3? That was a terrible film.

And I also like the Dolph Lungren Punisher. It was delightful 80's random violence. Plus Jeroen Krabbe was the bad guy, and he's always been one of my favorite actors.

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Wed, 04 May 2011 14:03:30
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X-Men 2 was the best, then 3 then 1.

Initially I didn't like 3, I mean it had the benefit of being the final one and took some liberties like killing off some characters which would always be dramatic if you could. It's very solid overall though and entertaining upon viewing it again.

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Wed, 04 May 2011 14:22:36
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I did not like 3 at all. Too many new characters that had too little character development. Too much time for Halle Berry who was just an awful Storm. Cyclops death was just straight up petty (they killed off the character simply because James Marsden took a role in Superman Lives). Plus Phoenix, the super powerful dangerous new villian shows us how dangerous she is for most of the movie.... by standing around and brooding.  Yeah... great.

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Thu, 05 May 2011 03:38:16
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Didn't like X-Men 3 either. It had its moments, but overall meh. The first one is the only decent one, though I haven't seen 2 yet.

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Thu, 05 May 2011 03:52:24
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X-Men 3 sucked Steel balls. It spit on everything the first two movies built up, it ignored the comics completely. It was just a big insult. X2 is by far the best one.

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Thu, 05 May 2011 03:53:42
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There is nothing as bad as Punisher War Zone. That is C-movie, sci-fi channel level crap.

My sister saw Thor and didn't like it either. Crap all my initial gut instincts were right I guess, this movie always looked off to me.

Edited: Thu, 05 May 2011 03:54:17
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Thu, 05 May 2011 03:55:43
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Yeah that was pretty bad PWZ. Though right now you could not pay me to go see Thor.

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Thu, 05 May 2011 04:00:52

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/49513 - Green Lantern trailer

So much better

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Thu, 05 May 2011 04:04:33

It would be hard for it to be worse. I read the new GL comic on my PSP it was pretty cool.

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Sat, 07 May 2011 16:32:42

I saw Thor last night and I must disagree with Robio.  I am no Thor fan, I don't know much about him outside of his powers and stuff. This is a fun movie from start to finish that really explores the more out of this world side of Marvel comics like no other series has. All the stuff on Asgard feels like a sci-fi Shakespearean play, they talk very proper and it has that medieval  feel to it. This is Branaugh's strength as it features some of the best parts of the movie. Thor and his gang absolutely kick ass against these cool as hell looking Ice Giants. This isn't a bunch of dudes just fighting, the movie really captures the super hero side. Thor is spinning his hammer to make huge earthquakes, at one point in the film he makes a tornado, it feels like a saturday morning cartoon and for me that is what these movies need.

As Robio said Thor is sent to Earth and yes its slower paced but I felt it nailed that whole fish out of water scenario very well. You know the kind of movies where a person from another time or planet is stuck on Earth and hilarity ensues, that is what this is and I felt its pulled off nicely. It's genuinely funny at times and while all this is happening the movie never strays far from Asgard as Loki is constantly scheming, so it never feels just like a Thor on Earth movie like say Masters of the Universe. Yes I brought up the He-Man movie cause I feel there is a comparison to be made, imagine if that movie mostly took place on where ever the hell He-Man lives (oh god GG is going to kill me) and when he gets sent to Earth only the best moments of that  part are kept. I wouldn't say its as well done as Star Trek 4, that movie is a classic to me, but its far better than Masters.

The final battle is fine as again its a showcase for some special powers. The action isn't spectacular but it has its moments but more importantly the fights have weight to it, it is all very story driven. The acting is fine, as useless Portman's character is she is mighty fine to look at and is fine as the love interest. Everyone in Asgard does a great job especially Loki and this awesome dude that guards the gate. Hopkins is Hopkins average performance for him. Hemmsworth is fantastic as Thor at least to me cause I have no clue of Thor's personality. He is incredibly charismatic, has almost a child like joy for combat and is simply incredibly badass. I wonder how they will handle him in the Avengers cause he clearly has more power than all of them.

Really good movie. I wouldn't say its an instant comic movie classic like Iron Man, Spider-Man, or Batman but its definitely better than the crappy tier like X3, Fantastic Four. I think I like it more than Iron Man 2, and its better than the second Hulk.

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Sat, 07 May 2011 17:30:21

You're dead to me.

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Sat, 07 May 2011 17:44:43
robio said:

You're dead to me.

I love you too.

I bet Archie would agree with me.

Edited: Sat, 07 May 2011 18:04:22
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Sat, 07 May 2011 20:47:31

Doh I missed a chance for a perfect reply. Lets try this again.

robio said:

You're dead to me.

You are an old man and a fool!!!

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Sat, 07 May 2011 20:49:25

BTW this is the first time I was forced to watch a movie in 3D. I figured the 3D in this was useless (I was right) so I wanted to see it in 2D but only one screen had 2D and it got sold out very fast. So I had to choose from the ton of 3D showings everyone was avoiding. I paid the $4 extra to watch it in 3D. What crap.

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Sun, 08 May 2011 03:27:17

Given that he's an old man you should have said: "you'll litearally be dead soon". Nyaa

Edited: Sun, 08 May 2011 03:27:38

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Sun, 08 May 2011 03:31:18

Hey to let you guys know, there is a Thor Special on tonight on SyFy  several scholocky looking Thor movies in row !lol I will content watching these and not paying $15 for  the theater version.

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Sun, 08 May 2011 10:56:30
Masters of the Universe, bitches.

Watch it now.

I recentely started reading 70s Avengers comics and Thor's dialogue is awful he speakest thus liketh thisth. It annoyeth the hellth outeth of meeth.

Nice review vader. Robio hates everything anyway Nyaa

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Sun, 08 May 2011 12:11:23
gamingeek said:
Masters of the Universe, bitches.


Watch it now.


I recentely started reading 70s Avengers comics and Thor's dialogue is awful he speakest thus liketh thisth. It annoyeth the hellth outeth of meeth.


Nice review vader. Robio hates everything anyway Nyaa

That's not true. I just hate everything you like. Enjoying things of quality is my burden.

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