Movie Two Hundred Sixteen
In Thor, the titular hero is banished from Asgard to Earth while his brother Loki schemes to become the new king.
Odin (Anthony Hopkins), king of Asgard, wages war against the Frost Giants to prevent them from taking over the nine realms. The Asgardians win and steal their source of power. Flash forward to present day and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is going to become the new king of Asgard when the Frost Giants attack again. Thor travels to another realm with his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and breaks a truce between the realms, thus causing Odin to banish him and his hammer, Mjolnir, to Earth. Cue S.H.I.E.L.D. to investigate. On Earth, Thor is stripped of his powers and meets a group of scientists, notably Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) to assist him as Odin slumbers to regain his strength and Loki tries to rise to power.
Fanboys be warned, this may get you riled up. I have never been a fan of Marvel Comics Thor and as such found the movie adaptation incredibly dull and pointless, if not for the fact that it ties into The Avengers. If you put Thor and Clash of the Titans/Wrath of the Titans side by side I would struggle to be able to say which I thought was the better movie. If Thor didn’t have the comic license behind it it would be pretty bad movie.
I’m not sure if the plot of Thor was confusing or if my brain just didn’t care enough to process what was happening. It seems like I’m not the only one that tuned out, most of the actors seemed like they didn’t want to be there either. Natalie Portman gives an especially awful performance on the heels of her Oscar win for Black Swan. Idris Elba, who plays Heimdall, the gatekeeper, and who I didn’t even recognize at first gives one of the best performances of the film and he has maybe 10 minutes of screen time. Even Tom Hiddleston, who I thought was great in The Avengers as Loki seems to be reading cue cards off-camera. I get it, it’s a licensed superhero action movie, but come on, people!
The visuals are really the only saving grace that kept me awake during Thor. The movie does look good and the color palates for Asgard especially were neat and made for tasty eye-candy. The set and costume designs for the realms were true to the comics but also with a shiny new movie sheen to them. So basically, I shut my brain off and looked at all the pretty pictures while the movie played out for about 2 hours.
Did I hate Thor? Well, “hate” is a strong word… Do I think Thor was unnecessary and do I wish I left it unwatched? Yes. The problem here is that the source material, while rich in mythology, didn’t spark any interest in the character (or the comics) for me. At least Captain America ended up being more than a setup to The Avengers. The fact that the movie studio thinks there needs to be a sequel to Thor confuses me, but maybe the second time’s the charm? I don’t think I’ll be finding out.
I give it 2 “I’m Thor!”s out of 5.
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Wow I didn’t very much care for it either but giving it 2 is a little too farr
Movies that almost put me to sleep (twice) get a 2. I really wanted this to make me like Thor and it made me even more indifferent.
I found myself enjoying Thor and was able to suspend my belief while watching. There are plenty of flaws in the picture but it was likable. It’s far from being a good movie though. Nice review.
2 out of 5 seems about right to me.
This Was The Last 3D Flick I Saw In The Theater.
The 3D Was So Painful On My Eyes And Stomach, I’ve Refused To See One Since.
The Movie Itself Was Passable, But Ultimately Forgettable.
2 of 5 Sounds About Right.
MAYBE I’d Give It 2.25’ish 😉
hehehe
I didn’t even know this was in 3D I’m glad I didn’t bother with this in theaters. I wouldn’t argue with 2.25 haha
agree with you, such a waste of 3D, was no point to releasing this one as a 3D movie…
So you didn’t THORoughly hate it but close eh. Putting it in the same comopany of “Release the Krakens!” Clash of Titans puts it pretty low. I gave thrm a two combined.
lol
Thor didn’t even have any cool lines like “release the kraken!” what a disappointment.
Wow, I have yet to see this one but had been informed multiple times that it was the best of all the lead ups to The Avengers. In fact I had even heard that it was better than Avengers. I’m pretty pleased to have read this review as it has reset my expectations back down to neutral!
Wow, really? Were they diehard Thor fans or something?
I think the best film was the first Iron Man and the whole Loki-as-the-villain thing was done better in Avengers too.
No, not really. I don’t know what it was that they particularly liked about it…
I need to do an Avengers marathon in order to know which I prefer, there’ still several that I haven’t seen. I must admit that Natalie Portman is one of the things that’s particularly drawing me to Thor! – Even though you’ve said that she isn’t great.
We’re in disagreement on this one… it may be the fantasy fan in me, but I really got a kick out of Thor and its jovial attitude.
I need to watch this movie in preparation for The Avengers, at least I know what to prepare for now. Hopefully, though, I’ll be one of the people who likes it. Nice review.
It’s worth watching as a precursor to Avengers and I hope you do like it!
I really dislike it when the actors don’t even seem to be trying. Such a rip off!
It really is, usually they fake it (ya know, since they are actors) but when you can tell when they just don’t care.
I was so disappointed because it’s Kenneth Brannaugh. I expected something with Shakespearean tragedy, and instead you got silly fight scenes, zero character growth, and useless side characters.
Exactly! I didn’t know Branagh was involved until after watching it which made it even more disappointing.
I was the other way around, I didn’t like Captain America, but loved this movie. The world of Asgard just looked amazing and it had me hooked from beginning to end (although I did feel that knight like monster he had to fight was a bit out of place)
I enjoyed seeing this in the theater when it came out. It was awesome!
I think if I had seen this in theaters I would have gotten wrapped up in the hype a bit more and enjoyed it.
I was a Thor comic fan as a kid, I mean, a superhero with a Hammer! what’s not to like. But I was extremely disappointed by this movie. It was too shiney, it was to much mythology. It made me not want to see the Avengers. The only part I liked was the giant robot. The whole film should have been the giant robot and Thor battling it out in a big city. He could have told the Thor origin story in 2 minutes to someone in a coffee shop, then went back out to battle the Robot.
Haha I like your plot a lot better, I totally agree with you!
The Avengers is much better than Thor, don’t let this movie discourage you. Avengers is paced better and has a sense of humor to it.
Capt. America wasn’t so great either, very forgettable. Why can’t all superhero films be like Iron Man and the Dark Night series – Something with a thread of realism in it and just as enjoyable for adults as it is for the young ‘uns?
AHHHHHHHHHHHH MY EYES!!!
Thor is far and above my favorite of the pre-Avengers movies. I loved Thor. My favorite part about it? The acting.
The scenes with Thor, Odin and Loki were just riveting to watch. Absolutely Shakespearian. I hear what you are saying about Natalie Portman, but I feel that way about her in every movie she is in, so I don’t think she was particularly at her worst in this movie.
I just can’t even begin to describe how much I disagree with you! I mean, I respect your opinion for sure, but man. I just absolutely love this movie. Oh well. Well written review, at least.
I knew there would be at least one person that really liked it, I really wish I had a better perception of it I was just utterly bored by it. I’m glad you liked it, though!
I dug Thor. Actually, I dug it a lot more than Captain America. I found it entertaining, if not a bit uneven.
Maybe if it had been 30 minutes shorter I would have enjoyed it more.
It was a tad over rated by the critics but is not as shit as your review makes out for a Marvel flick.
For a Marvel flick, yeah, maybe you’re right. It’s the worst one they’ve put out since Elektra though, in my opinion.
I actually really liked this one, but it did take me a couple of viewings to kind of get into the rhythm of it.
I don’t think I could sit through multiple viewings…At least not any time soon.
Yes! Someone agrees with me! I didn’t care for this movie. I found it pointless, cheesy and boring. And, like with The Avengers, I hated the humor. And, like with the Avengers, I pretty much only loved Tom Hiddleston.
I’ve had this lying around for a while Andy but I keep putting it off. It looks like it might lie around for a while longer. Thanks for the warning man.
Haha I decided to just get it over with and now I wish I had put it off a bit longer
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I didn’t hate this one the way I hated Avengers but did anyone else find Thor to be a whiny little douchebag? Or was that just me?….
For a while I did but then he got badass again by the end. He was human for waaay to long for my tastes. I didn’t want to see human Thor, I wanted to see badass god Thor.
This review pleases this norse god. I DEMAND MORE!
Hahaha
I bring the funny *throws glass against the wall*